Had a good but slow first loop at Happy Jack Ride

I was debating leading out or trying to ride at the start and decided to try riding. Sadie had happy feet and some boing boing deer hopping and I was able to ride through that at the very beginning going down the the road. Then we turned off right behind the horse camp and with the siren call of camp and big meadow vs a defined road Sadie was ending up doing circles and I wasn't able to get her lined out going straight so I just got off and led her. She calmed down when everyone had passed us and she had gone a few hundred yards but a Saturday rider had told me there was a boggy water crossing 1/2 mile from the start. Ah no, it was over a mile so I walked a bunch more than I would have needed to. I found a way around the first deep crossing and my alternate route was shallow water and not too muddy, but the trail looped and we had to cross again in a 100 yards. Sadie was not going to cross that even with me leading and I felt like that mud might suck my lace-ups off; so I detoured from the muddy area with little dropoffs into the muddy water and took her through some soggy wet grass area instead --that area still had a few spots of deepish mud. So I got my feet soaked and muddy but my shoes and her hoof boots stayed on and we were back on marked trail so it was okay.

I walked her a bit after that for her to calm down from the skeery mud experience and then mounted up. I had to lead her past a few campsites, as apparently tents look just like horse eating monsters and I opted to lead her through some technical rocky areas. She did quite good, going through lots of brush, picking up a trot on the good footing open spots without me even asking and so on and as I got tired I just stayed on for some shorter technical sections and she just walked through them nicely.

However with the walking a long ways out and my trudging walk pace through the technical spots and so on it took us 4 hours to complete the loop which is billed as 15 miles and may only be that far but is technical enough that it feels like 16 or so miles. I had already given myself permission to quit after one loop and the ride is billed as a 25 miler with a 6 hour time limit and a 1 hour hold before we could start the second loop so I knew there was no way we would complete that 12 mile last loop. (it used to be a short 10 but its longer now although I don't know that they have acknowledged the extra distance.) So I vetted through and Sadie passed but she did have some B's vs A's on gait and hydration and then I pulled and the manager will have to decide if it should be considered Rider Option or RO/OT RO/lameness RO/metabolic since it was not just that I was tired, we would not have completed in the allotted time and Sadie was not 100%.

I felt a bit weird about entering when I knew going in that there was a good chance I wouldn't finish since Sadie is still so green and I figured I might have to do a lot of getting off and leading. But since the ride didn't offer a 'fun ride' distance and I didn't have a sound horse to ride one day officially and then just take Sadie out on the last loop before riders would be on it the second day, I felt like it was better to enter the distance and even though I had given myself permission to quit it was a good thing to be entered as it gave me the mindset to go on through the creek crossings rather than thinking "I don't want to get my feet wet and muddy and then have to ride 14 miles" plus it was good exposure for Sadie to go through the start with several other horses and cross the creek and so on and I got to have her vetted before and after the ride so I know she doesn't have any lameness issues other than she was a bit tired.

I was taking Sadie to the saddle maker this morning to get the saddle fitted to her since Shade will not be doing any serious mileage anymore; so I stayed overnight and hung out with the RM and volunteers and a few riders who also stayed overnight for quite a while on Sunday night. They were friendly to me so I have the impression they figured it was fine to enter and give the ride the financial support versus feeling annoyed with me for entering on a horse that wasn't ready yet.

Sadie bounced back with a few hours of rest and was trotting circles on the lead rope when I was walking her around to graze and stretch her legs on Sunday late afternoon and again this morning.

Got home and the mini's were so excited they pushed the gate open. Frosty went out the driveway gate that I had not shut right away before unloading Sadie but he did come back in the yard on his own and I got the driveway gate shut behind him. I was able to lure Mojo into the pen with some feed .Then I guess Frosty figured he had gotten enough running around done, so he came up to me and ate some feed I put in a pan and let me halter him. Haltering and getting his fly sheet on daily has been good to tame him down quite a bit.