Indian Wedding

Well, this is not about a competitive ride, or even a trail ride. But, noteworthy nonetheless. I was called by my friend Linda back in May. She said he had been asked for the use of her horse in a Hindu wedding. Linda was reluctant to take either of her horses and after thinking about all the horses she know, though Marie would be the best one for the job. Neither one of us know anything about Hindu wedding and what would be involved but I thought it would be interesting so agreed to go with Marie. I did a bit of internet research on Hindu wedding and learned that traditionally the groom arrives at the wedding on an elephant or a horse. As no suitable elephant could be found locally, a fat Quarter Horse would have to do. As the date neared, I realized I would not be able to go as it was my parents 60th anniversary and we were taking them out for dinner that night to celebrate. So I called Linda to tell her I couldn't go but she could borrow Marie if she wanted to take her. She did. Below is the email I got from Linda the day after the ceremony.


wwells9@myfairpoint.net to me
show details Jun 18
Hi Cindy, All went well today at the Hindu wedding ceremony. It was really some thing else! Marie had one bad moment when they started playing some very loud drums and flute music right next to her just as the groom was about to mount her. We did have the music makers go further away and then he was able to get on. At that point we started down the runway with about 100 people dancing all around us with scarves flying about. She was on alert (mostly concerning the drums) but she handled it This went on all the way down the runway. When we got down near the house, they said an airplane was going to land and come down the runway so we moved. At this point the groom dismounted and we left. I could not take pictures as I was holding on to her the whole time but I am in hopes of getting some of the professional photos that were being taken.
Anyway thanks again so much and now Marie can add that to her resume.
I'll call you if I ride tomorrow.
Linda






Link to Photographers blog with pictures.

Link to a movie trailer of the wedding.

Pine Tree 30 mile LD Endurance Ride Waterford, Maine June 2011

Louie’s first endurance ride had arrived, the Pine Tree. I had only entered the 30 mile LD ride but still a big step for Louie. My friend Ival McDermott was coming to this ride from NJ. I was so excited about seeing her and looking forward to riding with her if Louie and her horse Clover were paced well together. I had to work Thursday night. I planned to come home Friday morning, take a nap then head out to the ride. Ival and her group came up Thursday. I called her Friday morning to make sure they had made it ok. It had rained all day Thursday, through the night and was still raining Friday. Ival and her group were at the ride and she said they were doing a great imitation of drowned rats. She said they had gone through all the dry shoes and most clothes they had and were heading to Wal-Mart to purchase some dry items to wear. I headed out around 10:00 am. Louie was a little reluctant to load on the trailer but not a big deal. Though he started fussing right away once in with pawing and moving around. I got caught in some construction work on Rt. 26 on they way and had to sit and Louie was pitching a fit the whole time and rocking the whole truck and trailer. Bone head! When we got to the fairground, I wasn’t sure where Ival was parked. I had to get out and look for them. The whole time Lou-ASS is again pitching a fit in the trailer. I finally found where Ival’s group was parked, and parked fairly close to them. Just as I got parked, The NJ group arrived back from their exertion to Wal-Mart. I unloaded Louie and tied him to the trailer with a bag of hay. He was much happier once out of the trailer. After joyful greeting with Ival and Wendy, I was introduced to the rest of the NJ group.

Ival, Dom and Christine.


I set Louie’s pen up right beside Clover’s pen. I’ve never put Louie in a portable electric pen before and hoped all would go well. As I suspected, the batteries in my fence charger were dead. But, there was a store nearby so I could buy some if needed. I put Louie in the pen with water and some hay. He walked around the pen, checked out Clover then went to munching grass. He was very calm and relaxed much to my relief. I was still raining and though I was wearing water proof shoes and rain coat, my pants were getting quite wet and my socks were starting to wick the water from my pants. I put a rain blanket on Louie. He’s seldom ever had a blanket on but didn’t seem to mind wearing it at all. I then set up camp. Margaret Farnum had generously offered to crew for me and was bunking in my trailer. Ival brought me a chicken sandwich, granola bar and soda. (I have such good friends…) Ival wanted to see Louie fetch so I got out his rope bone and he was very happy to fetch for us. He did not want to bow with the blanket on though. He tried but seemed to feel too restricted in it for bowing. We all went up to get vetted in at 3:00 pm. Art King vetted Louie in. Louie was quiet and well behaved and did a nice trot out. His pulse was 32 so he was obviously very relaxed! He had all A’s on his vet card. A woman I’ve seen at other rides approached me and asked me if I would possibly sponsor her 11 yr. old daughter, Kayla, in the 30 mile ride as she was riding in the 50 mile ride. I had seen Kayla ride at the Crooked River CTR and knew she was a good little rider with a nice horse. So, I was happy to do this as long as our equines got along well. I just wanted to check with the rest of the NJ group I was riding with. They were all more then happy to have Kayla along with us.

Louie in his pen Friday




Louie, Clover, Jimmy and Razor in their pens Friday evening


We all went out for supper at Melby’s and as usual, had a wonderful meal there. When we got back, I fed Louie, picked out his pen and then visited with friends. The riders meeting was at 7:30 and was in a building out of the rain. After the riders meeting, Ival asked me if I’d fed Louie as he was mewling at her most pitifully trying to convince her that I was neglecting him. I told Ival he was making up stories. We didn’t stay up long as we were all eager to settle into our trailers and get into dry clothes for the night and stay there. Margaret had brought a bottle of wine which she shared with me and we chatted for quite a while. During the night I woke up numerous time to the sound of pouring rain on the trailer roof as well as thunder and lightening. I felt so bad for the animals having to stand outside in it.

Cindy with Louie just before the start of the ride


Cindy, Dom, Kayla and Ival ride start


I was up at by 5:00 am. I was relieved to see the rain had stopped, at lest for the moment. Louie looked no worse for the bad weather over night and was calm and happy to see me. I fed him, picked his pen, then went and had breakfast. When I came back to the trailer, Ival was up and about and asked if I’d fed Louie as he was once again telling her sad tales of how badly I was neglecting him. It still was not raining but we dressed for rain as it looked like it might very well do so. The 100 mile riders went out at 5:00 am, 50 mile rider at 6:00 am and we were going out at 7:00 am. I got Louie to saddle him up around 6:30 am. He wasn’t bad at all about being separated from his new NJ friends. We mounted up about 6:45 am and checked in with the timer. As it is a mass start and we had several newbie equines and a junior with us, we were going to hang back and let those that were going to race go out first. But, it was quickly apparent that everyone else was doing the same thing so we went out right away with only one other rider ahead of us. Louie was a ball of fire right at the start. He was strong but he never locked up and he was listening to me. For the first 3 or 4 miles, it was like riding Ruby! Yeeehaaaa! Kayla was doing great but it was apparent she could easily go faster. Dom was also pulling ahead of us. Within 5 miles, Dom left us and Kayla went with her. Ival, Liz and I rode the entire ride together with Louie and I leading the way. Louie did great. Once he settled down, we were no longer setting any speed records but he was steady and willing. He had a couple spooks at downed branches (his new phobia) but they weren’t big spooks and caused no problem. The rain held off and it was turning out to be a good riding day being cool with no bugs. The ride was much more challenging then I expected. But the trails were in much better condition then expected also. I though it would be bad with mud with all the rain we’d had but the trails weren’t bad at all. We went over French Hill in the first loop of the ride. That is a tough hill but thankfully it was done the opposite direction then last year. It is a 600 feet elevation gain in less then 2 miles. They way we went up was good in that the up hill had some short flatter sections to break up the climb. The downhill side is steep all the way with no break. We got off and led the equines down to give them a break. I think Tom, the ride manager found every hill in Waterford and put the trail over it. It’s the kind of trail I enjoy riding. Not sure Louie was as impressed. Though I have to say that he seemed perfectly happy out on the trail. We got into the hold in 3 hrs. We rode in slow so we able to go straight to the vet gate for pulse. All three equines were good on pulse and vetted fine. Louie pulsed 44/52 with all A’s. Margaret had everything ready for me. What a luxury to have such an experienced crew person! Louie ate well and was still very calm and relaxed. I had a snack bar and some mineral water. When I was done drinking my water, I dropped the water bottle on the ground and I asked him to fetch it. He could not quite get his mouth around it but he spent the longest time trying. It was a good way to keep him occupied, silly mule. He munched some hay and grass, ignored the water Margaret had lugged from her car for him but did drink some of Wendy’s NJ tap water. There no accounting for taste I guess. I left my rain pants at the hold. I took my rain coat off also deciding to leave it at the hold. So, I had to empty the pocket and find a safe place for all the things I was carrying such as my vet card and cell phone. I have Margaret my phone to hold onto. Then I changed my mind and decided to wear my jacket and took everything back. Margaret was very patient with me.

Ival with Clover walking into the hold


Ival trotting out Clover at the hold


Cindy trotting out Louie at the hold


We were out of the hold right on time. We continued to keep a very moderate pace taking it easy on the hills and in any rocky sections. A few riders passed us. Tom, the ride manager, had originally planned to have us cross a river. But, due to high water he decided for the sake of safety to reroute the trail to avoid the river crossing. This put us out on Rt. 118 for a mile or so. A very busy road. Louie is very good about traffic and none of us had any problem with this. Though when we turn onto a secondary tar road, Louie did spook out INTO the road to give a mule eating rock a very wide berth. Louie was doing very well and keeping a very steady pace. We were definitely not breaking any speed records but it was a pace that would get us to the finish in plenty of time. It was also a good pace for Liz's horse. Clover could have certainly gone much faster but seemed content to poke along behind Louie. 5 miles or so from the finish we spot a rider towards us. She asked us if we were riding the 30. We said yes and she thought we had missed the trail somewhere. I was quite sure we were on the right trail so we all continued the way we were going. Soon some 50 mile rider came up the trail towards us. They had already ridden loop 3, the loop we were supposed to be on and they confirmed we were ok. We did indeed finish the ride with time to spare. We did the last few miles quite slow so we wouldn't have to wait around long to pulse down. I went right to my trailer to strip Louie's tack. I was VERY pleased that he did not fuss about being separated from his riding buddies. He was fairly dry and not hot so I gave him a quick sponging just to clean him up a bit then got in line for vetting. There was a bit of line for vetting but it's always a good opportunity for socializing. One young man came up to admire Louie and he told me his dad wanted a mule. Louie just loves the attention. Louie's final vetting went fairly well. He pulsed at 48/60. He was reluctant to trot at first. I swung my lead rope behind me to smack him on the butt to get him to trot and he was absolutely outraged at the indignity! It is so funny how mules will humbly accept any correction that they think is delivered fairly. But if you correct them when they don't think it is deserved, they will be totally offended. So, he swung his butt away from me and did trot, but sideways with his ears back glaring at me something fierce. And while his return trot was much better, he still glared at me the whole way. SOOOOOO, on his vet card, he got a B for "attitude" and a B for "impulsion". He also got a B for "wounds" as he had interfered behind and dinged his fetlocks. But, he got an A- for the overall score. So, we had officially completed our first LD endurance ride! Yipppppeeeeee! I was very proud of my little brown mule. And thankfully he quickly forgave me for my unjustified (in his mind) behavior at the trot out.

Once done with the vetting, I put Louie in his pen with fresh hay and gave him some grain. I packed up what I could. As I was heading over to pick out Louie's pen, Ival asked me if I had fed Louie. He was once again mewling pitifully at her trying to convince her he was starving. I assured Ival that he was not being grossly neglected but did relent and allow her to give him some dengie. He LOVED that stuff. After I dumped the manure bucket and was returning to go visit with Wendy and Ival in Wendy's trailer, I saw that Louie had eaten a hole in the ground to get every scrap of that dengie. When I got in Wendy's trailer I told Ival that. A few minutes later Ival went out to look and was amazed to see I was not kidding when I said he ate a hole in the ground so she gave him a little more dengie. We sat, rested and visited for a while in Wendy's trailer. Dom came in an joined us.

Margaret had offered to work the ride once that I no longer needed her so she was busy up with the vetting crew. When lunch was ready, the NJ crew and I all sat together and ate. What a fun group they are. After lunch Ival headed for the showers and I drifted around a bit visiting with people and taking some pictures. We all gathered for the awards around..... 5:30 or 6:00 pm. There really aren't any awards for the 30 mile LD ride. But we all got nice towels with "Pine Tree 30/50/100 stenciled on them. And they had the awards for the 50 mile ride. A man and his son had come over to Louie's pen to admire him and Louie was happily soaking up the attention. Ival told them that Louie could fetch and they just has to see that. So, out came the rope bone and Louie happily showed off his fetching and bowing. He is such a ham. Once he was done with his performance, I tied him to the trailer so I could pack up his pen. He was pretty good. Margaret was done with her job and came down to say goodbye. I had to make a circuit of the fairground to find Ival and say goodbye. I then loaded up a reluctant Louie and headed home. Louie was SUCH a good boy the whole time at the ride. He was only naughty on the trailer. He just seems to be having so much fun at the rides which I love to see. I is amazing to see the transformation in him as he is growing up and maturing. He is turning into a top notch trail mule.

Irving with Peaches and Teddy (of Running Bear Tack)


Margaret, my excellent crew person


The vetting crew


Char Jewell (riding the 100)


Janet Brunjes-volunteer worker


Louie resting after the ride


Louie resting after the ride


Clover after the ride


Ival with Clover after the ride

Big Grin!

Crooked River 30 mile CTR May 28th 2011

Cindy on Louie

It was a slightly crazy week at work so I did not get very much sleep the day before heading to the ride. So, I decided not to go up first thing in the morning and opted for sleeping instead. I got up just a little bit before noon time, quickly packed and headed out around 2:00 pm. My friend Barbara was riding Marie in the competition but was not able to get the day off work. So, she was riding up to Waterford with Susie who also had to work.

It was a hot day in the high 80's and quite humid. Blah! When I arrived at the Waterford fairgrounds I checked in with the ride manager, Janet Brunjes, on where to park. We have had a LOT of rain this spring so the grounds were wet and parking was limited. Janet told me I could try parking in the pulling arena. One trailer was

already in there and he warned me the sand was softer then it looked. He was right, I did get temporarily stuck when trying to back into where I wanted to be. I unloaded Louie and Marie and a couple kind ladies offered to hold them while I worked on getting my rig out. I did get it out and eventually parked though not quite where I originally planned. Once I was parked, I then got Louie and Marie settled into stalls. The stalls are in cattle barns. They are open sided with quite low walls. This was only Louie's second camp out in his life. So, I was sure hoping he would be a good boy as he could easily jump out of that stall. I really didn't think he would try to go anywhere without Marie though. Louie seemed fine. He was alert and very curious but calm. Marie was the perfect babysitter for Louie as she's done this so many s. I settled them both in with full hay bags and water and both seemed content.

My friend Margaret was coming up to work the ride. She had asked if she could bunk with me in my trailer. I had not seen her all winter and was thrilled to have her company. I walked down to Melby's store/restaurant to get some drinks. When I got back, Margaret offered to help me get Louie and Marie vetted in so I wouldn't have to wait for Barbara and Susie to arrive. Louie was such a good boy. He remembered the vetting process from last weekend at the Acadia ride and was very calm about it. His trot out was pretty good though he did look a little bit.....uneven. Not lame in any one leg but just a slightly uneven stride. Hummmmmm. He did get new shoes the previous day. The farrier and I had decided to put a slightly rolled toe on him so maybe he was just getting used to the new shoes. The vet noticed and started him with a grade 2 lameness on his score card but was not worried. Marie vetted in just fine. Margaret and I settled them both back into their stalls. I had Janet set up a stall next to Louie for Susie's horse. When Susie arrived, she did manage to get her rig parked next to mine with a bit of cautious advise on driving in the soft wet arena sand.

Vet judge Peg Sheivly, Ride managers Louise Lester and Janet Brunjes, ride secretary Jane Graffam

When Susie was was done getting Spark settled into his stall, we were told the judges had gone down to Tut's for supper. We decided to go to supper also. If we waited for the judges to come back, it would be getting kind of late to eat. It was a little after 6:30 pm when we got to Tut's and we found out that the riders meeting was at 7:00 pm. Usually the riders meeting for this ride is held in the morning. Susie was very anxious about missing the riders meeting and was going to take her supper to go. I was not really worried as I knew we could get the information from someone when we got back to camp. Susie did stay and eat with us though she worried.

When we did get back to camp, the riders meeting was just over but I did get the map and directions we might need from Bill and Stephanie Rice. We took the horses and mule out to let them walk and graze and get in a good roll in the arena sand. Louie was still very calm and very interested in all that was going on. I was so happy to see he was not nervous or worried about anything. He was like a kid at his first slumber party. Once we settled the horses and mule back into their stalls for the night, I packed my hold bag and we all headed for bed. Scattered thundershowers had been predicted. We didn't get any where we were but we got a very impressive light light show from storms circling all around us.

I woke up quite a few times during the night. It was still hot when we went to bed but at one point I woke up chilly and had to pull a blanket over me. I was up by 5:30 am. Ride time was 7:00 am. I fed Louie and Marie and Louie still seemed very calm and happy. I then went to get breakfast that was provided by the ride. I was a bit early so sat and had coffee and visited with other early risers until breakfast was ready. Breakfast was French toast with strawberries and bacon. It was much cooler this morning and overcast. It was still slightly humid but a pretty good riding day for the equines.

Waiting to start Barbara on Marie, Susie on Spark setting her watch and Cindy on Louie

And We're OFF! Susie on Spark, Cindy on Louie and Barbara on Marie

We brought Louie, Marie and Spark to the trailers to tack them up. We didn't want to lug all our gear up to the barn. Louie was on high alert and did paw a bit when tied to the trailer if I walked away from him. But, when I mounted up, he stood still and was very good. We walked around for a little to warm them up. Louie was still alert but calm. And then we were called to start and we were off. We had started on Louie's first official CTR!!! Louie was quite excited and was trotting fast. I needed to rate him back this time because this would be the longest ride he's ever done but he didn't know this. Susie was struggling to hold back her horse Spark to a pace I thought was good for Louie. Susie has been having trouble with her hip and knees and I hated to see her struggling with her horse that was causing her pain just to stay with me. So, after a few miles, I told Susie to just go ahead of Barbara and I and she did. This was a good decision for everyone though Marie got very upset at first. She hates it when her "herd" splits up. She pulled Barbara for 15 or 20 minutes but then resigned herself to her fate and settled down. Louie too wanted to keep up with Susie and Spark but didn't pull or fuss and allowed me to rate him back.

Cindy on Louie out on trail

Barbara on Marie and Cindy on Louie out on trail

Because of all the rain the woods trails usually used for this ride were very muddy. So, the ride was kept to dirt roads and some tar roads. No one minded as none of us wanted to slop through mud. We got to the hold in very good time. This was Louie's very first experience with a hold. He did great. There is SOOOOOO much confusion at a hold and though Louie did get a bit anxious about keeping glued to Marie, he didn't loose his head. We took the full 10 minutes allowed to call for P&R. Marie needs the time as she is heavy muscled horse and pulses down slow. Louie's pulse was 44, Marie just squeaked in at 64. Louie ate the beet pulp slurry offered. He didn't drink anything. Neither did Marie. Louie didn't want to trot away from Marie for the vetting but thought about dragging me when going towards her! Louie did make an attempt to roll with his saddle on that I loudly and vigorously discouraged. We were a bit late leaving the hold but still were doing well on time.

At the 20 minute hold feeding while waiting in vetting line

Louie was wonderful on the 2nd half of the ride. He was now doing more miles and moving faster then he ever had in his life. He did get to the point were he didn't want to do so much fast trotting but was more then happy to canter and was still eager to go. I did not argue with him. He knew what was most comfortable for him and so we cantered a lot of the 2nd half of the ride. About 4 miles from the finish Marie suddenly put her nose to the ground and started sniffing. She then went into power walk mode. She never walks fast so we wondered what had gotten into her. She then started nickering and withing a few minutes we saw Susie and Spark up ahead! So that is what she was so excited about. We caught up with Susie so we were able to finish the ride together which was nice.

Barbara on Marie, Cindy on Louie and Susie on Spark about 4 miles from finish

Janet Brunjes, Cindy on Louie and Susie on Spark

Cindy on Louie

Barbara on Marie

We finished 10 minutes too fast so we stopped in a field just outside of camp and let the equines graze. Then we crossed the finish line right on time at 5 hrs. Louie was still bright and eager. We took them straight to our trailer to untack. We then took them right up to the barn to sponge them off and wait our 20 minutes for our final P&R's. Marie and Louie both pulsed at 48. Normal for Marie. I expected Louie to be a bit lower but it was not high enough to worry about. We then went for our trot out. Louie put on quite a show. He decided to do a "canter out" with a few bucks thrown in! Vet's said maybe he needed to do another 30 miles. Silly mule. AND, so far there is no indication that Louie's tack is not fitting well. Marie looked just a little off on her final trot on the circles. Once done with vetting, we settled them into their stalls with lots of hay and water to wait for the hands on part of the vetting. I gave them both some more wet beet pulp. Marie was happy to have it but Louie turned up his nose and didn't want it. But he did FINALLY drink some water! We went down to the snack shack for some lunch. We weren't quite done eating when they called the 30 mile riders for the hands on so we huffed down our lunch and hurried to get our equines. Louie stood nicely for the hands on. When the judges were done, I asked him to thank the judges and he did a lovely bow. They got such a kick out of that. We were done!!! And I knew both Louie and Marie had gotten a completion!! The vet commented that she thought Louie looked great for his first CTR and hardest ride he'd ever done. What a great feeling to have both my "kids" finish this ride after all I'd been through with injuries with them last year!!! I felt like a winner no matter what our final placing turned out to be. We packed up what we could and then hung out and visited with friends while waiting for awards. We checked on Louie and Marie several times while waiting. Marie snoozed. Louie was relaxed, munching hay and looked very good.

Coming into the finish, Susie on Spark, Cindy on Louie and Barbara on Marie

Susie on Spark, Cindy on Little Louie and Barbara on Marie

Cindy on Little Louie

Barbara on Marie

Susie on Spark

Cindy on Little Louie

Marie placed last with a score of 89.5. Louie tied for 2nd with a score of 98. They broke the tie in favor of the other rider so we were officially 3rd place. I was so pleased with Louie's score. He finished 100% sound. He lost 1/2 point for a scrape on his face, 1/2 point for slight filling in 2 of his legs and 1 point for his final pulse. The on trail comments on his score card were "calm and cool" and "forward and willing". And that was exactly so. Louie was very willing the whole ride and seemed very happy the whole way. I could not have been more pleased with how he did. Once again I underestimated my little brown mule.

Waiting a few minutes to cross the finish line as we were a little early

Barbara on Marie, Cindy on Louie and Susie on Spark

Acadia 15 mile CDR May 21st 2011

Barbara on Marie and Cindy on Little Louie (Bubble Pond trail)


The moment had finally arrived! Louie did his first official ride today. My friend Barbara rode my horse Marie. Another friend Susie rode up with us to work the ride. We only did the 15 mile CDR (conditioning distance ride) and there are no awards for this distance. But, as both of Marie and Louie had injuries last year, I thought this would be a good distance for them both. The ride was at Acadia National Park which is a 2 1/2 hr. drive. Acadia is a lovely place right on the coast and the the trails are groomed carriage roads that were originally built by the Rockefeller's. It's such a beautiful and unique place to ride with beautiful stone work bridges and many sweeping views of the ocean.

The day was overcast and quite chilly. It had rained every day for a week so we just prayed it would stay dry today. We made good time and arrived at about 7:45 am. Our ride out time was 9:00 am so I was in no rush. But, we had no sooner unloaded Louie and Marie when we were urgently called to vet in. So,Susie grabbed a brush and we did a speed grooming. Meanwhile the 2 day 50 mile riders on their eager and excited horses were all milling around and just starting to be sent out on trail. This was a new atmosphere that Louie has never been exposed to. After our speed grooming, we rushed up to get them vetted in. There were 5 or 6 volunteers as well as vet and lay judge suddenly grouped around Louie he had a temporary mental overload. When the vet approached him Louie said "Nope, no one is touching me, no sireee!!!" This took me by surprise as Louie is dog gentle and loves people. But, we were rushing him and giving him no chance to process all this new stuff. The judges were great though and left him alone and vetted my horse first. When they came back to Louie, he'd gotten his head back together and was once again the sweet mule we all know and love.

Louie did a great trot out throwing in a couple bucks for good measure. On his score card he got the comment "playful". Marie vetted in fine. She is such an old pro at this I think she could vet herself in. After vetting in we had lots of time to finish grooming and saddle up. By the time I mounted up, there were few horses on the grounds and Louie was pretty calm. But boy oh boy did he hit the trail like a ball of fire! He was excited and very forward but well under control.

Just out of the stable we met up with Kyle Nielsen and Louise Townsend coming off the Day Mountain trail. Barbara and I settled in just behind them and we started out towards Bubble Pond. Kyle and Louise were setting a pretty quick pace and Louie was pretty determined to keep them in sight. We did the loop by Bubble Pond. The first water stop was where the trail crossed the Park Loop Road just before Eagle Lake. This was 3.1 miles out. Louie didn't want to drink. Marie only sipped little so we pushed right on. We then went around by Jordan Pond passing the landslide, onto the 7 bridges trail (that I love) and on down to Seal Harbor where the 2nd water stop was at about 10 miles. We had kept up a steady trot and canter and did this in 1 hour. And I was checking Louie back the whole time. Marie was fabulous and totally in "the zone". Barbara was holding her back also. Once again Louie didn't drink but Marie did. We were well ahead of our time and had to slow way down for the last 5 miles. Louie did slow down on his own and we trotted and cantered a couple more miles but on a loose rein.

Cindy on Little Louie (Bubble Pond trail)

Barbara on Marie (Bubble Pond trail)

Barbara on Marie and Cindy on Little Louie (Bubble Pond trail)



There were bikers, hikers and carriages on trail and I was very pleased to find that Louie wasn't the least bothered by them. He did spook at a couple ROCKS....... but nothing to speak of. We had to slow down to a walk for the last few miles and we still came in too early. We waited on trail by the barn letting Marie and Louie graze for 10 minutes. I thought we were then good on our time but as we approached the finish line, the timer was yelling at us we were still 20 minutes early sent us back out. So, we went back up by the barn and let Marie and Louie graze for another 20 minutes so we wouldn't be disqualified. Though there were no awards for the 15 mile distance, the miles do count towards life time mileage and I wanted to get that for sure.

Barbara on Marie and Cindy on Little Louie (Seal Harbor)

Little Louie (Seal Harbor trail)

Barbara on Marie and Cindy on Louie (Seven Bridges trail)


When it was time, we joyfully crossed the finish line. We went to the trailer to wait for our final P&R. Marie had a big drink at this time. Louie only sipped a little but was quite and relaxed yet still bright eyed and looked good. Louie's final P&R was 34/12 and Marie was 44/8. We had a little short wait for hand on and final trot out. When we went up for our hands on, Louie was more then happy this time to "play" with the judges. He was schmoozing with them shamelessly. At the final trot out he was reluctant to trot away from Maire and when I got after him to go he threw in a little attitude buck in protest and was a little silly about his circles. But still trotted quite well....silly mule.

We decided to stay for the awards so we could hang out for a while and visit with friends. We tied up Marie and Louie at the trailer with hay and water and we had our lunch. There were some wonderful soups, sandwiches and home made deserts. After eating we walked Louie and Marie letting them graze. I led Louie up to the lay judge and told him to thank the judge for being so nice and cued him to bow. I didn't know if he would do this in public with so many distractions. But, much to my delight he did a beautiful bow. The lay judge had to call the vet over and Louie bowed for her also. They got such a kick out of that and had to see Louie bow several more times. Louie was a wonderful mule ambassador today. Marie was amazing too for a 20 year old girl. They were both ready for more miles and I was so pleased with how they both did. We did get score sheets though there weren't awards for the 15 mile CDR. Louie had a perfect score. Most important to me is he started with a "0" for lameness and ended with a "0"!!! Yeeehaaaaa!! His on trail comments were, "bright and eager", and "Interested and watching but quiet and alert". And he finally took a pretty good drink before we headed home. Marie's score was 98. We headed right out after the awards. It was a great day and so nice to see riding friends not seen all winter.


Barbara with Marie at the final vetting

Cindy and Little Louie waiting for final vetting

Cindy and Little Louie doing the final trot out

Little Louie schmoozing with the vet at the final vetting