The Brotherhood of the Coyote Poo

Despite the fact I should probably be devoting every second of every day of this weekend to studying for my final set of finals ever, I still set aside the time to head up to Moscow Mountain yesterday morning.  The added bonus was that Wayne was in town, so he finally got to come out and experience one of our famous sanity-inducing therapeutic mountain rides.  I had forgotten how scary some of the trails can be the first few times until I would hear Wayne exclaim something to that effect from behind.  He rode one of PJ's horses--One-Eyed George.

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Warning: Off-Topic (slightly).  We found out One-Eyed George's history yesterday.  He is an OTT, and his Jockey Club name is "Born to Win."  George was bought at Keeneland's famous yearling auction for the impressive sum of $134,000 in 1995.  He then began his racing career, which unfortunately, fizzled about as quickly as it began.  In his racing record, the notes made about the 7 races he ran read like a comedy punch line.  "Started well then stopped." "Kept the pace but failed to menace." "Tripped out of the gate, slowed immediately."

His one eye accident occurred when his mother kicked/stepped on/otherwise injured him as a foal.  He raced with only one eye, a fact that undoubtedly contributed to his less than ideal racing career.  After he was retired from racing, a woman bought him for a dressage prospect.  He excelled at the sport, although travelled with his head tilted slightly so that his good eye could see in front of him and therefore did not do as well in the show ring.  He was sold to a man who brought him over to the Eastern Washington area and then given to PJ.  PJ touts George as being his most reliable horse, and I would agree after the excellent care he paid to Wayne yesterday.

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As we were heading out to the mountain yesterday, the weather was beautiful--59 degrees with a light breeze and a strong sun.  I jokingly told Wayne how I wished it would start raining in the afternoon so that I could focus on studying.  We pulled into PJ's and unloaded Jasper.  We chatted and tacked up our horses and headed out--I could already tell it was going to be a wonderful ride.  The birds were singing, the horses were calm, and the air smelled of sun warmed pine needles and forest loam.  We took some great trails up the mountain and went higher than I've gone before.  A lot of the ride was off trail and involved some incredibly tricky and technical stuff.  Wayne learned how to ride up very steep embankments with PJ coaching and encouraging him the whole time.  When we reached the top, the other side of the mountain was still covered in sometimes-deep snow, and so we had to pick our way back down through acres of logging garbage.  Jasper and I lead for part of the way down, and I was incredibly proud of how he followed my every direction and stood and waited patiently for me to evaluate the next best step to take on the torturous path down.  Our intention was to join back up with a logging road that would take us down the mountain in a much more leisurely and sane pace.  

Just before we reached the road, we realized there was a very steep embankment before we could actually get to the road.  Wayne and I waited while PJ rode down the hillside to see if there was a better place to ride down.  Just then, Jasper started to dance sideways and Wayne said, "Watch out!"  I felt the earth slipping beneath Jasper's hind hoofs and we were falling.  The whole thing went by very quickly, but what I remember was Jasper sort of falling/stumbling backwards and sideways down the embankment, and when he finally landed on the road, I hit the dirt.  My head cracked the ground pretty good--hard enough slam my helmet forward on my head and knock my glasses into my nose pretty hard.  I got up right away and realized that I had ruined yet another pair of fairly new eyeglasses.  They were bent at the nose and my eyes stung and watered at the pain of having them hit my nose with such force.  I bent them back into shape (good as new--almost), and looked over to see Jasper looking at me as if to say, "Why'd you do that??"  I grabbed him in time to have George almost come down on top of us, and grabbed George.  Wayne and PJ were really freaked out--when I had disappeared over the edge, George started to follow and Wayne emergency dismounted on the off side.  PJ instructed him to let George go, and he followed us down in short order.  I dusted myself off--my crash vest had absorbed most of the impact to my back, although I could feel a bruise forming on my tail bone.  Once I finished my body check, I did a thorough check on Jasper and was surprised to find he didn't have a turned hair.  Amazing.  Not only had we picked our way down a very steep hill littered with sticks and logs and rocks and loose dirt, but he had just fallen down an embankment.  PJ and Wayne joined me on the road and checked to make sure I was okay.  PJ then remarked, "I see you've joined the brotherhood of the coyote poop.  You fell on top of a pile of it!"  I had, although it was fairly old coyote poo, and I felt honored to be inducted into such a fraternity of high order.

We remounted and continued down the mountain in good spirits again.  I think Wayne had just remarked how he really wanted to see a moose when we turned a corner in time to see a large moose on the hillside below us go crashing through a clearing and onto a trail.  Jasper looked, but was otherwise uninterested.  Both dogs took off after the moose, with Bongo bravely leading.  I don't know what is going through his tiny doggie mind when he chases moose--what the heck would he do if he actually caught the moose?  I would imagine he'd probably turn tail and run.

Just before getting back to PJ's place, he asked if we wanted to do the Crumarine Creek Challenge.  We agreed, of course, and set off for the creek.  Jasper balked at one of the crossings, as usual.  He doesn't mind the water, but the steep slippery banks on either side make him very insecure.  We finally did get him going through very well, and he even stood in the rushing water that went over his knees and drank deeply.  At another crossing, PJ mapped out a challenge course for us--we had to cross the creek, STEP over a very large log, re-enter the creek and walk through it for 30 feet or so and then get back out.  By this time, Jasper was feeling pretty good about the water, and so we spent 10 minutes at the log trying to convince him he could really just step over it.  PJ eventually had to come over and clip a rope to Jasper's halter and lead him over.  He still leapt over the log, though.

As we were nearing PJ's house, the clouds moved in and it started to sprinkle.  Perfect!!  It was a fabulous ride, and Wayne was amazed.  He told me something I've wanted to hear for months, "You were right.  I DO enjoy myself a lot more when I'm riding a controlled horse!"  Success!

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In other news, as I was laying awake last night thinking about finals, I started to get an idea.  I'm going to be heading back to Boise on Friday morning, and am planning to do the trail ride at the Eagle Extreme on Saturday morning.  However, it dawned on me that there really is no reason I couldn't do the 25.  The trails are familiar, Jasper is ready, and I'm going to be so busy for the next week I'll probably not be able to ride much, which will be perfect for Jasper's week off before the ride.  Hmmm...once I get an idea like this, it starts rolling and then I'm stuck with it.  The extra added bonus is that the ride site is about 8 miles from home.  I have many things to think about.