Trisha
Dowling's Blog: There and Back Again
12 September 2010
Back in Lexington after the wettest I've ever been at an endurance
ride. Six hours in the pouring rain on Friday with Mocha took out my
black boots and chaps, and another 6 hours in the rain with Cain took
out my brown boots and chaps. Some weird felt-like lining under the
insoles of my brown boots gave way and turned to mush and balled up
under my feet. It felt gross. When we'd go up a hill, 4 inches of
water would run to my heels and when we went down a hill, the water
would run to my toes. But unlike Canada, Tennessee rain is at least
warm in September so we weren't frozen. Rain in Canada is NEVER warm,
even in July. And the ground drains better in Tennessee than
Lexington, so even with all the rain I was able to get the truck and
trailer out of the field.
So here's my summary of the weekend at the Big South Fork rides:
After the first horrible day of badly marked trails, ride management
got some help and the trails were much better marked for the next 2
days. Some intersections were still very confusing, but riding with
the former ride manager is always a good idea!The trails are beautiful
and tough - especially in the pouring rain. Lots and lots of rock, but
the ground around the rock is sandy. So the horses seemed to slip less
than at Ft Howes in the rain. I was amazed at how few horses were
pulled for lameness all weekend - even Cain and Mocha! And some of the
southeast riders go "hell bent for leather" over those rocks. I didn't
even hear of anyone losing shoes, whereas the Kentucky Cup trail was
littered with pulled shoes. I only saw a few people using Easy Boots
and I didn't see any bare foot horses.
Riding the trail yesterday with Angie McGhee was a treat!...
Read more here:
http://pmd823.blogspot.com/2010/09/12-sept-crimson-king.html
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