Barefoot in New Mexico 2023

 For Thanksgiving weekend, we decided to try to sneak in one last ride before the end of the AERC ride season.

The results weren't entirely what I was hoping for, but we had a good time anyway.

This was the first time I've ever "trailer pooled" with another rider. What started this was my friend, Alex Collier, who is currently in New Mexico, was also hoping to get in another ride or two. So the initial plan was I would bring Demon and Halo, the horse she has been riding owned by TJ Davis, and we'd meet at the ride. Well, then TJ decided she'd really like to go, too. And there was another rider, Mari, who was hoping to get in another ride or two. So in the end, TJ packed up her 4 horse LQ, loaded Halo and Pazzport, and picked up me, Demon, and Trey.

Trey had done so well at Bill Thornburgh, and was looking so fit, I thought it would be pretty cool for him to complete a 50. This ride was a good choice for a first 50, being largely flat and good footing, so Trey could be expected to do well barefoot (as the ride's name suggests, hoof protection is not especially necessary).

Travel to the ride was a bit more eventful than anticipated, but that's a story for another time. Suffice to say, we persevered! We arrived in camp late morning on the Friday.

My initial plan was to tie Demon and Trey to the trailer next to one another. Trey, however, did not give me confidence he'd behave if we went with this plan. Not interested in a kick-fest, I ended up tying Demon to the truck.

Fortunately camp was small enough, and water close enough, we didn't need to have the truck unhitched to use to transport stuff around.

Day 1

On Saturday morning, we had 4 riders and 4 horses to get up and out of camp. In the chaos of getting everyone ready and out of camp, we both forgot our helmets, and TJ her protective vest.

We were already 5 miles out of camp when we noticed. Had we been closer to camp, we might have circled back and gotten those items. Things might have gone differently if we had. As it was, being that far out of camp we carried on.

The trails are absolutely superb, and despite the "flatness" meaning one can pretty much see ride camp all day, the views are so amazing it's still a really nice ride.

Unfortunately, Demon and I did not finish.

About 8 miles in, we turned along a two-track paralleling the railroad tracks. There was a cargo train going by. For some reason, I did not give this much thought. Neither Demon nor Trey has (well, had) *ever* seen a train, let alone trotted alongside one actually in motion. But Demon was handling it well, if a bit tense, and TJ didn't holler, so I didn't pull up.

We were 5 or 6 cars past the engine when the conductor blew the horn.

Demon was doing well right up to this point. That train horn undid him. 

Now, Demon is known for his 3 second spook. It's too bad it's about 2 seconds longer than I could stick.

Demon startled hard sideways. He hopped twice. I realized I was not going to stick it.

I'm told I was initially headed off in the "lawn dart" position, but got myself flipped over and landed on my right hip/low back. Somehow I managed to both hold my head up from hitting the ground and maintain my grip on Demon's reins.

My first reaction was to promptly get back to my feet. This was quickly revealed to be unlikely. Instead I laid myself back on the ground, still holding onto Demon's reins, the train clattering on by, oblivious to our situation.

From somewhere close by I could just hear TJ shouting, asking if I was OK. I tried to answer, but she's pretty hard of hearing, and the train was loud. She yelled at least 3 times before I was able to communicate effectively that, although I wasn't doing a whole lot of moving, I was broadly OK.

Trey had also spooked, although TJ was able to stick it, but when he saw me laying on the trail, he evidently decided that was more than he could handle and was determined to exit, stage right. So TJ got off.

As I laid there on the ground getting myself together, Demon stood over me, looking down at me then over at the train incredulously. Eventually he positioned himself between me and the train. He certainly seemed to conclude the train was at fault for me being on the ground, and he was determined to protect me from it, despite his ongoing fear.

Damn, I love that horse. He was legitimately, understandably, terrified. And yet, he was more concerned about protecting me than about escaping the source of his fear.

My fall was not Demon's fault. Nor was it the conductor's fault. The conductor blew that horn because he is federally required to do so. He was approaching a crossing.

No, my fall was entirely on me. I should have pulled up and dismounted. We could have hand walked the horses on down the trail until we separated from the tracks or the train had completely passed.

By the time I was able to get myself up, Alex and Mari had caught up. As I stood, I felt a little dizzy, my ears were ringing, and I had some vision disturbance. It was quickly clear I should not get back on my horse. So we called back to camp, and a trailer was sent. Demon and I walked back to the crossing, while the rest of the riders went on. One of the ride volunteers shortly drove back to me, having been alerted about my fall, to stay with me until I was collected.

It was the end of my ride, but it wasn't the end of the story.

TJ and Trey continued on. They stuck with Alex on Halo and Mari on Pazzport. While I rested in camp, snuggling with TJ's dogs in the trailer, I received occasional updates on their progress.

Trey did pretty well out there with the group, even able to drink at the same trough with the other horses (a skill Demon is still working to master).

The group came into camp with happy horses, and we got them vetted then back to the trailer to rest and eat. After their hour hold, the three headed back out on trail.

About halfway through the loop, Pazzport started showing lame, so the trailer was dispatched to collect him and his rider.

After Pazzport had to be pulled, Halo and Trey were a bit less enthusiastic. For Trey, it was his first time riding with a horse who isn't especially forward to start with. At his age and stage in his development, he's easily influenced by the horses around him. Halo is one of those horses who is more whoa than go most of the time, but does pretty OK either by himself or with another horse, if that horse is reasonably motivated. With Trey not being confident to go forward, and Halo having little motivation, they made their riders work for it.

They came into camp as the sunset faded from the sky.

Both horses passed the final vet check very well.

We made an observation about Trey that I found rather amusing. He is *very good* at the trot-out.

When he was about a year old, Beth wanted to take him to a show, and in preparation got him trotting in hand pretty well. Now, he trots out for the vet check as if he's trotting in a show. It's definitely not a bad thing! He looks very good doing it.

Day 2

I was really hoping for Demon to finish another 50 for the season, but I wasn't going to be able to ride. So we initially planned for TJ to ride Demon and Alex to ride Halo. In the morning, we discovered Halo was quite lame. This meant a change in plans. Alex would ride Demon, and TJ and I would both take the day off.

Demon and Alex left camp at a smart trot. Demon looked great. Alex updated me regularly on their progress. About 3 miles out of camp, she messaged that Demon didn't feel right. I instructed her to slow to a walk and continue on in.

At the vet check, Demon was clearly off. We took him back to the trailer to rest, the vet having asked me to bring him back for a final decision, but I wasn't optimistic. An hour later, I had Alex trot him away from me and sure enough, he was lame. Certainly more lame than should head back out on trail.

The vet agreed, and we spent a little time trying to determine what had gone wrong. The vet quickly identified swelling in his right stifle as the culprit.

Demon's right stifle having been a problem in the past due to a breeding injury, it wasn't terribly surprising. Considering how well he'd been doing, though, I don't believe it to be an overuse type of thing. I think he did it when he spooked on Saturday. Maybe if he hadn't tried to do another 50 it wouldn't have become an issue, but given the amount of swelling he had, I'm pretty confident it was there when he started on Sunday. He just hadn't noticed it yet. It took 20 miles for him to notice.

So, we spent the rest of the day socializing and playing card games (TJ's favorite pastime).

We joined the ride hosts for a lovely dinner of homemade enchiladas and cheesecake. Even those of us who did not complete got completion awards, transformed into "participation awards." 

It was a truly wonderful ride, and I'll absolutely be back. I'm hooked on the scenery, the trails, and the people.

Just, y'know, if there's a train, I'm getting off on purpose.