Twister, on horseback

Ok all you Fate of Kathryn fans.....
So, Friday, I convinced Sherrie that she should play hookie from work and go riding. I am not sure what I was thinking. We decided to go to the Goldfields because it is pretty close and good training grounds. The trailer gremlins showed up at her place and popped the plug out from her little trailer, so, no lights, brakes, ect, so, I drove. No biggee. So, the morning didn't start quite as planned. Sherrie suspects Pharaoh has ulcers, and we think he wasn't feeling quite up to par. But, push on ....

Now, I have ridden at the Goldfields several times with Sherrie. The last time, we came down this very steep, slick rock-at-an -angle-gee+i-wish-my-horse-had-velcro-on-his-feet kind of trail.....I took a picture from the bottom, but it really does not give you good perspective...

Anywho, we decided to let Santana lead today to see if it helped with his wanting to rush behind Pha. Ok fine. So, we followed a wash for a while. Then there was a fork. Sherrie told me to go up, so we did. BIG mistake. We got off trail. We got into a place that we should not have been. And , we were uphill. Sherrie went ahead at this point because I am still a novice trailblazer. Wellllllll. I don't remember exactly the first butt pucker section, but it was going uphill in poorly placed rocks and cactus. I was sweating through my jacket at his point, and the worst was, unbeknownst to me, yet to come. As I have said in previous posts, "what goes up, must come down. Well, Sherrie and Pha went down the hill. I was stuck. I couldn't SEE how to get down to where they were.. All I could see was Santana skating a$$ over tea kettle down this embankment. "Weren't you paying attention?" Sherrie yells at me... Um, no. No, I was not. I was trying to not die. She came back up to give me step by step instructions on how to get down this section. "Ok, keep him moving forward. At that next rock (really, which of the 52 scattered rocks ARE you referring to?) turn him on his fore. LEave his back legs there. No, move his hind right over to the left, but don't hit that cactus. Look at me. LOOK AT ME. Breathe. Are you breathing? I don't hear youuuuuuuu. Now, move his shoulders to the left. Now move his back legs up 6 and 1/2 inches. Ok, now, move his front right to the right over that next rock. Watch out for the cliff Ok, now, move his barrel only to the right while moving his rear left to the center. There you go. Now, wasn't that easy???" I was drenched in sweat. "BREATHE" I hear Sherrie say again. And again. And again. Now, I KNOW she would never put me in danger, but, mentally up on that hill, I just shut down. In all honesty, I have probably done harder stuff. But, I had shut down. Santana knew it, and I could just feel him wanting to go straight down that hill to get to Pharaoh since I had checked out on him....Man, these horse are so smart and demanding!
We went on , now on the actual, nicely worn trail and came to a jeep road. At that point I was quite sure we had covered about 9 miles.....nope. 3. Three miles. Felt like Tevis, not that I would know what Tevis feels like....
We rode some more, then Santana did a weird canter thing coming down a little hill. He had lost a boot. The gaiter had it still attached, but, there was no putting it back on. And Pharaoh wasn't quite up to par, so, we decided to head back to the trailer and call it a day. We only did about six miles.... but tomorrow we head out to Happy Camp road.. another trail I THINK I have ridden and know, but, I have never ridden it with Sherrie.......stay tuned....