[RC] Malibu Ride - Bruce Weary DCDayna and I returned from the Malibu ride this weekend, and I thought I'd share our experience. The trail for this ride is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen, and the 55 miler is THE toughest I have ever done in over 22 years and 7500 miles of endurance riding. We took the entire ride time to finish, on two very fit horses. Most of the day we were going either uphill or down, at significant inclines. The temperatures were moderate, but the humidity so near the ocean added to the challenge. The wildflowers were in full bloom, almost seeming to have been planted by hand across the countryside. There was always plenty of water, both for drinking and rinsing the horses. I decided to actually use a bit of that water to cool myself until one rider got upset and shouted at me: " Hey, pal! You wanna grab your shower cap and rubber duck and get out of the water tank? My horse needs to drink!" You can't imagine my embarrassment.The trail was very well marked and Don Bowen and others had worked very hard to clear and mow the trail. We met up with several nice hikers and bikers who were all very polite and gave our horses the right-of-way. Our vet bag got lost somewhere along the way, but ride management provided plenty of horse and people food at the vet checks. It was fun traveling through Paramount Ranch and seeing a couple of abandoned vehicles from the TV series M.A.S.H. , and the countryside varied constantly with huge vistas including views of the ocean and beaches. Just before reaching the finish line, the horses were treated to a stirrup-deep water crossing of 100 yards or so, a refreshing end to a hard day's work. All in all, this ride was truly a challenge and an adventure. I'm guessing ride management may make the trail a little easier next year, as several riders had trouble finishing in time. This is a great trail to test your horse for Tevis as well. Awards were great, dinner was tasty, and I'm sure attendance will grow next year. We will be back again for sure. Dr Q world renowned trail critic =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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