Owyhee Canyonlands

Day 1

Although it hurt slightly to do it (all that sweat and leather--ugh!), I decided to ride Jasper on Day 1 using his dressage bridle to ensure we limited the number of changes between lessons and the trail. We also used the martingale too, of course. At the start, Jasper was a little "up" but behaved himself nicely. We (Amanda and I) headed out at a nice relaxed walk and were passed repeatedly by riders with hardly a reaction. So far, so good!

We turned off the road and started up a long, slow uphill with some deep footing stretches. We alternated walking and trotting and took it nice and easy. When we reached the top, we passed a group of riders who were concerned a horse was tying up--she was. It was an early humbling reminder of how dangerous the sport can be.

(Courtesy of Steve Bradley)

I don't remember much of the early and late trail on this day--a lot of it was long, sandy, dusty stretches. It was, however, my first ride with an out vet check and I was a little nervous I'd forgotten something in my bag (I did--a grain pan). We vetted through with no problems and set about getting the horses to eat while trying to take care of ourselves. Jasper picked at his food a little and worried me a little since he hadn't been drinking much either. He picked at some alfalfa and took a nap before our 40 minutes were up and we were out. Amanda had to hound me a bit about getting mounted by the time we were out--I'm prone to lollygagging and puttering about without a watch to keep an eye on the time!

The second stretch of the trail dropped down near the Snake River, and the only two waters on the 20 mile loop were trail diversions that went to the river. Jasper took only a sip at the first one and although I could tell he was very thirsty by the time we got to the second, a group of rude and obnoxious riders were ahead of us and had allowed their horses to paw the water and create a sloppy mud puddle. They were laughing and giggling in the water while we patiently waited out turn only to find out the water had been ruined. At least the horses got to spend a couple of minutes eating some of the green grass that grew along the river. When we got back to the vet check, Jasper tanked up on water and we were given a stern warning about his skin tent. He ate slightly better the second time, but still not like usual.

Amanda and I coming down a stretch of trail (photo courtesy of Karen Bumgarner)

We got very hot on the last stretch--the weather for the week was typically much, much cooler and we were faced with record-highs. I worried about Jasper a bit on this stretch--this is where he shows his weaknesses with not being a purebred arab. He got a little hot in some of the draws with no breeze and would pant a little going uphill. All the while our arab riding buddy looked unfazed by the heat. Coming into the check, I took extra time to sponge him and ensure he had cooled off properly. We finished up and Jasper vetted through looking excellent. He got back to the trailer and ate and ate and ate, which made me feel more confident he was doing fine.

Day 3

(Courtesy of Steve Bradley)

This was my favorite day, as I was finally going to experience an out check at the Sierra del Rio ranch. I'd heard riders rave and rave about checks here, but didn't realize how fabulous it was until we were there--knee deep lush green grass in a shaded meadow was like heaven on earth after long dusty stretches of trail! The gnats were really terrible this day, and I cursed myself for forgetting Jasper's fly mask back at the trailer. They absolutely swarmed us at the check, and all of us got grumpy trying to relax while the little insects worked hard to get into our eyes, noses, mouths and ears. Disgusting!

I can't believe Karen took this picture--it was the two minutes of the check I wasn't nibbling on knats. Gross.

I had decided to switch our french-link snaffle over to Jasper's endurance bridle to see how he would be in this. I found Jasper to be strong this day as well, and just didn't have the same feeling of control without the noseband. He did fine, but I found I was using more muscle to rate him this day than the previous one.

Beautiful scenic overlook--Snake River.

We left for the second loop of the day and traveled up a tricky, rocky narrow trail that was part of the Oregon trail. It was amazing to think hundreds of oxen and wagons had made the same trek. The trail went up to a nice scenic overlook where we were able to pause and take a few pictures before my cameras batteries gave up the ghost. The trail then turned left to run along an irrigation ditch, which is where we encountered The Deadly Door. How a big, white door ended up in the middle of the Owyhees I'll never know, but Amanda almost ended up in my lap when her little mare teleported five feet to the right when we passed it. Jasper's reaction was delayed and subdued in comparison, but later we would hear many other riders' stories about The Door. The loop went by quickly and we were soon back at the Ranch for our last hold of the day.

At one point Amanda had said we were on the Oregon trail. Impressed with her knowledge of the area I asked how she knew that. Um, this is how she knew it. Smart girl.

Once again, the last stretch of trail was hot, dusty and windless. Once again, Jasper got hot and I fretted and worried about him. And as usual, Replika looked incredible and cool as a cucumber.

You can see the wagon ruts embedded in the rock over Amanda's right shoulder.

Looking up a stretch of the Oregon trail. It doesn't look difficult here, but it would have been tricky for a wagon pulled by oxen.

Day 5

Due to the heat, a LOT of horses had trouble during the week. We saw horse after horse have issues--lamenesses, colic, thumps, heat exhaustion, etc. The really scary ones were horses that had been ridden very conservatively and came into the final vet checks looking great only to return to their trailers and crash minutes later. Again, all week we were reminded of how dangerous this sport really is and how observant and in tune one needs to be with their horses.

This day, I decided to try Jasper in a Myler combination bit I borrowed from Amanda. I've lusted after one for years, but have never been able to justify the expense for something that may or may not help. Let me tell you, this bit is incredible! I had been nervous about using it with a martingale, but with the martingale loose it worked just fine. It was a nice bit with a nice feel, and Jasper seemed to really like the mouthpiece. I was able to rate him very well in it since it provided enough whoa for the situation--if he ignored light contact the noseband would engage and he had no choice but to respond. I like that it is a bit that lends itself well to our endurance bridle--no noseband required. I also like that it immediately reinforces a more responsive horse, and Jasper responded incredibly to it. Needless to say, we're ordering one!

(Courtesy of Steve Bradley)

We were faced with another record-breaker of a hot day. Amanda and I boogied through the first loop--Replika was feeling especially fresh with the previous day off and we made excellent time. The first loop was gorgeous--varied trail the horses had to think through, lots of ups and downs, and lots of cool stuff to see. At one point, we wound through an old homestead with a rock house built into the side of the hill. An old plow and parts of a wagon littered the old yard, and the old fence still stood in places. It was an incredible reminder of the tenacity of our predecessors. At the end of this loop, we were rewarded with a small stretch of trail through Hart Creek Canyon--sheer rock cliffs on either side and a luscious temperature drop of at least 20 degrees. It was refreshing and gorgeous!

We came into the (in-camp) vet check with fresh ponies. Jasper had done incredibly well drinking on this loop, and he returned happily to the trailer and Obsidian. I had been using Wayne's new fancy Polar HR monitor on this loop, which had worked for about 2 minutes. Wayne adjusted things and I watched as Jasper's heart rate hung around 60 for the entire hour hold. I fretted and worried and finally was forced to remind myself that if there had been no monitor, I would not be aware of anything bad as Jasper was acting very normal. Still, I was concerned as we headed out on the final 25 mile loop of the day.

Amanda and I leaving for our final loop of the week! Hurrah!

This loop was honestly the hardest, hottest, most miserable stretch of trail I have ever experienced. We headed out for about 10 miles and crossed the freeway. The first bit of trail wasn't TOO bad--there was water. Then we crossed the highway and entered the lollypop loop of doom. No water, no wind, nothing but knats and brain-baking heat for almost 15 miles of trail. Amanda and I were near tears multiple times as the horses were HOT, we were HOT and there was no water in sight. We hallucinated, we had a pretend tea party on horseback to pass the time, and ultimately tried to remind ourselves that it COULD be worse (we passed riders coming off this loop that were just heading out--in heat at least 5 degrees hotter than when we'd started). Amanda said that one loop was harder than any 80 mile ride she had ever done, and I made a mental note to remind myself of this loop when in childbirth or facing other physical or mental challenges. If we could survive that loop without crying, we could get through anything. When we finally reached water, Jasper was all business and tanked up like a camel. He cocked a hip while I sponged him, and was very, very hard to move when it came time to leave. I just prayed he was okay and would get through this last day healthy.

The last bit of trail before camp seemed to stretch on and on and on, and I'll admit I got a little verklempt when we finally sighted home. Jasper came in hot, as usual, but surprisingly didn't look any worse than he had any other day. I finally had to admit I was hotter on this day than any other day and was probably projecting my misery a little more than was needed for Jasper. As with the other days, Jasper took 5 minutes or so to pulse down (he'd come into the checks at 68 or so and just hang between that and 64 before finally dropping). Wayne vetted him through and I got to watch him do his last trot-out of the week. He looked a little tired, but was looking around and had that lovely, free-swinging trot of a sound horse who knew he was DONE! We had made it!

We walked back to the trailer and I watched Jasper like a hawk--we were planning to leave in a few hours and I wanted to make sure he was OK before we traveled the 1.5 hours back home. Ultimately, I knew he'd be happier in his home paddock than standing in camp, and Wayne and I were anxious to get away from the flies and the dust. He ate and looked fabulous, and so we loaded and hit the road. I checked on them halfway through the trip and was a little worried--Jasper looked dog tired. We hurried home, and when I turned him out, he took off at a beautiful trot whinnying for the other horses. When he found them, he led the three on a victory gallop around the pasture before settling in and eating like he hadn't eaten in weeks. What a good boy.