I've always been on a search to find the horse who can light the riding passion in me. That horse who's fun to ride with a challenging side that keeps me from being bored. I've always needed a horse who's been able to "keep me on my toes". Don't get me wrong, I've had quite a few REALLY nice horses, including some who did "fit" me. But in recent years there just hadn't been a horse who made me WANT to ride.
Until a few years ago, that is, when I got my homegrown gelding, Launi, under saddle. What a fun ride! A bit of a white knuckle ride, but so much fun with an adrenaline rush on most rides. I never know what he's going to do or what antics he's going to pull. Most days I'm just so glad to get back to the trailer in one piece. But how I love that big red horse. There's never a dull moment when riding him. I had big ride plans for 2014, including several endurance rides. I was looking forward to a great year of trotting down the trails on Launi. Then he got sick. Very, very, very sick. Fortunately, after 6 months of medications & treatment he is on the mend. But in the meantime, I've been on the search for a horse to ride.
Looking out in my own pasture is a gorgeous little, 11 year, grey, arab mare. DC Faye Bint Alyssa, aka Baby Faye, is the sweetest horse & one that I love dearly. I carried her down the pasture the morning she was born. We've always had a connection, but not one that I've ever thought of as a riding connection. What was I to do since I hadn't found a riding horse? The only thing I could do if I wanted to ride was to start riding Faye. Faye who'd had two gorgeous foals. Faye who'd had about 25 rides two years earlier. Baby Faye who didn't really want a job. Being a pasture puff was her preferred career. By the first of April I decided Faye had to become my trail horse because I was going crazy not riding. So our journey began.
As I did little trail rides on the local trails, I had no illusions that Faye would be an endurance horse. She's 14.2 with a short, western pleasure, stride. She didn't seem to really like going out & was always tense. She's a shy mare who holds everything in, but I could always see the pinched lips when we'd set out to work. Then I started riding with a friend. Having another horse seemed to give Faye the confidence she needed to come out of her shell. She really prefers to lead the way & has become a great little trail blazer. Nothing stops her. Even on our solo rides she now seems to enjoy the scenery. Finally I decided we'd start adding a little trotting to our rides. Faye wasn't thrilled with that idea & would only go a few feet before walking. Remembering that she wasn't even truly broke to ride, we just kept plugging away by increasing our distance & adding a little trotting.
Over Memorial Day weekend, a friend & I took our mares to an organized, fund raising ride. It was a little nerve wracking when we first started our ride. Faye was nervous & afraid of the other horses coming up from behind us. My friend's mare was also unsure of herself. We did 12 miles of playing leap frog so our mares learned to lead or follow. We did a little trotting, a lot of single track trail, & a couple of good climbs. By the end of the weekend our girls were getting comfortable with other horses & they camped really well. It was a great weekend.
Looking ahead, I had my sights set on riding the Tevis Fun Ride over the July 4th weekend. It's a fund raising ride for the Western States Trails Foundation. The trails are tough, technical, gorgeous, narrow in places, & sometimes a bit scary. Really? I was going to take Baby Faye? I told myself that I was going even if all I did was camp & not ride. Then I told myself I'd ride a little & if the cliff drop-offs or technical footing scared Faye, I'd get off & lead her for a short way & call it a good day. I really just wanted to go as I've gone with other horses & have always LOVED the trail. So I signed up & packed the truck. Then a friend said she'd go with me. I just knew we'd have a good time, & I love showing my favorite trails to friends.
We arrived at camp on Sat morning, set up camp, & then headed out for a ride. I was worried what Faye's reaction would be to the tough trails. We'd only ridden downhill once before (I usually lead downhill on our local trails) & we'd never done narrow, drop-off trails. I had forgotten about all the rock & tricky footing of the WST. We road down along the road until we came to the actual trail. Faye was in the lead because I didn't want her to get frantic trying to keep up with the stallion, Aur Aquavit, who was her fast walking partner for the weekend. She slowly picked her way through the rock, across the muddy spots, downhill with tough footing, to a very technical creek crossing. The water was sadly low, which thankfully gave our horses a good view of the footing. Faye was such a trooper because I was prepared to lead her across but that wasn't necessary. She very carefully picked her way across. I began to feel a little impressed with my little grey mare. Aquavit lost an easyboot crossing the creek so Whitney had to get off & put it back on. As the day progressed, he eventually lost both hind boots. A new plan would be needed for Sunday's ride. Note to self, do NOT use a boot with a Gorilla Glue repaired gaiter on trails as technical as the WST. Faye would eventually lose the rear boot that I'd fixed with glue. When I got off to get it, I slipped under Faye & she never flinched. I had gotten off on the upside & slid, but thankfully not over the edge. I continued on without the broken boot. On the way back to camp, we lead our horses down into the canyon. What a treat to be leading Faye. She stayed a safe distance behind me, never bumped me, never stepped on me, never balked, & never tried to rush pass me. At the bottom I mounted her from a log on the edge of the trail. Our ride back up the other side & to camp was a good one.
Whitney & I got an earlier start on Sunday. We decided to ride the same trail as Sat because we didn't want to walk down the road in the middle of town. I was surprised when we started out because Faye was actually walking faster than she had the day before. She was keeping up a bit more with Aquavit, although in all fairness he was walking slower than he had on Sat. Baby Faye lead down the canyon, doing a little power walking of her own. There was no hesitation at the muddy trail in front of the spring. She really wanted to trot. Right on across the creek crossing with a brief wait while her riding buddy negotiated the rocky footing. Up & up the canyon we went. Every now & then Faye'd sneak in a few trot steps. The heart rate monitor was impressive. The highest her pulse ever got was in the mid 150s. Pretty good for a marginally conditioned, green mare powering up the canyon. We stopped a few times so the horses could catch their breaths, put Faye didn't want to stand for long. Onward & upward. We got to the top of the canyon in less time than on Sat. Faye's pulse dropped instantly into the 50s. WOW! I was impressed. We lead our horses back down the canyon. What fun taking pictures of each other & laughing along the way. Then just before we got back to the creek crossing, BAM down I went. My feet slipped right out from under me. Faye froze. I wasn't hurt at all as it was a soft, silty landing. Just more to laugh at. Dusting myself off, I didn't realize I was covered in red dirt as I wiped my face with my hand. Just a little WST war paint. As I was using the log to mount, 2 horses came towards us. They passed us with no problem, which was pretty amazing since Faye's so green & Aquavit's a stallion. Across the creek & up we went, Faye in the lead. Coming down was 2 more riders. This time the passing wasn't quite so smooth. The trail was too narrow so they turned around & headed back up to find a wider spot. Their horses were fractious & I wondered how we were safely going to get around them. Never fear, Faye & Aquavit were there. Not long before the spring fed water trough was a nice place to trot. Faye needed no urging as she'd been wanting to trot all day. Oh what fun trotting Faye along the Tevis trail. I'm sure I was beaming.
On the drive home I was reflecting on what a great weekend. I was so impressed with my Baby Faye. She camped & handled the trail like a pro. I thought of all my friends who've told me that I should be riding Faye. So many have told me that maybe Faye's the riding horse for me. I suppose I should admit to what that really means. The horse for me is going to be a special horse to fulfill a special dream. For a lot of years I've dreamed of riding Tevis one more time. Every horse I look at, & every horse I ride, that's always the thought in the back of my mind. I've always seen Faye as a perfect western pleasure horse, never even considering her as the horse I've been seeking. Until yesterday. Maybe, just maybe, Faye IS the riding horse for me. It's quite possible that sitting in my very own pasture has been the hidden treasure I've been seeking.
I'm perpetually early & true to form, Faye & I arrived at 8:30. Not a bad thing to be early because it gives me plenty of time to get ready, tack up Faye, put her boots on, let her settle & finish eating her bucket of mash. I'm glad I had the extra time this morning because Faye was pretty nervous when we arrived. It took her a while to quiet down & relax. After tacking her up, I lead her around the parking lot & across the wooden bridge to the other side of the irrigation canal. She didn't even hesitate. 9am came & went with no sign of my friend. I was sure hoping everything was ok. At 9:30 I decided to start riding. Today was only Faye's fourth solo ride & she did AWESOME!
It can be scary for a horse to start out on the Western States Trail from the Auburn Overlook. The trail goes down in the undergrowth so it's dark & frightening. Faye snorted, hesitated, snorted again, & then just kept on going. I couldn't believe how many runners were out on the trail. The first 3-4 spooked Faye a little, but after that she either ignored them as they ran by or tried to reach out to see if their water bottles were carrots. The scariest incident of our ride was mysterious crashing ahead of us in the bend of a switchback. Faye KNEW it was a monster, & I couldn't honestly tell her different. As it was, it turned out to be a very noisy, obnoxious squirrel who was tossing pine cones out of the tree. I was glad to be wearing a helmet, just in case. And was so thankful a pine cone didn't land on Faye's butt. That would NOT have been good. LOL Faye's very careful with her feet on technical trail & today she was very aware of every hoof as we made our way towards No Hands Bridge, or the Mt Quarry Bridge as it's officially called. It was sad to see the lack of water on the trail. Where usually there's small creek crossings, only dry rock was there to cross. At least the waterfall had water, although so much less than I've ever seen it. The footing down into the waterfall is tricky & Faye took her time, pausing to listen to the water before she continued. She passed by the waterfall with only a moments hesitation before heading up the steps, back onto the old railroad grade. We passed a group of people, 8-10, belonging to an infant group. They all had infants in packs on their backs. Oh did Faye's eyes get big. But even this didn't stop her for long & it was on to No Hands Bridge. 
