Well then...or "What a mixed bag that was..."

This is also going to be a short and sweet post, which I hope to flesh out in the coming days.  I'm a little swamped at work (gee, who would have thought that?!  4 days out of the office and I came back to a lot of things to do!).

I will simply say this; someone needs Needs NEEDS to save the Llano Estacado Pioneer ride.  I have been to some beautiful rides.  I have been to some well run rides.  I have been to rides that were well marked.  And those with water on the trail. 

This ride though.  This ride had ALL of that!!  There wasn't a single blessed thing I would have changed.  Well, except for the duration of the drive from home to there, which with a loaded trailer...and a truck that STILL wasn't quite right, took a good and solid 10.5 hours one way. 

When all is said and done, from home, to the barn, to Lake Merideth, to Dumas and back twice and then home again with a detour to Holly's to drop off Strider, I rolled over 1700 miles on Hannibal.  Yes, really.

So, here's a preview of our rides.

Day 1 with Strider.

That's right.  ALL A's baby!!  Well, except those TWO A-'s. 

Day 2 with Dakini.

It wasn't pretty, and it wasn't elegant, but baby girl got it DONE!!  On the HARDEST day!!

Day 3 with Strider.

What ISN'T on this vet card?  Our placing.  5th place!!  Out of 20-something horses.  TOP TEN FOR STRIDER!!!  You'll note that, until he stood for BC, all A's again, except those two A-'s.

This ride was a challenge to get to, literally, with a truck that wasn't quite right.  Me being unable to find camp on Wednesday night so just pulling into the boat ramp parking lot, unloading the horses and camping out there for a night.  Going out with a new rider and riding her ride and not ours, but still getting it done.  Massaging Dakini through what I honestly feel was the HARDEST day out on the trails.  And then on day 3 letting Strider leave with the hot feet, just KNOWING we would drop back at some point.  And never having that happen.  To coming in to the hold with not 1 missing shoe, and not 2 missing shoes, but 3 missing shoes.  And him still moving strong and proud for the last 7.5 miles.

Yes, that's right.  Trail opened at 6:15 and I was DONE with the entire 30 miles (according to my Garmin, it wasn't 30 miles though) at 10:49.

90 LD miles for me this weekend.  90 miles for my team.  90 miles for my amazing Paso Finos. 

And a gorgeous endurance ride to be lost.

Thank you Llano Estacado volunteers, RM and everyone else who made this ride happen.  It shall NOT be forgotten.

I will do a more extensive write up later to include all of the issues and problems.  And the aftermath and fall out for Strider, which I confess has left a very sour taste in my mouth.  Albeit, it has made me both prouder of him than I should be.  And worried that he's going to hurt himself and I won't be able to stop him from doing it.

But for now.  For this moment....this second...I shall stand up tall and proud and say "Paso Finos can do ANYTHING an Arabian can do.  And do it JUST as well.  And JUST as fast."

Tip of the hat to the Green Bean team "Wind Riders".  They let me tag along on days 1 and 2, and then on day 3 helped me prep AND stood Strider for me for BC (I was too nervous and anxious).

And also to "Abbi and Abbi's dad" (sorry if I misspelled your name!) for allowing me to tag along on the last loop on Sunday.  Abbi and her father did a true pioneer ride.  All 3 days at the same distance on the same horses.  And they looked amazing at the end of the ride.

What an experience.  What a ride.  What amazing horses.