Crooked River 30 CTR Waterford, ME Oct. 1999

The last competition of the season. Bonnie's horse has come up lame and my truck is broken down so I am traveling with Susie. Crooked River is a one day 30 or a 2 day 60 mile ride. I would have loved to do the 60 mile ride but Susie could only do one day and when you are hitching rides, you can't be picky. The trip started out great when I realized I had never sent in my entry form. I managed to get in touch with the ride secretary and she said there was still room in the ride and to come. PHEW! The ride in at the Waterford Fairgrounds. It is a very small fairground and about 1 1/2 hr. drive from home. The vetting in started at 1:00 PM. Stalls could be had on a first come first serve basis. Susie had to go to a convention on Friday so she could not leave early. We decided that Joanie and I would haul the horses up in the morning so we could get a good camping spot and stalls. I dropped my little truck off at Susie's house on the way home from work at 6:00 AM and picked up her truck and trailer. Susie just got a new truck and it is very nice. I went home, packed up, loaded Marie then went back to Susie's house to pick up her horse, Cody. He is a gray gelding and had just rolled in the mud by the looks of him and what a mess he was. I brushed him and cleaned him up the best I could then loaded him on the trailer. Marie was thrilled to see him and it was soon obvious she was in heat. Hussy..... Joanie was late getting to Susie's so we didn't get as early a start as I'd hoped to but that was fine. There was still plenty of room when we got to Waterford. The stalls are open cattle type stalls with no doors. I set up a line of electric fence across both stalls and that worked fine. I knew nothing short of electric would keep Marie in. Joanie and I lounged both horses to get them warmed up and relaxed after the trailer ride. Cody has a little problem with being a little stiff until he warms up and moves around some. We wanted to make sure he'd look good for the vet. We got in line to vet in hoping that Susie would show up before our turn came. She did and Cody vetted in just fine. Of course, stupid me had forgotten to bring my coggins papers and the ride secretary, Louise Lester, thought it over and told me she could not let me enter without the papers. Then she thought about it some more and decided to let me enter if I wrote a statement on the back of my entry form stating that Marie was current on everything with my vets contact information. I could have kissed the woman. Marie was very good for her trot out. Nice and quiet like you want. We settled the horses into their stalls and then set up our tent.
Susie had brought a 13 year old girl, Katie, with her that rides one of her horses sometimes. She seems to be a real nice girl and has been extremely helpful. We sat around for a bit and snacked on some cheese and crackers and had apple cider. Then we went around the grounds and checked out Jean and Elliots Bridges trailer. It was a nice two horse gooseneck with living quarters. Though the real reason we went to check it out was because it had heat and it was getting very cold out. Colleen Hoyt is here. Her son goes to the same school as Susie's son. both of their sons were in a football game tonight. And they got the bright idea to go to the game. We went to Tut's restaurant for supper. It is within walking distance of the fairground. The place was packed. By the time we got seated, Coleen and Susie realized they didn't have time to eat and get to the game so they left. Katie went with them. It would be nearly a 2 hr. drive for them to get to the game and a 2 hr. drive back. By the time they got back, they would not get much sleep before the ride. I thought they were crazy and Joanie agreed with me. Jean and Elliot came into the restaurant and sat with Joanie and me. They are such a nice couple. Elliot does not ride. Jean has been competing for about 8 year. Joanie and I picked her brain for useful information. That's one of the things I like so much about CTR, the people are so nice, and always willing to give you help and encouragment. Just a real fun group of people. After we had supper, we went back to camp and checked on the horses, then headed for bed. We didn't know when Susie and Katie would be back and didn't wait up for them.

I woke up about 1:30 AM. I was warm enough in my sleeping bag but I just couldn't get comfortable. I must have been sleeping good up until then because I never heard Susie and Katie when they got back to camp and went to bed. Susie was still awake. She and Colleen had only been able to see 20 min. of the football game before they had to leave but she said it was well worth it. I finally gave up trying to sleep as I had to go to the girls room anyway. I dressed and climed out of the tent as quietly as I could. I headed down to the dance hall where the bathrooms are and it seemed like a long way in the dark! When I got back, I just did not want to go back in the tent so I got in my little Mazda truck, reclined the seat snuggling into my sleeping bag and managed to sleep for a while. I was actually quite confortable and I probably should have just slept there in the first place.
About 5:00 AM I heard Susie up and around so I got up also. We fed the horses, much to the distress of the other horses in the barn who's owners were still sleeping. It was very cold out. I was dressed warmly enough but my feet were cold. Susie and I went down to the kitchen for donuts and coffee. The riders meeting was at 7:00 AM. We tacked up the horses immdeiately after the meeting. The first riders were out at 7:30 AM. We knew we were going to be the last riders out so had plenty of time. Susie did want to make sure to warm Cody up well. We went out last at 8:00 AM. It was the most beautiful ride. The trails were beautiful. Almost all of it on nice wide dirt roads or nice sandy trails. It was somewhat hilly but with such great footing for the horses that was no problem. We had to go by the hold and go around a five mile loop and come back to the hold for the hold ... is that confusing...after we we passed the hold and were on the 5 mile loop, Susie decided it was taking us too long to get back to the hold and got very nervous. She was sure we were off trail and had missed the hold. I thought I was going to have to thump her one to calm her down. I knew we couldn't have as we were still seeing trail markers. It wasn't long after then when we came into the hold. She was thinking it was only a 25 mile ride rather then a 30 mile ride and was getting confused everytime we saw a milage marker. Everything went fine at the hold. Marie's pulse was at the maximum allowed but not over and her respiration was fairly low. She has to work a little harder to keep up with Cody then she did with Shannon. We actually got out of the hold on time for onces thanks to help from Joanie and Katie who were working the ride.
Another friend of Susie's also showed up and helped out. We did the second half of the ride in great time and had to walk the horses the last three mile in order to not come in too early. Marie's P&R's were low at the final vetting and she did a great trot out. She was just a bit lazy about trotting circles in one direction. We took care of the horses and settled then into their stalls to rest while we went to get supper. They were serving a nice supper of ..... BEANS!! YUCK!!! There was also mac & cheese, ham, rolls and a nice home made apple crisp. It was all good and I didn't go hungry despite the beans. Joanie and Carol helped us pack up the tent and then had to leave. Not long after that the ride committee called us down for the award presentation. The first thing they awarded were the breed awards. When I didn't get the hight point grade horse, I knew the big ribbon was once again out of my grasp. But Marie did get a score of 99 1/2 which was great. I was delighted and proud of my little mare. She has just gotten better at each ride.

Crooked River 30 10/16/99 17/S&F
1 Crystal Mint / L Alexander
1 Czar Nicholas / L Lester
1 Kofaxx / A Wells
4 Izusu / S Niedoroda
5 VH Pahzon / I McNaughton
5 Marie / C Ross (score 99.50)
7 Desert Falcon / J Graffam
7 ? / K Downs
10 Olympia Gold / J Hunt
12 Mighty Frankie / T York
13 Xavier Sunnyacres / S Reinheimer
15 Rolling Stone / H Moss
17 Count Canaskis / K Brunjes

ECTRA year end awards
Marie 180 - Cindy 180
Bonze medal middle distance

Mountain Valley 25 CTR Turner, ME Oct. 1999

This adventure might not be as exciting as previous ones. I had to set off alone for this one. Bonnie's Shannon is having problems of some sort that hasn't been figure out just yet. The vet was coming this afternoon to look at her. Shannon has been going off her feed occasionally and having mild lameness problems. Poor Bonnie. Susie and I were going to drive up to the ride together but her son had a football game she didn't want to miss so she got permission to vet in on Saturday morning. I was a little worried about taking Fred's truck because I'd heard him say it needed a new battery. But, he told me it would be fine and not to worry. Turner isn't really very far so shouldn't be a problem. I found the ridecamp with no trouble. It was in a large field on the side of a hill. It was a really lovely spot with nice views. Marie was very stressed out about not having any of her buddie with her. This would be her first over-nighter without Shannon. I tied her to the trailer while I set up the paddock. This took me about 20 minutes after suffering a few brain cramps over it. Marie kept calling and hollering and rearing and swinging back and forth. She didn't go as far as actually pulling herself off the side of the trailer so I mostly just ignored her. When I finally got the paddock set up and put her in it, she was still having a fit. She rushed the fence a couple time like she was going to run through it but skidded to a stop at the last minute each time. She finally settled on just bucking like an idiot. Meanwhile, it was very windy and I was trying to set up a tent alone. I had not wanted to bother loading on the truck camper for only one night. I've set the dome tent up many time with no trouble but the wind was getting the best of me. While I struggled with the tent, six or seven people were all sitting in a camp nearby and not one offered to help me. I'm guessing they were having far to much fun just watching me. I guess I should have just asked for help but I eventually managed to get the tent set up on my own. Marie was still acting foolish so I decided to lounge her a bit before taking her to be vetted in. She jumped, bucked and dashed about and I had to get after her big time to get her to settle down. I didn't have much hope of having a good time getting her vetted in. Much to my surprise, she was absolutely perfect for the vetting. I put Marie back in her paddock and she settled down pretty well other then her constant hollering. I'd brought my little back packing stove and heated myself up some soup for supper. Mary Batt invited me to go out to eat with her and her neice but I didn't dare leave Marie alone with her being so unsettled. I was too afraid she might go through her fence. Later a bunch of us did get together to hang out and visit.


I went to bed fairly early last night. My wonderful horse called and yelled all night long. I'm sure everyone appreciated that. At least she stayed in her fence. I almost overslept. I'd brought a nice pad to sleep on and had my sleeping bag that was rated for -15 degrees so I was very comfortable and toasty warm. The only good thing about sleeping later then planned was that when I woke up and realized what time it was, I shot out of that sleeping bag with no thought to how cold it was. It was only in the high 30's, burrrrrrr. I fed Marie and made myself some oatmeal and coffee. The ride had some nice pastries they provided. Susie arrived just as I was finishing breakfast. Bonnie was with her to help us out and work the ride. I was so glad she had come. Bonnie and I went to get some pastries and find Susie's paperwork. The riders meeting went a little longer then planned and we were a little rushed getting tacked up. Especially Susie who had to get vetted in. Cody was almost not allowed to start the ride as the vet thought he looked a little bit lame. She finally decided to let him start and just keep a close eye on him. Susie and I managed to get ready on time with Bonnie's help. Marie was very bright and eager all day. I didn't think she'd be able to keep up with Cody but she did wonderful. At the hold Cody trotted out fine so we figured he must have just been a little stiff this morning from the trailer ride. Marie was fine at the hold. Bonnie was there at the hold and helped us out, but we were still 7 minutes late getting out of the hold. Ugh, there is just not enough time at the holds! The footing on the trail for the 2nd half of the ride was very rough and slippery due to recent rains. We had to walk through a lot of it but we did make it to the finish on time. We came very close to our maximun time allowed but didn't feel it was worth risking our horses. Marie vetted in great at the end. We didn't win any big prized but that's ok as she had the highest score yet. She will likely never be a grand champion due to the odd way she travels. But as long as she finishes sound and healthy, she is a champion to me. We had a wonderful meal after the ride. It was buffet style with lot of wonderful dishes and deserts. We all ate like pigs. It didn't take long to get packed up and ready to go. When I went to start the truck.......nothing....DEAD BATTERY!!! I was so mad at Fred. Not that it was that big a deal. We just jump started it but still.... Anyway, Marie and I got home safe and sound.


Mountain Valley 25 10/2/99 29/S 28/F
Junior
1 Indian Smoke Sign / A Cataneserah
2 Prince Aragorn / L Batt
Adult
1 Isuzu / S Niedoroda
2 Willows Rahmaan / I McNaughton
3 Midori / M Batt
3 LWF Paljoe Promise / M Farnum
3 HFA Silver Savanah / M Deleware
3 Czar Nicholas / L Lester
3 Sir Narionn / S Corr
9 Czaar / S Nash
11 Kineo / P Snow
11 Ben Putnam / S Day
11 Kahlua / P Bell
11 SA Lady Nevada / H Bonneau
11 Xavier Sunnyacres / S Reinheimer
17 ? / K Downs
17 SA King Hofflin / V Austin
Comp Count Canaskis / K Brunjes
Comp Marie / C Ross (score 95.75)
Comp Olympia Gold / J Hunt