Day one started out at the early hour of 6am, but at least the weather was nice

Hog Wild Ride, 2 day back to back 25/50 Saugus, Ca April 17/18 2004

I love doing rides I have not yet done, so I jumped at the chance to try the Hog Wild Ride in Saugus, Ca. This was the fifth or sixth running of the ride, managed by Tammy Robinson. Besides- it was a two day, (meaning only one vacation day from work) and I would be riding Zayante, which makes it a no brainer. Judy was going to join me with Color the young Appy, but decided to stay at home, since she wanted to prepare him a little more before a ride this season. I took off from work on Friday at noon and pointed the big rig with the empty trailer south on Highway 5 for the long drive to Southern California. Empty Trailer? Why bring an empty trailer? You will have to read on to find out! I kept my string of “weird things that happen to me while going to rides” alive on this trip. The weather was strange- dark, a little windy, but not storming. The traffic was very light, I was driving along at 60-65 MPH, singing along to the Beatles, when a four door Toyota pickup passed me in the fast lane. He was going maybe 75, and got about a few hundred feet ahead of me, when I looked over and saw a little dust devil heading towards the freeway. I thought nothing about it as he drove right into the little dust storm, when suddenly his truck jolted to the right, and the contents in the bed of his truck flew up in the air! There was a big duffle bag, a couple of cardboard boxes, and a big plastic tuff bin with a lid. All of this stuff flew up out of his truck, and in a swirling motion, was flung off the freeway, over the fence! Instant yard sale! It went up at least 50 feet in the air before being tossed a couple hundred feet to the right, the contents all strewn everywhere. The guy in the truck quickly slowed down and pulled over. All this happened in about two seconds, and I realized- I’m about to drive into this thing! I hit the brakes hard and slowed to about 45, I guess, before I drove into the tail end of the little dust storm. WHAM! I have a one ton truck, a 3000 pound camper, and a steel horse trailer, and it took a big jolt from the wind. What kind of dust devil was that? It had to be a small tornado. What else could it have been? What do you call a small tornado? A tornadella? A tornadette? Whatever it was, I’ll be glad to never see it again. I had my pulse and respiration elevated for a while after that incident.

The rest of the drive was uneventful, and being glad I wasn’t deposited in the merry old land of OZ, I arrived at base camp around 7pm or so in time for the ride meeting. I met up with Jackie Bumgardner, who brought Zayante for me, along with Scud, who she was riding, and Oddesey, her mare that was being ridden on the LD by Susan Peters. Tammy explained the ride, and then told us about the history of the place- right here at base camp there was a ghost town for hogs. In the forties and fifties something like 50,000 hogs lived here. That’s a bunch of bacon. I guess they fed them with garbage from Southern California restaurants; that might explain why there’s so much trash out here. After the meeting we retired to the camper for dinner and an early bedtime.

On day-one about eighty riders started out at the early hour of 6am, but at least the weather was warm. This time of year I get used to those desert rides in winter where the water is always frozen! Jackie and I saddled up and headed out a few minutes after the start. The trail starts out climbing up a nice rolling fire road that climbed up to the top of the south ridge that would become VERY familiar in the next two days. We climbed up over the top; unfortunately there was no view to look at due to the clouds and foggy conditions. Down the other side we went, next to a ranch with trash piled everywhere- lots of great opportunities for Zayante to spook at stuff. We did a little roly-poley up and down trail that led us to the old paved road that was so pulverized it was more like a dirt road with spots of old asphalt. We trotted slowly up the road to a water stop and a trot by. Freshly watered and freshly trotted, we continued up the old road a while until we suddenly stopped at a line across the road and an arrow pointing left. We were in a canyon. Where’s the trail? I looked left, then tilted my head up. Yikes! There’s the trail- it goes straight up! It was one of those seriously steep single track trails that went straight up the side of the canyon. Breast collar in place? Yep. Horse got all his shoes? Yep. Oxygen mask ready for when I get to the top of this thing? Well, it wasn’t that long, but it was a grunt for the old white horse. Of course he powers up this stuff like he does not care, so up we went. Straight up we climbed; it was one of those hills so steep that my feet in the stirrups would bump the horse’s rear legs as he powered up the hill. Whew! The horses got a nice aerobic workout on that one. The trail continued up and up for a mile or more, all the way to the top of this ridge, then what’s this? It’s a false top! That’s what I call it when you climb to the top, but then you see the real top higher up, because you can’t see it from below. Up we go some more, all on great up and down single track trails. No level trails here. We arrive at the genuine top, way up above the valley where the base camp is. You can see camp way, way down the valley. We got a little rain up here, but it was mostly from being in the fog. What’s that old axiom about gravity? What goes up, must…. must do what? MUST GO DOWN! Oh yeah, down we went, all the way to the valley floor below. Steep, long, windy downhill, but all on great single track trails. I hop off again and lead Zay down the hills, something I would be doing a lot of over the next 2 days. I’m leading him down this trail so steep I have to put my feet sideways, when I realize the ribbon on the other side of the trail marks the inevitable- we will be going up this sucker! A long walk took us to the bottom of the hills, but a great section of single track led us through the final section of canyon towards base camp. There was plenty of garbage off the trail to spook at; so of course Zay obliged by doing his pin ball routine. We should get mileage credit for going sideways. Back to base camp after 17 miles for a 20 minute hold. This is nice- vet the horse and kick back in the camper for a few minutes. We quickly headed back out and climbed back up that ridge again, but this time went down and kept going south, heading for Los Angeles. We wound our way through a lot of residential areas- this is really an urban ride. Lots of houses being built, lots of ranches, lots of trash in the desert. Why do people do that? We went right through a guy named John’s home, (Thanks, John!) where we passed his goat who was standing up on top of a dog house. A guard goat? Maybe. He was bellowing at the top of his small lungs, making bleating sounds of incredible proportions and decibels. The horses were not sure about this one, but made it past without incident. We crossed under a highway of sorts, (after the long sandwash full of trash) and rode along in a twisty, neat wash along the highway. We crossed back over at the bar, where we should have stopped for a beer. We rode on more fire roads through a section of ranches where they must store old Hollywood stuff. The place was littered with old Army tanks, jeeps, trucks, parts of airplanes, and old weird vehicles of all sorts. All designed to spook Zayante. Boing, Boing, Boing we go, down the trail. A little climb back up that same ridge, and down to camp into lunch after 18 more miles and an hour hold. We got back to the truck and heated up the home made albondigas soup- yummy! It was a little cold outside, but what’s this? Plink! Plink! Ploosh! It’s raining! Huh? Well, we sure timed that right. Horses are blanketed, we are inside, let it rain. Jackie proclaimed it better stop in 45 minutes.

It DID! The rain quit just as we had to get going again. Now it was time for a short loop with maybe less hills? No such luck, more of the same. We head away from camp on nice, moist trails, and then, yes, back up towards that ridge again, but this time on a neat, but very narrow trail that winds along on tip of a different ridge. The steep ridge. Er- don’t miss a turn here, since it was a straight fall down a long way just over the side of the trail. At least there were no old vehicles or washing machines up here to spook at. (Except for one old rusty car) Back down the back of the ridge and across another paved road and into a little valley that was pretty populated. A couple of miles of trail led to more roads through housing developments and ranches, and what ranches they were! This has to be Hollywood stuff. Right across the street from a water stop is a big kennel with about a thousand dogs in it. Loud? You bet! In the same enclosure were a Camel, and a Kangaroo. Yes, we were not in Tunisia or Australia, but Santa Clarita. The horses looked hard at the bizarre beasts as we passed. The camel grunted something in camel talk, it sounded like a very big burp. A mile later, up on the left on a hill right above the road, is a camp with lots of monkeys in cages, all blasting all over the place doing monkey stuff. Leaping, swinging around the cages, making monkey sounds, right next to the road. Amazingly the horses walked by without incident. About the only animal not seen on this ride were actual hogs! We legged it though the edge of a freshly plowed field that was a foot deep, then it was through the dump, where Zay continued his spooking routine. Across the highway and through town to the Trail Rite Training Center and a 20 minute vet check. We stood around while the horses snacked, then climbed up a small ridge and back down the other side that deposited us at the finish line, around 3:00 or so. We took the horses to the rigs to strip their tack, and just as we were heading over to vet out the rain started coming down, hard. Very wet. As we were being checked by the vet, the hail started. Very hard. The horses kept trying to turn their butts to the obnoxious weather. Back to the trucks and the waterproof blankets, by the time we finished up we were soaked to the skin. Good timing, though, as we made it in off the trail before the nasty stuff started. A lot were not so lucky and came in very soggy. A hot shower felt great, and since the ride meeting/awards were not until 7, I took a nice nap, but it turns out they had the awards at 6, so I slept right through it. The completion award for day one was a tee-shirt with a picture of a flying hog that looks really mad at something. Since it was still raining on and off, I took a short walk on the trail away from camp up into the hills, but once I started thinking about mountain lions, I thought better of it and turned around and went to bed early.

Day two started out at 7 am this time, and the weather was glorious! Cool, clear, calm. The ground was nice and wet, making for perfect footing. Jackie and Susan loaded up and headed home, so I headed off in the perfect morning with my new friend Pam Bowen, wife of one of those lunatic distance runners Don, from Malibu. She was riding a nice young horse, a National Show Horse, I think, who liked to go. We headed out on Saturday’s loop one backwards from camp on the single track with lots of garbage on it, but the footing, was oh so nice. We trotted up the great canyon, then had to negotiate a section of uphill that was slippery due to the rain. Once past that, we started back up that giant downhill we had come down before. That’s a great way to warm them up! They were plenty warm at the top, and today you could see the views! We were walking along a nice trail that cuts right across the side of a steep hill when we were passed by the dynamic duo of Barbara White and her mom, my endurance hero, Julie Suhr. We scooted over and let them trot on by; I still can’t believe there are 49 Tevis buckles right there, between those two. We climbed back up that long ridge, then went down the steep stuff we had come up. That little hill that ends at the bottom is really steep. Back on that old paved/trashed road and trot slowly down to the water stop, then back up that same ridge AGAIN and down into camp for our 20 minute check. After a quick break, I took off my jacket and rode out in a tee shirt- perfect! Once again it was back up that same ridge- I was getting to know every rock and bush up there. Once again, we were headed backwards on the previous day’s loop two. We went through the old vehicle bone yard in reverse; that just meant Zayante got to see the other side of the junk, making them new in his mind, so he had to spook. We crossed the highway at the bar again, a friendly spotter helping us get across safely. But the sandwash was wet this day! So nice! It really was a gorgeous day. Back under the highway, and back to John’s place, looking for the alarm goat. Yes, he was there again, but this time, as we passed, the silly goat leaped off the dog house and right onto a passing chicken, which instantly became a ballistic missile chicken bent on scaring Zayante out of his wits! I had to coax Zay into going past this carnage by following Pam’s nice horse, but we made it by and back into the hills. We trotted up and down the rolling hills back towards camp, but turned and headed back up a long, steep uphill that yesterday was the opposite. I got off and tailed Zay all the way up- it was a long pull up that thing. We discovered an agricultural anomaly, or at least an oddity. The green grass that grew on one side of the trail was lush and wet, making a wonderful snack for the horses as we climbed and descended. But the grass was only on one side! Must be the sun. I pulled many handfuls of grass and fed them to Zay as we walked and walked down the hill. The bottom came at long last- we trotted back down that trashed road again, and then you guessed it, back UP THAT SAME RIDGE again, and then down into camp for the hour lunch stop. I figured that would have to be the last time I saw that ridge on the ride. The day was so nice it was a shame to sit in the camper and eat, so I pulled up a chair next to Zay and had my lunch while he did the same. It’s kind of rare that I’m at a ride by myself, but I really enjoyed just sitting in the sun with the old horse.

Pam and I saddled back up and headed out of the valley on the last loop, away from the dreaded ridge, but back towards the animal kingdom across the highway. We looped around on nice roads and trotted through some fields; it was actually sort of flat! We saw the monkey house, but at a distance this time. The vet check was up in some foothills, but a mile or so before the check Pam noticed that Zay had sluffed off the frog on one of his hind feet. Hmmm. I have not seen that one before. She said it was nothing, and the vet could cut it off at the check, so I led him a while to the check, where guess what, the vet cut it off! We let them eat for the 20 minutes, then headed for home. We figured the trail would just roam back towards camp, but after crossing the highway, those arrows pointed to the right, which meant going back up the ridge again! Okay- this has to be the last time. It was, but we had to pass by camp, way up on top, on our way to the cliff section, where you best not make a slip. That’s a long way down, and the trail’s about 2 feet wide in a couple of sections. More downhill roads led us to the main road, and then into camp for the finish. There were about half as many riders on the second day, but that meant they didn’t get to eat that spaghetti! Jonathan Bowman had a good day- he won the ride and got BC on Heigh Ho. The completion award was another tee shirt, but this one has a nice, happy, smiling, hog with wings on it, in color, no less. Mad hog on day one, happy hog on day two. I’m going to like wearing these things. The ride was great- superbly marked, there was water everywhere, and the workers and vets were all very helpful. I would not call it an easy ride by far, due to all that up and down. There was a LOT of up and down.

I spent Sunday night at the ride camp to give Zay a rest before the 7 hour trailer ride home. Yes- Home! As in Hayward! Jackie’s letting me bring the aged wonder home with me for part of the summer to live up north, so I can do some more rides on him. I have 465 miles on him so far this year, and it’s not even May first yet! He went to 11,860 miles on this ride, and how about this one- he has finished his last 45 rides in a row. Since I’m bragging about him, here’s a cool story that happened on the way home that made up for my tornado episode on the way down. I stopped at my final rest stop to give him his second break; it was a regular highway 5 rest area. I had him out in the leashed pets area, letting him eat the grass behind the picnic area. A family came down to see him, you know the drill. “Look, mommy, a horsie! Can we go see him? Please!???” They came over: mom, dad, 3 kids. While they were petting Zay, the mom noticed his number and asked me if that was a competition number. I told her, yes, I had just done a 2 day endurance ride down south. She told me she had ridden a couple of NATRC rides a few years ago, but the last child put an end to her horse plans. But then she told me that she had heard about endurance, and had always wanted to try it, but didn’t know much about it. In her words: “I subscribe to Equus, and a year ago or so there was this really great article about an old endurance horse from California who had done a ton of miles. I remember he was so pretty! I loved reading it, but I don’t remember his name. He seemed like such an incredible horse!” I looked at her with big eyes. “Zayante?” I asked. “Yeah, that was his name!” she said. “Do you know him?” I smiled like a proud parent and pointed to the white horse standing next to me. She was flabbergasted; we talked about him for a long time. It’s a small world. That was a pretty cool way to end a great weekend with an equally great horse.

Thanks Jackie-

Nick Warhol

Hayward, Ca. (Not Kansas, Toto!)