ridecamp@endurance.net: Mt. Laguna - First Ride Story - Warning LONG!

Mt. Laguna - First Ride Story - Warning LONG!

AliFarr@aol.com
Tue, 10 Jun 1997 15:58:20 -0400 (EDT)

Whenever I start something new, I tend to read everything I can find on the
subject before diving in. Reading is no susbtitute for doing however, and
last weekend at the Mt. Laguna ride, we finally got our chance. I have been
reading ridecamp religiously for the last six months and have to say that
without all of you we would have been far less prepared and it wouldn't have
been nearly as much fun! Our saga actually begins the week before, as the
trailer I had been shopping for since February finally rolled into the
driveway a week after my "I have to have a trailer drop dead date." Since
the water pump and motor mounts on the truck picked approximately the same
moment to need replacing, Sunday was devoted to reparing the truck, rather
than putting the camper on the truck and checking out the whole
Camper/Truck/Trailer setup for problems. Nor did I get to practice loading
the horses in the trailer all day Sunday, as planned. Since my two novice
geldings have loaded only twice in their lives, I was expecting trailer wars
and woes. Segue to Monday evening, where I skipped out of work early and
hurried home to try loading the boys in the trailer. Much to my surprise,
they treated the entire thing as another one of Mom's silly exercises in
obedience and loaded in and out, in and out until we were all bored! Phew,
one hurdle down. Wednesday evening, consulted my ridecamp list and assembled
necessities for horses and humans. Forgot towels, remembered the duct tape.
Didn't need the duct tape, later wished I had a towel! Friday afternoon,
everything ready, the only remaining detail is hitching the trailer to the
truck with camper on it. Bad news; trailer jack and camper meet before ball
and hitch. Jack up trailer, place wood underneath, remove jack and turn 180
degrees. Ball now meets hitch and we are officially hooked up (Yay!).
However, camper door does not open as the jack is 2" in front of it. Hubby
says, "@#*&#$(*$#" and simply removes jack entirely and tosses in trailer
tack room. We are on the road, but an hour and a half behind schedule. Due
to now being smack into rush hour, it takes us 2.5 hours to drive from North
San Diego to East San Diego. We check in and thanks to Terry Wooley-Howe's
wonderful, efficient ride management everything finally starts to go smooth
as silk. Horse corrals with our names on them, lots of drive-thru type
spaces to park the rig, and since we were so late, no line at the vet check.
We explain to the vet that our horses have never done this before (riders
either) so all are pleasantly surprised when the boys vet thru calmly and
quietly with all A's. Horses all set up with food and water, when I realize
Gydion is not eating. Further investigation reveals that he is deathly
afraid his new haybag is going to eat him! Hay goes on ground, horse happy.
At this point threating rainclouds do more than threaten. They begin to
pour rain. I did not bring blankets because its June in So. Cal and it
doesn't RAIN in JUNE. Boy am I wrong. Gydion tends to quit eating and
drinking when cold and wet, so I go out in the rain to dump a bag of goodies
- Carrots and bran and electrolytes in his water. I return to the camper
soaking wet to tell my son Kris (Junior age 12) not to be too disappointed if
his horse is not fit to ride tomorrow. It stops raining after less than an
hour, so we cross our fingers and wait for tomorrow. Morning dawns with no
clouds and next surprise, the horses have eaten and drunk well and look happy
and alert. In fact, last night's calm behaviour has entirely disappeared and
it takes us an hour to tack up two dancing dingbats. Once in the saddle, walk
is out of the question and we piaffe down the trail. I have anticipated that
crossing water is going to be a problem, as we schooled all the water we
could find, but this year, a big stream was 18" wide. Since the trail map
says the first water is at mile seven, I figure we have some time to work out
the kinks before we see water. Wrong again. The first water is a pond about
15' feet across before the start. One hour later, still on the wrong side of
the pond from the rest of the ride,we hook up with a lady named Darolyn who
knows the area better than we and offers to take us around an alternate route
as her horse will not cross the water either. Somewhere about 8:30 AM (Ride
started at 6:45) we are finally on the trail! Trying to make up for lost
time, we let the horses move out at a fast trot and occasional canter. Caer
Donn, my four year old gelding, has finally decided that he will not die if
he is not first in line and settles down behind Darolyn. Kris is happily
bringing up the rear on Gydion. At this point the countryside is pretty
rolling hills and the trail winds in and out, climbing slowly. We stop at a
cistern to see if the horses will drink. I hold my breath, expecting total
lack of interest. To my amazement, both horses stick their noses in and get
long drinks. YESS! Onward and upward. As we come to the first stream
crossing, a ride volunteer and the vet pull up behind us and ask to pass
thru. Apparently a horse and rider have had an accident ahead of us on the
trail. They pass and we look at the stream. Oh glory, there's a spot where
it's only about 18" wide. Darolyn leads her horse across, I put Caer Donn
hard on her horse's rump and he hardly sees the stream. Gydion dithers as we
move off to encourage him across and finally leaps through. One water
crossing down (we can DO this I think to myself). The trail is now on an old
fire road and we go cantering merrily down it, right past the trail turn off.
We stop to talk to the vet, who has parked and is organizing his gear to
trek up to the horse/rider in trouble. He gently points out that we left the
marked trail several hunderd yards behind us. Whoops, reverse course, back
to the trail marker and off in the correct direction. We ride over a mile
(uphill) before we reach the spot where Katie Hackworth and her horse parted
company. As she sees us, the first thing she says is "Tell my mom I'm Okay!"
Plucky kid. Becky Hackworth is doing the 50 with her other daughter and I
have no idea if I will run into her, but I tell Katie I'll do my best to let
her mom know. We ride on and the distance between miles 8 and 12 starts to
seem much longer than the distance between miles 1 and 8. What the heck
happened to the vet check? Then we see a horse ahead of us. Then two, then
three. We all stop at the water tank about a 1/4 mile from the vet check and
everybody's horses drink. Surprised that we have actually managed to catch
up to the end of the rest of the 25 milers, we trot on in to the checkpoint.
Gyd and Caer Donn are not tired at all, have reached criteria by the time we
get off and call over a P&R person. They go right to eating and drinking.
Gyd is trying to eat dry bran right out of the bag, so I mix more in a
bucket and drag the bag off where he can't get to it. Kris was apparently
hoping for hot dogs at the lunch table, and when there weren't any, it was
the 12 year old kid that wouldn't eat, not one of the horses. We vet thru
with all A's again and I am immensely pleased, as I figured neither of these
horses would eat or drink on the trail with all the excitement. Turning
around, I realize that Becky Hackworth is right behind me, back in the vet
check off the loop in the 50. I tell her and Terry Wooley Howe that the last
thing we saw was Katie being supported slowly down the trail toward the vets
coming up to meet her. Leaving the vet check we hooked up with a junior
(Anna) and her mom, crossing several streams in the meadow by getting off and
leading the horses over. I am thinking that water may not be so bad after
all. (I will be wrong again.) Lose Anna and her mom when mom's horse loses a
boot and they drop back to look for it. Catch up to a lady Darolyn knows and
ride with her awhile. This turns out to be a Very Good Thing, because
without this woman we would not have gotten down the mountain. We are now
travling through beautiful pine and sycamore forest, but the stream that
makes it all so pretty crosses the trail several times. BIG water crossings.
Horses want no part of this and end up being pulled across with their lead
ropes by Rocky the big quarter horse who outweighs them by several hundred
pounds. I am not letting this woman out of my sight for the rest of the
ride. Can anyone say Guardian Angel? We continue to move fast; at one point
from behind me I hear Kris say, "Mom, remember when I hated to canter? Now
its my favourite gait.!" He was clearly having fun. Down through the
canyon, over the rocky spot and into the surprise 5 minute hold. What a
welcome sight. Wonderful volunteers who held our horses, gave them drinks
and carrots, brought us drinks and fruit and cookies. Out of the hold, down
into desert scrub and another water crossing. Caer Donn decides to do this
one on his own in a flying leap, but Gyd requires another drag across.
Coming up on the last mile, Gydion loses a back shoe, but we are through the
rocks and are not too worried. There are five of us trotting down the road.
We sound like a freight train coming. One more drag through the last stream
crossing and we have done it, completed our first 25 mile ride! The horses
had enough left to spook at the finish line; truth be told they weren't tired
at all. Vetted through about 1/2 hour later with 1 B+ and the rest A's. I
asked Kris if he wanted to do this again? He just looked at me and said,
"Manzanita in October, right?" Next ride here we come! The horses did much
better than I ever expected. Its me that needs to be in better shape!

Alison Farrin
Gydion & Caer Donn (you mean we're done already, Mom?)

P.S. My thanks to Terry Wooley-Howe who puts on wonderful rides. I don't
know how she does what she does on the money she charges for an entry fee.
Great food, great awards, great fun! Thanks Terry! Hope someone else has
the ride results to post. Maybe I can match up the names of all the
wonderful folks we met with their faces!

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