ridecamp@endurance.net: [endurance] Oakland Hills (Story)

[endurance] Oakland Hills (Story)

Carol Randall (carol.randall@aslan.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu)
Mon, 17 Jun 1996 15:58:42 -0700

Hi Everyone! Fleet and I did the Oakland Hills 50 this past weekend and it
was GREAT! Gary and Laura Fend put on a fabulous ride, very well organized,
very well marked trails, a hundred volunteers and the trails are just
beautiful, once you find the place - Fleet and I got lost in the heart of
downtown Oakland and this was my first trailer haul by myself =:-(). And I
met and rode with some wonderful people - I'll let you remain anonymous but
you know who you are ... And I think Karen Chaton's "rude people" were
there too, helping themselves to my hay because their horse wouldn't eat the
hay in their bale bag. I did not tell them that maybe if they opened the
bale bag he might like it better - HAH!

The morning started out pretty chilly but warmed up and was beautiful by
mid-morning. The first vet check was a 15 minute hold and we all stood
around freezing and sweaty waiting to leave. There was plenty of hay and
water at all the stops and even some extra water along the way. Fleet was
drinking like a trooper - he can be a real teetotaler at times so I was
thrilled! This was our first ride without a buddy along that he has bonded
with so it was really interesting to see what he could and wanted to do. He
enjoyed the company of whatever horse he was with but knew there were more
up ahead and wanted to catch up with them. It was a lot of fun. I gave him
an extra 15 minutes at the lunch stop after the 1 hour hold just to be sure
he'd had all he wanted to eat and drink. The second loop was as beautiful
as the first and the weather was perfect. Fleet still wanted to gallop at
48 miles so he was goin' strong.

Thanks to Gary and Laura for a wonderful ride!

Carol and Fleetson