Boo 25 Ride & Drive West Sumner, ME Oct. 2001

The last big adventure of the season. I decided to enter this competition as a driver. Marie has been doing so well with her driving. I wanted to have a 'groom' for this ride as a driver. So, I invited Holly to come along with me and she agreed. I was very surprised she could go since she works two jobs, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask. She took the time off both jobs to go. I was so excited! Holly and I haven't done anything together in a long time. Fred picked Holly up Friday morning on his way home from work. I had packed the trailer Thursday. Halla arrived at my house at 8:25 AM. Fred helped us load my cart into my little Mazda truck. Bonnie was going to pick up the truck when she got out of work and bring it up to the ride. I was hauling her horse, Lady up for her. Holly and I put shipping boots on Lady and Marie, loaded them up and we headed out. Halla led the first half of the drive up. She was familiar with a shortcut that would take us around Lewiston/Auburn. Once we got to Turner, I took the lead. When we arrived at the ride site, there was only one trailer there so we had our pick of where to park. We parked as close as we could to where the food and vetting would take place. The farm where this event is held is so beautiful. It sits on the side of a hill with great views of the surrounding mountains. Leaves were at their peak color. We each set up our portable fences. Holly bounced back and fourth helping both me and Halla. I put a line across my pen to keep Lady and Marie separated. Lady picks on Marie occasionally and I figured we'd have a more peaceful weekend if they were kept apart. The horses all stood quietly in the trailers while we were setting up the fencing. We just opened up their windows so they could stick their heads out and watch. After we got the horses settled into their pens with hay and water, we headed down to the house to sign in and get our riders packets.




Laura, the owner of the farm was there. She was in her kitchen, sitting on the floor cleaning her harness. The ride manager had not arrived yet so we had to wait to sign in so we decide to go out for lunch. There is a little place to eat less then two miles from the Farm. Halla and Holly had breakfast. Holly had been sick and still wasn't feeling her best so wasn't very hungry. Bonnie arrived at camp around 2:30 PM. When I went over to my truck to unload my cart, I noticed something wrong. The seat to my cart was not there. I asked Bonnie where she had put the seat, she just gave me a blank look. The stupid seat had blown out of the truck somewhere along the way! AAAGGGHHHHH! We quickly unloaded the cart and all jumped in my truck to go looking for my seat. We drove all the way back to my house scouring the sides of the road getting more and more sure we had seen the last of my seat. Just two miles from my house, there it was laying on the side of the road. The seat is not that light and it was right near where Bonnie pulled out from the road I live on so couldn't have been going very fast. I was really surprised it had blow out of the truck. Weird. Anyway, I was just glad to have it back! By the time we got back to the ride site, a lot of people had arrived. Susie had wanted me to save her, Joanie and Mary a place but since we were out looking for my seat, we'd been unable to do that. We hurried to the house to sign in and get our rider/driver packets. Then, we got the horses, put their numbers on them and got them vetted in. All the horses vetted in fine. I trotted Porsha for Joanie. Joanie's foot is giving her trouble again and she has to go back in for surgery. Poor Joanie. Once done vetting, we headed over to the house for 'snacks'. Just like last year, 'snacks' turned out to be a full meal. There was ziti, chop suey and goodies of all descriptions and was absolutely delicious. After we ate, we fed our horses. Then went to the barn where there was line dancing. Susie was teaching the dances. Holly took charge of the music and it was a lot of fun. We danced from 8:00 to 10:00 PM. We took one short break in the house to get refreshments. Steve and Laura, the farm owners, built a big campfire and those not dancing to sit around. Everyone enjoyed themselves. After we all went to bed, Holly, Bonnie and I talked a long time in the trailer before finally going to sleep. I was so worried we would freeze to death camping out this late in the year. I had brought all my warmest sleeping bags and a down comforter. It wasn't actually all that cold that night and even warmed up some through the night.



Bonnie and I were up before 6:00 AM. We fed our horses and Halla's horse. Then we made a bee-line for the house for coffee and breakfast. Halla showed up for breakfast soon after we got there. We had plenty of time to relax, eat and socialize. Joanie and Ruthie West showed up a little after we did. Susie rushed in later as usual. Holly was still sleeping when I got back to the trailer to get Marie ready. Holly got up and went to the house for something to eat while I harnessed Marie. Bonnie and I knew that Lady and Marie were not going to be happy about being separated today. We were just hoping it wouldn't be too bad. The safety inspection for the drivers was at 8:00 AM. Then, ther was the costume judging. I didn't have a costume so I just drove Marie around trying to keep her quiet. She wasn't quiet. She was very unhappy about being separated from her buddies. She whinnied and called and danced around. I happened to look over at the pen were Bonnie and Halla's horses were. Halla's horse, Slick, was rearing up high and pawing the air. Lady was popping and bucking around. Bonnie and Halla's eye's were the size of saucers and they were both looking like, "Do we really want to get on these crazy horses!". I must say the horses looked very impressive. I managed to keep Marie under control until it was time to go. The first driver went out at 8:30 AM. Joanie was out at 8:31 AM and I was out at 8:32 AM. The first 4 mile or so were woods trails. It was very rough for driving. Marie wanted to catch up with Joanie very badly so was strong and pulling me. Because the trail was so rough, it took a few miles to catch up to Joanie. Once we did, Marie finally relaxed and was much happier. There was one spot on the trail that was so rough, I though Joanie and Ruthie were going to bounce right out of the cart. I was faring a bit better as my cart was narrower. After we got out of the woods, we had 8 miles of beautiful dirt roads. Joanie slowed down on a hill and I ended up passing her and going on ahead. A bit later as were were going down another hill, a dog came crashing through the woods just behind us and scared Marie half to death. Marie isn't afraid of dogs, but it never barked and was just crashing loudly through the leaves. Marie with her driving blinders on couldn't tell what it was. She bolted down the road! I pulled back on the rains and told her to whoa. At first she kept running and then was angling off towards the woods. I was having flashbacks to the accident I'd had driving my pony. I dropped my left rein and got both hands on the right rain so I could at least try to keep Marie on the road. Holly immediately picked up the rein I had dropped and helped me to stop Marie. She finally did come to a stop. When I tried to get out of the cart, Marie bolted again, I got her stopped quickly this time but now she was rearing. Holly quickly took the reins while I jumped out and ran to Marie's head. As soon as Marie could see me, she stopped and stood quietly. She was so scared though that she was shaking like a leaf. Marie has never spooked like that in all the years I've had her. I told Holly to get out of the cart until Marie was calm. I walked Marie back up the road in the direction we had come from. Eventually, Joanie caught up to us. Holly and I got back in the cart and I put Marie behind Joanie and Porsha so she would have the security of another horse in front of her. I was so proud of Holly for keeping her cool and not panicking. We finished the rest of the first loop with no further excitement. The last two miles into the hold were the hardest. All uphill and some quite steep. It was also muddy and rocky and very hard work for the driving horses. Marie dug right in though and pulled hard. Marie did fine at the hold. She was looking around for Lady and was a bit anxious but not bad. We were late leaving the hold as I was waiting for Joanie not realizing she had been pulled from the competition due to Porsha being lame.
As soon as I realized Joanie was pulled I headed right out hoping not to run into Bonnie on Lady coming into the hold. The last thing I needed was for Marie to actually see Lady. But sure enough, just as we were heading for the trail, along came Bonnie and Lady. I slowed down hoping Bonnie would get off the trail and up into the hold area before Marie saw them. Bonnie missed the hold entrance and rode right down the road towards me. AAAHHHHH!! I yelled and pointed, "Bonnie, you missed the hold, on your right!!". She stopped, looked around then saw where she was supposed to be. But, it was too late, Marie and Lady has spotted each other and started calling. Marie got very excited and started rearing. Larry Buggia, the vet judge, saw what was going on and hurried over to hold Marie until the trail was clear for me to go. Marie at least did go when I asked. Marie was not very happy through the whole second loop, which was a repeat of the first loop. She called the whole way around, but otherwise behaved quite well and we actually had a very nice drive on the second loop. I was worried about passing the spot where the dog had spooked Marie on the first loop. I thought she would be nervous and looking for the dog there. But, all went well and Marie was fine. About 5 miles from the finish, Holly and I realized we had a flat tire. We stopped and I put some air in the tire but I could hear the air leaking right back out. I pumped it up one more time before we went onto the woods trail but it didn't last. I just prayed the rim would hold out. As we neared the end of the ride, I realized I was very close to my maximum time. We hurried as much as we could. The trail was rough, uphill and muddy at this point. Holly was bracing herself on her seat and holding on for dear life telling me, "go Cindy,go, we can make it." We didn't quite make it. We were 4 minutes over so took a 4 point time penalty. Holly and I took Marie to the trailer and got her unhitched. Marie was once again very anxious and looking for Lady. I was worried that her pulse would never come down with her fretting like that. She finally calmed a bit about the time I had to have her P&R done.... and that was when Bonnie rode into camp. I urgently called to Bonnie and asked her to bring Lady over to stand by Marie while her P&R was taken. The P&R person was very understanding and gave Marie a minute to settle down. She did and her P&R was fine. Marie had a good trot out also. Halla's horse Slick didn't want to do his trot out. Tom Hutchinson had to get in the arena and chase him to get him to trot. I knew that wouldn't lead to a very good score for Slick. Lady's trot out was great. Once Bonnie, Halla and I had done our trot outs, we put the horses in their pens and went to the house to eat. As usual, the food was wonderful. We brought our food back to the trailer so we keep an eye on the vetting and would be ready when it was our turn for the hands on. Once that was completed, I hurried over to Susie's trailer to return some things I had borrowed. I knew she wouldn't want to wait around for the awards. She is always in such a rush to get home after a ride. Halla didn't believe me when I told her Susie wouldn't stay. I was right, she was in a rush packing up and getting ready to leave. Bonnie, Halla, Holly and I went down to the house to hang out and socialize while waiting for the award ceremony. It didn't take them long to get the scoring done. I won high point rookie driver, high point rookie horse. Anna, Susie's niece won high point rookie rider, high point rookie horse and oldest horse to complete the ride. Joanie won "most original costume". Halla's Slick won high point QH. After the awards, it didn't take us long to pack up camp. Halla had adopted Holly as her personal slave so Holly helped her pack up her pen. It was dark by the time we finally pulled out. Holly decided to drive my little truck and lead the way home. She was pretty sure she could find the way. She did take one wrong turn but we came out on a major road we were familiar with so got home with no trouble. We all had a great weekend. I am so glad Holly came, it was so much fun spending time with her.

Boo! 25 Ride/Drive CTR ME 10/20/01 5/S-3/F
Judges: Buggia - Levillie
1 Ben Putnam / S Day
2 Marie / C Ross (score 91.00)

2001 ECTRA Year End Awads
Career miles Cindy - 605 Ride
Career miles Cindy - 25 Drive
Career miles Marie - 630

Versaility Open
Certificates
Czar Nickolas - Louise Lester ME
Cover Boy - Christina Sadowski MA
Baskin Serafix - Sharon Akerstrom NH
Serr Rascal - Edwin Reynolds VT
Silvea - Janet Brunjes ME
Hawks Nest Tradition - Alan Wells VT
Brios Kavalier - Kathie Duggan MA
Scatri - Mary Colemam (owner) PA
Marie - Cindy Ross ME
PS Sir Sedgewick - Sue Corr
Skys Orion - Barbara Gerstner VT

Bronze
Alora Danin - Kathy Brunjes ME
LWF Paljoe Promise - Margaret Farnum ME
Rushcreek Equal - Gracelyn Pawlowicz NY
SR Gibralter - Steve Rojek VT
Sea Hawk - Suzanne Novatny NJ
YR Nicodemus - Deena Smith MacDonald NH

Silver
Chelby - Joe Steele (NH) & Jenny Kimberly (VT)
Stoneybrook Lyric - Stephanie Muncy VA
Syrocco Blair - Dr. Meg Sleeper NJ
WCM Beaumark Morgan - John & Sue Greenall VT
Wildwoods Lira Lyn - Joyce Sherman NJ

Gold
Hawks Neoploitan - Mary Coleman PA

Acadia Pleasure Ride Sept 2001

Another great adventure. This time it was just a pleasure trip. Bonnie, Halla and I went. We headed out about 8:30 AM Saturday morning. We met Halla at the gas station in Richmond that is by the highway. Halla led the way to Bangor where we stopped at Dysarts Truck Stop for something to eat. I had to gas up. Halla has a nice new diesel truck and gets much better mileage then I do. We dropped the windows in the horse trailers so the horses could stick their heads out and look around. They were quite fascinated by all the trucks. When one would go by they would quickly pull their heads back in like they feared losing them. It was funny to watch.

Halla wanted me to take the lead from Dysarts so I could show her the route I take to get to Wildwood Stables once you get on the island. It rained on and off all the way there, but it wasn't bad traveling. We had just crossed onto the island when suddenly my truck starts sputtering, spittering and coughing. I looked at the battery gauge and the battery was stone dead! I quickly turned my lights off and that gave me just enough power to keep going. I knew right away the alternator was bad so I just crossed my fingers and said a few prayers and kept driving. Every time I hit the breaks, the battery gauge would drop to nothing, then come back up. But, less and less each time. I thought about unplugging the trailer but the island is hilly with narrow winding roads, I didn't dare drive without trailer breaks. God was definitely watching over me because I actually made it all the way to Wildwood Stables. The truck died in the parking lot. we unloaded the horses and got them all settled into their stalls. Then, we used Halla's truck to jump mine so I could park the trailer in the campsite. I backed the trailer across the parking lot and into the campsite slick as can be. I was proud of myself. I went into the office and asked if anyone knew of a decent mechanic. No one did. So, I asked for a telephone book, turned to the yellow pages and picked the nearest garage listed. I could only hope it was a decent place. I called the garage and the owner said he couldn't do anything until Monday. That was the day we were supposed to leave. Since there was nothing else I could do, I said that would be fine and told him I'd drop the truck off sometime on Sunday. I called Fred to let him know what was going on and that I might not be home on Monday. Ed, the stable manager, said that Bonnie and my stalls were booked up the rest of the week but that he would find a place for our horses if we had to stay longer. Halla's stall was open and she said she would stay also. Having done all I could about the truck, we went ahead and set up camp.

We were parked in side by side campsites. We stretched a tarp between the two trailers and pulled a picnic table under it which made for a great little set up. We then headed out for a short ride. The weather had cleared off quite nicely. There was a little fog but not bad. We did the Day Mountain loop. We met the big carriages at the top. My horse has seen them before but Halla's horse, Slick, and Bonnie's horse, Lady, have not. They were just a little bit nervous about them but did walk by with a little encouragement. We headed back down the mountain and it wasn't long before we heard the carriages coming down. That made Slick and Lady quite nervous so we trotted on ahead to an intersection and waited for the carriages to pass. Lady and Slick were fine after that. When we got back to camp, we settled the horses into their stalls for the night and headed into Bar Harbor for supper. I can't remember the name of the place we ate but it was very good. When we got back, we checked on the horses making sure they had plenty of hay and water for the night then headed to bed ourselves. we did stop for a few minutes to visit with the people in the next campsite. They had a nice fire going. A couple of the carriage drives were there. And they, of course, had some good stories.

I got up about 6:00 AM on Sunday morning. Bonnie and I fed all three of the horses then heated up water for coffee. We knew Halla would be useless until she got her coffee. Her boyfriend serves her coffee in bed every morning. We told her we would make the coffee but she could forget about getting it served to her in bed! I had some oatmeal and fruit. We decided to drive over to the garage where I would be dropping my truck off to make sure we could find the place and that it wasn't too far as I didn't know how long I could keep my truck running when we jumped it again. We found the garage with no trouble. When we got back, we tacked up the horses and headed out for a ride. We did the Bubble Pond and Jorden Pond loops. Halla thought that slick was acting like he was a little sore a few times going down hills. So, we rode slow to make sure he was alright. The weather was outstanding. After we rode, we made sandwiches. After lunch we jumped my truck and dropped it off at the garage. After we got back, we took our chairs over by the barn and just hung out for a while. We decided to do the Day Mountain loop again. I rode Marie bareback. Marie is not well built for riding bareback. She is built like a 55 gallon drum and does not have a smooth trot. When we did trot, I got to bouncing so bad it's a wonder Marie didn't just buck me right off. We decided to stick to walking or cantering, I could sit to that. There were three of the carriages at the top of Day Mountain for the sunset drive. All the tourists were out of the carriages and all over the top of the mountain. Marie, as usual, was fine. Lady was good about it also. The stable manager was driving one of the carriages. When we rode by him, I noticed him watching me. I told him I'd had to sell my saddle so I'd have enough money to get my truck fixed. He got a good laugh out of that. We headed down the mountain before the carriages. They soon caught up to us so we stopped and let them pass. Lady danced around a bit then. Not out of fear of the carriages, she wanted to get back to camp, it was getting past feeding time! But, Bonnie handled her fine. We did some more trotting on the way back to camp and Marie figured out that if she rounded out and collected her trot, it was smoother and I didn't bounce on her back. Smart horse! I was a bit stiff when we got back to camp but not too bad. Lady was a little warm so we didn't give them their grain right away. We did give them lots of hay and water. Bonnie put a light blanket on Lady to make sure she didn't get chilled before she was dry. We went over to Northeast Harbor for supper. We'd seen a couple of likely places to eat when we'd dropped my truck off at the garage. It was getting a bit late so there wasn't much open. We ended up going to a restaurant lounge in a motel. It was nice and the food was very good. They had live entertainment, if that is what you'd want to call it. It was a man playing a keyboard and......singing.....at least that's what I think he was doing. he was a very bad singer. It really was quite funny. We went back to camp and fed by flashlight. Halla went straight to bed. Bonnie and I stayed up a while longer, then we gabbed for quite a while even after we went to bed.

Bonnie and I were up by 6:00 AM Monday morning. we headed right over to feed the horses. Halla came over to the barn while we were cleaning stalls. I was surprised to see her up so early. When we got done at the barn, we went back to the campsite and heated up some water for coffee. While having supper the night before, we noticed that the restaurant we were at was having a breakfast buffet this morning. Halla doesn't eat much in the morning but said she would be happy to take Bonnie and me over there if we wanted to go. Bonnie and I, being the pigs that we are, absolutely wanted to go. By the time we got there, Halla was hungry enough to enjoy the buffet also. After breakfast, we decided to stop over to the garage so I could talk to the mechanic. When we got there, the truck was still sitting right where I'd parked it. That didn't look hopeful. I went in and introduced myself to the mechanic. The mechanic told me the owner was over at the house across the street and that my truck was all set. I couldn't believe it was done so fast!! I went over to pay the bill and the owner said he just happened to have one alternator in stock and it happened to be the one needed for my truck! What's the chances of him having one for an old truck like mine. He was such a nice man. I was so thankful to have found a decent place and so close to where we were staying. Halla was jokingly trying to get me to ask the garage owner if I could leave the truck there one more night so Ed, the stable owner, would think we needed to stay at the stable one more night and get in another day of riding. We weren't going to do that but I told her I would ask Ed if we could possibly stay another night anyway. I went straight to the office and asked when we got back. Ed told us he would find room for us if we decided to stay another night. Bonnie and I would have to get our horses out of the stalls they were in. I hooked up the horse trailer and parked it over by the barns so we could tie the horses to it and clean out their stalls and put all of our stuff in the trailer. After we were done there we headed out for a ride. We didn't have any particular route in mind, just wandered around. We did go down to Seal Harbor, Northeast Harbor, by the amphitheater and Jordan Pond House. It was a lovely ride. We did quite a bit of trotting and some nice canters. Halla rode right up on Bonnie once, making Lady mad and causing her to buck a bit. I heard Bonnie, as calm as can be, saying, "Halla....Halla...what are you doing.." like she was reprimanding a child. I was having a good chuckle from behind them. We talked to a few people while we were out riding and were told that there was a big storm coming in that night and Tuesday was going to be a rotten day. We decided then to not stay another night. We met up with a man while riding that Halla knew who was riding a $30,000 horse. Jeesh, I'd be afraid to take a horse like that out of it's padded cell.... I mean stall! I'll stick to my free little rescue horse. I guess this man does upper level eventing. When we got back from our ride, we headed straight to the office to let them know were were leaving. We thanked them profusely for being willing to accommodate us another night at their inconvenience. Bonnie and I cleaned Halla's stall while she packed up her campsite. It didn't take us long to get loaded and headed out. I took the lead for the first part of the drive home. When we got into Ellsworth, I accidentaly took a wrong turn. I knew as soon as I did it but then had to find a place I could turn around. I pulled over to see if Halla had followed us. I knew she must be cussing us. She soon came along and pulled over behind us. Bonnie went back to let her know we'd made the wrong turn and were turning around. I could read Halla's lips in my rear view mirror saying to Bonnie, "Where are you two going?" We headed back into town and to where we'd made the wrong turn and got going in the right direction again. The turn was a very busy intersection and it took us a while to make our turn. We were driving down the road when I noticed a nice truck and trailer sitting in a parking lot up ahead. I pointed it out to Bonnie saying, "hey, look at that nice rig in the parking lot ahead." when I suddenly realized it was Halla! She had taken a shortcut around the bad intersection and gotten ahead of us. She was pretty proud of herself. She sometime works in Ellsworth so knows her way around. We stopped at Dysarts for supper. The food was great as usual. We made it home safe and sound.

Fox hunt with the Wentworth club

I had a fun little adventure today. Susie, Marua and I went to a fox hunt in NH. This is something I've never done before. The club doesn't hunt real fox, they just spread fox scent for the hounds to follow. The hunts are very formal and you have to wear the proper attire. Tan britches, black boots, white blouse and a black velvet hunt cap. I had to buy boots, though I cheated and just got cheep rubber ones. And I was able to get a black velvet cover for my helmet. This was luckily early in the season as later, you also have to have the proper hunt coat. It was a 2 hr. drive to the hunt club. A bit of a scary drive as the woman I was following was driving a bit fast and my truck is SO old! The club separates people by "fields". The experienced riders go first with the hounds. New people ride "hill top" until the field master decided you can ride well enough to move up to the first field. When everyone is mounted, the hounds are released and there is a "blessing of the hounds". Then the hounds are called together with a horn and then sent off. We then chase the hounds. It was a lot of stop and go. The Hunt Master decided Susie and I were experienced enough to join the first field. Marie did wonderful handling the jumps like a pro. Once poor woman fell off going over a jump and got a concussion. Another woman's horse stumbled going over a jump. She fell off and her horse stepped on her and broke her ankle. They had to call the ambulance for her. It was fun and I'm glad I went. But, I likely won't drive so far to do it again. Susie and I have such exciting rides on our own, just minus the hounds.

Fryeburg 2 day 50 CTR Fryeburg, ME July 2001

Another wonderful ride. This one a bit more adventurous then some others. I headed out to the ride after I got out of work Friday morning. It's a two hour drive to Fryeburg but the trip was uneventful. I made good time through the dreaded stop light infested Lewiston/Auburn, and arrived at the fairgrounds by 9:30 AM. There weren't many people there yet so I had a good choice of stalls. The stalls are great except for the cement floors. I wanted to put in enough shavings to cushion Marie from the hard floor, but, I also knew whatever I put in, I would have to take out before I left. But, Marie's comfort is most important so I ended up putting a lot of shaving in her stall. Marie settled in quite contentedly. She did call a bit as usual but was fairly relaxed. Susie and Mary were coming so I put some stuff in front of stalls next to Marie's to save them. I was quite tired so decided to climb in my trailer and take a nap. It wasn't long after when I heard a trailer pulling in not far from mine. I peeked out to see if it was Susie or Mary. It was Heather, she parked about 7 stalls down from me. I could see she was wondering where I was but I was too tired to go out and visit and settled in for my nap.

I woke up about 2:00 PM. I was feeling a little fuzzy headed, and Marie was getting a little restless so I decided to go for a quick ride before vetting in. After vetting in at a CTR, you can't ride other then the competition itself. I had time as vetting didn't start until 3:00 PM. Heather came right over as soon as I stepped out of the trailer. Just as I finished tacking Marie up Susie pulled in. Marie knew immediately that her boyfriend had arrived and started hollering to him. He, of course, answered making Marie more excited. I decided to go ahead and ride anyway. I knew Marie wouldn't be very happy about leaving now that the love of her life had arrived but tough! I said hi to Susie and told her I was going for a quick ride and wanted to head out before she unloaded Cody and Marie actually laid eyes on him. Marie was a bit naughty when I mounted up, dancing around and refusing to stand still. I had to really get after her to get her attention and get her to stand. After that, we had a great ride. I must say Marie was very light on her feet and a bit excited but behaved perfectly. I could feel that she wanted to buck but she didn't. When I got back, Susie was just getting ready to head out on a quick ride herself. I would have waited if I'd known she wanted to ride also. I just hadn't thought she'd go out that close to vetting time. That's ok, it's good for Marie to learn she doesn't need to be glued to Cody when we are at rides. Susie headed out and I brushed Marie and headed over to get vetted in. There are a lot of horses at this ride. More then I think I've seen at any ride so far. Twenty horse in the 20 mile ride and over forty in the 50 mile ride. Colleen didn't need to limit the ride entries as there is plenty of room on the Fairground for a lot of people and horses. Poor Colleen was rushing around like a crazy woman wondering how she was going to manage it all though. But, that's not unusual and she always manages to put on a great ride. I got in line for vetting early, so, didn't have to wait all that long. Marie vetted in fine. By the time Susie got back from her ride, there was a long line for vetting. Susie wanted me to keep Marie with Cody so he wouldn't get upset. So, I ended up hanging around in the vetting area forever anyway! I didn't mind though. Good opportunity for socializing. Mary showed up quite late and we told her she was on her own. By the time Susie was done vetting, we'd hung around the vetting area long enough. It was 5:30 PM when Susie finished vetting in.
Mary and I had bought meal tickets for the meal provided by the ride. Susie hadn't bought a meal ticket and they didn't have anymore. But, while hanging out in the vetting area, another woman gave Susie her meal ticket so that worked out. We did wait for Mary before getting supper. We checked on the starting order for the ride as Susie wanted to ride with Mary and me. Susie was only doing the 1 day 25 mile ride and was told at first by ride management that the 25's and 50's were being kept separate. Later, she was told that since she was at the end of the 25's, Mary and I would be put at the beginning of the 50's and they would let us start together. After we had settled Cody and Marie back in their stalls, Heather came back over and the two of us filled Mary's stall with shavings. I knew if we didn't, we'd have to wait that much longer before getting supper and I was getting hungry. Susie was off socializing as usual. Supper consisted of a steak sandwich with grilled peppers, onions and cheese. It was VERY good, but then I was VERY hungry. There was also watermelon and potato chips. After supper, we walked the horses. The riders meeting was at 7:30 PM. After the meeting, Heather and I walked our horses around the race track. I like walking there since there is no grass and Marie isn't constantly trying to drag me around to eat. Marie is such a chow hound always thinking about food (like her owner...)Later we sat around in front of the stalls and chatted until we realized it was getting quite late. We then hurried off to bed as the ride was starting at 6:30 AM.


I slept very well Friday night. I was up a little after 4:00 AM. I went out and fed Marie as quietly as possible trying not to stir up the other horses. I heated up some water for coffee and oatmeal and cut up a banana into the oatmeal. There were donuts, bagels and muffins for us in the office, but their coffee pot was broken so I was glad I'd made my own. It was quite cold this morning. I had to rummage around the trailer to find a pair of gloves. And this was JULY! Luckily, I did find some gloves. And it turned out to be a beautiful day. The ride was right on schedule and the first riders went out at 6:30 AM. Marie was very excited this morning and got very upset when Cody got out of sight for even a second. Once again she was twirling around as I was trying to mount and I had to really get after her. She even shocked Susie when she reared up while I was tring to make her stand still. The trails on today's ride were absolutely awesome. Miles of agricultural roads through potato and corn fields. Colleen now has permission to ride through a private campground that cut off almost all of the road riding we'd had to do in previous years. The water in the Saco river was very low this year so the crossing wasn't as exciting as it's been before. But, it was still fun and much better then riding over the bridge on the road. It is unbelievable how many people camp along this river. The shore on both sides is sandy beach and entire tent cities will apperear overnight. There is also much partying and drinking involved. We got to the hold in good shape. Marie is in such good condition now that I don't have to wait the entire 10 minutes for her pulse to come down. She was down to 50 in 5 minutes today. Her trot out was fine also. We fed the horses and were on our way again on time. On the trail back, we passed a short side trail going down to the river that was marked as a water spot. So, we went down to let the horses drink. The horses had a good drink and just as we were heading up out of the river back to the main trail we heard this loud screeching and the sound of thundering hooves. We look up and just saw the tops of two helmets flash by. Our hearts went into our throats. Either someone was fooling around dangerously, or there were a couple of run away horses. We hurried up the side trail back into the fields and the main trail. We soon came upon Margaret Farnum laying on the side of the trail. She was just getting up as we approached. She said her horse Promise, and Heather's horse, Mariah had bolted and they could not stop them. Margaret had jumped off intentionally. Unfortunately she had landed hard on one hip but said she was ok and could walk out to the road which wasn't far. She told us to go on ahead and let ride managment know she was walking out and ok. When we got out to the road, we sent someone with a car to go get Margaret. Heather was already sitting in another car. Apparently, when she and Mariah came to the tar road, Mariah took a sharp right and fell, rolling over Heather's legs before scrambling up and continuing down the trail towards the fairgrounds. Heather had some bad scrapes from the tar, and her left elbow and wrist was a bit swollen. Nothing seemed to be broken and overall she seemed ok considering. Since the horses were headed in the direction of the fairground, no one was too worried about them. Tom Hutchinson went out to the one busy road between where we were and the fairground in hopes of catching the horses or at least alerting traffic so there was no accident. But, the horses never made it to the road crossing. When we got back to the fairground, we were told the Margaret's horse Promise had been found. He had come almost all the way back, but at the last turn there is a horse farm just up the road and he'd stopped there and was found quietly grazing along the fence line near the horses there. Heather's horse Mariah was still missing. We all thought it odd that the horses had separated. It made me worry that something had happened to Mariah. Heather, at this time, was sitting in a lawn chair calmly stating that she was going to stay for the second day of the ride even though she wouldn't be riding. Meanwhile Tom and several others were out looking for her horse.

There were sandwiches available for us when we got in from the ride. The trot outs were done first so we were done with the first days ride. Susie had to also do her hands on since she was only riding the 25. Marie did a great trot out and we were cleared to ride the second day. After Susie finished her hands on, we had supper. They completed the scoring quickly and soon had the awards for the 25 mile riders. Susie got a 4th place. About that time, Tom arrived back at the fairground to get a quick bite to eat and ask for volunteers to help search for Heather's horse. He wanted a few to go out on horseback, but they would have to be 25 mile riders as those doing the 50 mile ride couldn't take their horses out without withdrawing from the competition. Susie considered going but really wanted to get home before it got too late so she left. Tom mentioned there were some naked men swinging off a rope swing into the river so naturally Mary and I quickly volunteered to go out and search on foot. Not many people volunteered to go out. Just 5 men and 4 women. We piled into Tom's car and went as far as we could with that. Tom told us he's seen some faint tracks leading towards a swamp and that is where he wanted those of us searching on foot to look. He told us to make sure to cover ourselves because we would be walking through a lot of brush and prickers, not to mention the voracious mosquitoes. We all piled into Scott Hatch's truck and went as far as the truck could take us. When I saw where Tom wanted us to look, I thought for sure he was crazy. I could not imagine any horse going out in that swampy, brushy mess. We formed a line and walked in, trying to stay just within sight of each other. I was on one end of the line. The brush and grass was chest high to me and you could not see where you were putting your feet. There were brush tangles, small ravines and swamp holes. And the mosquito's were so thick you could nearly part them with your hands! Mary and I were both wearing mosquito net jackets and I was sure glad we were. I was even more sure we were crazy looking here the farther we went in. I came upon a faint path through the brush and started to follow it as the walking was easier. I figured it was likely made by some moose. I came to a ditch filled with water. On the far side of the ditch in the exposed dirt, much to my surprise, was a clear hoof print! That foolish horse really had come into this swamp! I kept following the path until I came to open water. There was just one more thin bar of brush out in that water then there was an open pond. I could go no farther. I could see where Mariah had milled around trying to decide where to go and I figured she must have turned back. I turned around and started back, then, turned around for one last look out over the open swamp and suddenly spot a big white blaze sticking out of the last bar of brush before the open pond! It was Mariah! She had actually crossed that first section of open swamp to the last bar of brush. She had turned around and was facing towards me but apparently had been too scared to try crossing the open swamp again. She was standing like a statue with nothing but her head above the brush. If she did not have a big white blaze, I would not have seen her. At this point I started yelling for the others. The first woman to get to my spot had fallen into the water and was wet from head to toe. She said that since she was already soaked, she would try wading across to Mariah. I didn't argue with her. She had a hard time getting through the mud and water but she made it eventually. Mariah still had her saddle and bridle on. The woman took the reins and headed back into the water. It took a bit of encouragement to get Mariah to follow her, but finally, she took a huge leap. The mud was so deep that Mariah had to do a lot of thrashing to get through. I thought the poor woman would get trampled to death trying to stay ahead of Mariah and away from her flailing legs. By some miracle, they made it. Mariah was terrified, exhausted and trembling all over. Others had joined us and Mary had brought a halter. We removed the horses bridle and put the halter on. Someone else had brought a long rope. We needed it. It took two people, one on each side of Mariah with separate ropes to hold her. She was so scared she kept trying to bolt. We slowly walked her out of the swamp. Then we still had to walk her quite a way down the trail until we came to a road wide enough for the horse trailer to get in to pick her up. Two people rode in the trailer with Mariah to help keep her calm. The vet checked her over carefully as soon as we got her back to the fairground. Mariah bowed the tendons in two legs and has some cuts and puncture wounds. None were too serious. the vet stitched and bandaged her up. The vet told Heather to keep hosing her legs to help keep the swelling down. Mariah is going to need a long rest but the vet thinks she will be fine. I was just so Glad we had found her.
By the time we got back from the search, Mary and I were so hot, muddy and wet that we headed right to the showers. Then, as were were about starving too, we headed into town for something to eat. The restaurant we had always gone to before has gone out of business so we stopped at a gas station and asked about a place to eat. The man sent us to a pizza place. It turned out to be far more then just a pizza place. All kinds of Italian food was served and it was very good. There were a number of riders there having supper. I got quite the hero's welcome for finding Mariah. Mary and I pretty much went straight to bed when we got back to the fairground.

I was up at 4:00 AM Sunday morning. Same routine as Saturday. Feed Marie, make coffee and oatmeal for myself. The riders meeting was at 6:00 AM in front of the office. First riders were out at 6:30 AM. Everything went well to the hold. I had no problem with Marie but the vet was a bit worried about Mary's horse thinking she might be a little lame. She had Mary trot her several time but in the end decided to let her finish the ride. The second half of the ride also went well. We went as slow as we could for Mary's horse but finished on time. We were one of the first one's to finish so it did not take long to do our trot out. Marie did fine but Mary's horse was definitely lame when circling to the left. Mary was just sick over it. She's had so much trouble with lame horses over the past year and every thing had finally seemed to be going well this year.

With so many riders, we knew it would be a while before the trot outs were done. So, we put the horses back in their stalls to rest and eat. Mary and I sat and rested also. Then, we packed up as much as we could so we wouldn't have so much to do after the award ceremony. Finally it was time for our hands on. Marie had a small sore in her girth area poor girl. First time this has ever happened. Possibly something had gotten under the girth. Supper was served at 3:00 PM. The awards weren't presented until 5:00 PM. Marie lost points for the girth sore but that was all. Mary lost a lot of points for lameness but at least she did get a completion. I was very excited because with this ride, Marie had now earned the year end versatility award.

I had a little bit of unwanted excitement on the way home. After going through Waterford on Route 118, there is a long downhill grade coming into Norway (I think). I was nearly at the end of the long downhill, when the car in front of me slowed to make a right hand turn. I slowed to nearly a stop when suddenly I hear a horrible screeching behind me. I look in my rear view mirror and see a tractor trailer truck flying down the hill out of control. There was still a car in front of me, one behind me and several coming in the opposite direction. There was nowhere to go. The truck must have lost it's breaks and in an effort to not hit us, the driver swerved sharply to the left onto a dirt road. The truck flipped onto it's side and was still coming down the road towards up. The truck rotated all the way around so that it was now facing up the hill and finally slid off into the ditch. It came so close to hitting the car behind me!!! What a scare, I was shaking so hard I nearly couldn't drive! I was sure glad to get home safe and sound.

Fryeburg 50 ME 7/28-29 43/S-41/F
Judges: Shively-Leville
Junior:
1 Travelons Two Times Two / M Kohler
Adult
1 Alora Danin / K Brunjes
2 Shyrocco Lyric / J Kimberly
3 DAR Dutch Treat / S Greenall
4 Especial Addition / L Prentice
5 Czar Nickolas / L Lester
6 Shaham Ka Tara / S Hardy
6 GH Jesse Jolody / D Houghton
8 SR Gibralter / S Rojek
9 BAF Cubic Choice / Ll Pederson
9 Borong / ?
11 Aziza / L LeVitre
12 AFX Polaris / C Metayer
13 Stormy / K Hall
13 Lord Darshan / E Szeliga
15 Picasso / D Rojek
15 SR Katherine / ?
15 Gladgay's Crescendo / V Bentley
18 Mac Callan / C Dermick
Completions:
Electric Smoke / J Brucker
Sherrington / K Redente
Bask n Serafix / S Ackerstrom
Merlin / J Broome
Sage / S MacDonald
Gallant Fireglo / E Fiddes
Pretty Action / J Stratemeyer
Anchor Hill Alan / M Gamester
Sylvea / J Brunjes
Amali Spunk / L Kholer
Sir Narionn / S Corr
Pardons Protege / C Navoy
Marie / C Ross (score 93.75)
Shaker / J Hesselbacher
? / E Hesselbacher
Willows Rahmaan / I McNaughton
FR Midori / M Batt
Willow Mis-K / C Lang

Pine Tree 50 endurance Waterford, ME 2001

I left for the Pine Tree ride Friday morning about 8:30 AM. I had a great drive there since I fairly sailed through Lewiston/Auburn barely hitting any red lights which is unusual. The Pine Tree 100 this year is the last of a series of qualifying rides for the US endurance team. I knew the fairgrounds would be packed very early since many of the riders trying to qualify were from all over the country and had arrived earlier in the week. I arrived about 10:30 AM. As I suspected, it was quite crowded already. Heather spotted me as soon as I arrived. She was nice enough to take Marie up the barn she was in and put her in a stall next to her horse. I had to turn my trailer around and park it in at the bottom of the fairground. I was quite proud of myself, I'm getting much better at backing the 'big rig' now.

All the horses in the qualifying ride have to be stabled in the same way. Since there were not enough stalls in the barn for them, they all had to be kept in portable corrals. That left the barns to us 50 and 30 mile riders. I ended up with a small stall but Marie didn't seem to care. As a matter of fact, she seemed quite content from the time we arrived. If she only knew that I was going to ride her 50 miles tomorrow....ignorance is bliss I guess. I didn't even have to put up electric wire across the end of her stall. I usually have a hard time keeping her in these cattle stalls, but she was very happy next to Mariah. Marie kept reaching under the stall divider and stealing Mariah's hay. It was fresh cut and therefore much better then her own. I put the stuff that I would be needing at the barn into the truck and drove it up to drop it off. My camping spot was just too far from the barn to lug it all up. Heather's father showed up just after I got camp all set up. Heather, her father, Abby and I went down to Tut's for lunch. After we got back we sat by Heather's trailer and just hung out until it was time to vet in. Endurance riding is quite different from CTR's. There were 5 vets as opposed to the one vet at a CTR. They don't go over the horses like they do at a CTR. Just a quick check and a quick trot with no circle. So, all the horses were vetted in quite quickly which was nice. Just as I got done vetting in, Bonnie showed up, she was my crew person. There were a couple of vendors at the ride. Bonnie and I shopped for a bit. I bought a trailer door organizer. Then Bonnie couldn't stand it any more and just had to go to Tut's. I was still full from lunch so I just had a 'premie' ice cream. I was starting to feel like I was coming down with a cold or some other such nasty thing. Sore throat, headache, stuffy nose and all. I got some Nyquil at Tut's to hopefully help me sleep. When we got back, we searched around for Mary Batt. I was going to be riding with her. I had seen her truck and trailer so knew she was around. We finally found her. Her husband, daughter, daughter's boyfriend and another friend had come with her to pit crew for her. Apparently I was understaffed..... Bonnie would get the privilege of driving my special old truck. It has many quirks that are fun for someone that has never driven it such as not being in the gear it says it's in, the speedometer being 15 mph off, the heater blower having to be hooked up with two wires, having to use a spray bottle and your arm out the window for windshield wiper fluid and so on. Hey, it runs good!

In the ride package, there is a list of all the riders and their horses. I quickly noticed that Marie was the only QH in the ride. It was mostly Arabs and a few Morgans. AAAGGHHH, the pressure was on! Mary and I had already decided we were not going to try for the top 10. Since this was my first endurance ride, I just wanted to get a completion. I am trying to earn the versatility award this year with Marie. for this you have to do one each of a 1 day ride, 2 day ride, 3 day ride and an endurance ride in a season. I already had a completion in a 1 day and a 3 day ride and I didn't want to ruin my chance for the award. The pre-ride meeting was at 6:30 PM We went back down to Tut's for supper after the meeting. We all went to bed soon after we got back to camp as we had to be up by 3:00 AM. The 100 mile riders were starting at 5:00 AM and they had 24 hours to complete the ride. The 50 mile rider were going out at 5:30 AM and we had 12 hours to complete our ride. The 30 mile riders would go out at 6:30 AM. I was feeling pretty lousy by the time we went to bed but the Nyquil did help me to sleep.

I woke up just a little before 3:00 AM. I was feeling a little better. I heated up some water for coffee and oatmeal. After I ate I headed to the barn to feed Marie. She had a quite night it seemed and she actually stayed in her stall all night! A woman who had a horse across the aisle asked Bonnie what breed of horse Marie was. Bonnie told her a QH. The woman was horrified. "You can't use a QH for endurance riding!" Bonnie really didn't say anything to that, but I got a laugh out of it when she told me. In an endurance race, there is a 'shot gun' start. The 100 mile riders went out right on time. It was fun watching 30 horses race out of the fairgrounds all at the same time in the pre-dawn light. That sure makes some of the horse crazy. I saddled up as soon as the 100 milers left and warmed Marie up. We were out right on time at 5:30 AM. Marie was a bit mystified at so many horses racing across the fairgrounds and up the road. we were in the lead for a whole minute! My 60 second of glory!! There is a lot of up hill climbing on the first 14 mile loop. There were several pit crew stops before the first hold. Bonnie was right there at every one sponging Marie down and getting her cooled off. The first hold was at the pumping station. It was a 30 minute hold. Your hold time doesn't start until your horse pulses down to 64 or less. So, you don't want to come racing into the hold too fast or you just end up waiting around for the pulse to come down. Especially with a QH. Marie was a little hot when I first came in so we pulled her saddle right off and sponged her down good. Then her pulsed dropped nicely. Bonnie took Marie through the pulse gate and then for her trot out. Bonnie forgot that when you trot Marie, you can't get up in front of her. She knows you can't make her trot from that position and will play games with you. After much pulling and tugging, I finally yelled over to Bonnie to get beside Marie and tap her with the lead rope. Then Bonnie was able to get Marie to trot. So, Marie got a few B's on her card for impulsion, attitude, and overall impression with a comment of 'real lazy on trot out' with the word lazy crossed out and 'distracted written' in it's place. Otherwise, Marie got all A's. We got out of the hold right on time. The second hold was at the pumping station also after a 16 mile loop. So, at the second we had completed 30 miles. That's as many miles as Marie has ever done in one day. The terrain wasn't too hard on the second loop and Marie's pulse came right down. I did the trot out with her. Bonnie took care of everything else, stripping Marie's tack, sponging her and feeding her while I rested and got something to eat. Mary brought water but no bucket her horse could drink out of. I was glad I brought lots of buckets because Mary ended up using mine. We got out of the hold on time. The next loop was 15 miles with the last hold back at the fairground. We had the mountain to go over in this loop. I got off Marie and tailed up it all the way. Mary and Margaret tried this also but their horses wouldn't cooperate. Tailing is when you dismount, and walk behind your horse holding their tail so they can pull you up the hill. It is easier for a horse to pull you then carry you. You cannot get off your horse in a CTR, but you can in an endurance ride. Marie has been up this hill enough times now to know it is a long one. I think she was just so glad to have me off her back and walking that she was going to go along with anything that kept me off her and we tailed up that mountain like old pros. the other two horses were puffing quite hard when we reached the top but Marie wasn't at all. I'm glad I gave her the break. At about 40 miles out, Marie started acting like she was finally getting a little tired. I wondered how things would go at the last hold with it being at the fairground. The poor horses would think we were done and then we would be making them go back out for a last 5 mile loop.


The last hold was just a 20 minute hold so I didn't pull Marie's saddle. Bonnie did sponge her off thoroughly though. Marie's pulse came down fine and she vetted in well. Once again some B's under impulsion and attitude as her trot out was a bit sluggish but all A's otherwise. When we headed back out, Marie didn't seem to mind at all and even seemed to get a second wind. She moved right along like we had just started the ride and we finished the last 5 miles in good time. At the final vetting she did great and ended up with straight A's on her card. I was so proud of my little mare. Who says you can't do endurance with a QH. The vet told me her recovery's were so good that I could have safely ridden her a bit faster. I had a ride time of right around 8 hours.

At this point I knew I had a nasty sinus infection and I was feeling seriously lousy. Supper was served soon after I finished with awards quickly following that. I placed 20th out of 29 horses that started. The woman with the horse across the aisle from Marie had to ask me if Marie really was a QH. I told her yes. She expressed disbelief and walked off muttering. Bonnie and I decided to stay over until Sunday morning. I just didn't feel well enough to drive home that night. Mary stayed also. We went down to Tut's for coffee and desert that evening. Mary went to bed as soon as we got back. Bonnie and I sat in the barn and watched the 100 milers coming and going until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore.

I slept until 7:00 AM. By then I really wanted to check on Marie to make sure she was doing ok and of course get her fed. Marie was in great shape. Very content. The woman across the aisle informed us that she's had to feed our horses, Marie and Midori, some hay because they were acting like "dorks". Whatever...... We threw all the stuff we had in the barn into Bonnie's car, stripped Marie's and Midori's stall and headed out.

Pine Tree 50 ME 7/14/01 29/S-27/F
1 Country Major / D Grillo
3 Bie-Kin / W Bejarano
4 Shyrocco Troilus / D Augustine
5 Hydaway SSJ Sox
9 KA Shiloh / S Niedoroda
12 Especial Edition / L Prentice
14 Sir William Naczar / V Stanislawski
15 Izusu / B Lester
16 Harbor Flyte / H Stacy
17 Briwds Mardi Gras / S Corr
18 ? / L. Snook
Completions:
FR Midori / M Batt
Marie / C Ross
LWF Paljoe Promise / M Farnum
Boomerang / J Sapira
Batals Gypsy Rose / B Horstmeier
Baskin Serafix / S Ackerstron
Alert's Shadow / K Robbins
Silvea / J Brunjes
DLA Cassidy / J Hatch

Maine 3 day 80 CTR Waterford ME May 2001

At last I've made it to the Maine 80. After two long years of conditioning and training. There were no pre-trip adventures this time.. thankfully! Actually, that is not quite true. Marie didn't want to get in the trailer and I had to have a little talk with her about that. After about five minutes of negotiations, I convinced her it would be better if she went in and we were on our way. I don't know why she has been doing this lately. She has always been good about loading on the trailer. I'll have to work on this when I get back home. The truck is fixed and running fine and the trailer is ready. Bonnie is coming to help us and work the ride. She ended up having to work half a day Friday. Susie had to work a full day. I headed up first thing in the morning. I managed to leave home about 7:30 AM. The drive up was uneventful. I got to the Waterford Fairgrounds at 9:00 AM. I was surprised to see quite a few people already there. We had stalls assigned to us. I've never seen that done before but it worked out fine. Susie and I did end up in the same barn with the smallest stalls due to our late entry but it was fine. Stall gates were provided this time which was great. I got Marie settled into her stall first thing. She was already making a fuss and calling like crazy. She was wondering where all her buddies were. Aside from the calling, she was behaving fine. I set up our portable fence and divided it into two areas for Cody and Marie. That way we could turn them out in it when we had the chance so they would have more room to move around and roll if they wanted. I also brought my screen house since we were going to be here for three days. It has been so long since I've set it up, I kind of forgot how. I knew that you had to stake down the four corners first. I did that but it just didn't look right. Then I realized that I had staked down the roof! What a goof! After I got that straightened out, I got up set up quickly. After that, I had lots of time to lounge around and get a little rest. I napped for a short spell in my trailer, then again for a while in the screen house. I took Marie to be vetted in as soon as the vet arrived. Marie vetted in fine. I then went down to Tut's restaurant for some coffee and to pick up a few cold drinks. Bonnie Showed up right after I got back. Susie wasn't far behind her. Marie was sure glad to see Cody. We put Marie and Cody out in the paddocks so they could stretch their legs. When Susie went to put Cody in, she asked me if the fence was off, I told her it was....HEY, I really thought it was! .... oops.....Poor Susie got a big zap off it and was then paranoid of the fence the rest of the weekend.

There were 31 entries in the Maine 80 and 8 in the Waterford 30, so a good turn out for the ride. We went down to Tut's for supper. A couple from Cumberland, ME sat with us. They were very nice. We all forgot that Tut's serves HUGE portions and we all ordered more then we could eat. We nearly had to be rolled out the door! After supper we came back to camp and Susie and I played guitars in the screen house for a while. Later we walked the horses around a couple of times during the evening. They aren't used to standing in stalls. Actually, we walk them so we get to socialize with everyone as everyone walks their horses in the evening. We headed to bed just a little after 9:00 PM. The people next to us told me Marie provided them with entertainment when she was turned out in her paddock. I guess she had laid down to roll and stuck her head in her feed Pan and was rubbing around in it. Silly mare! We went out to check on the horses before going to bed. Cody and Marie were hanging over the stall Walls rubbing each other's necks. Cody was obviously a bit 'excited' about this activity with a pretty mare. We got such a laugh over it because Cody is 14 years old and has never given any mare a second look. He is totally dedicated to his athletic career. Marie has been in love with him since she first laid eyes on him. She had finally, after three years, gotten his attention! I teased Susie that Cody's athletic career was ruined now that he had thoughts about mares!

I slept like a log Friday night never waking up at all. That's unusual, I usually wake up at any little noise assuming it is Marie getting loose. She's known for doing that. I woke up just a little before 5:00 AM. Bonnie was awake also. I heated up water for coffee and oatmeal. It was a little chilly but not too bad. Everything was right on time this morning. A light breakfast was served at 6:00 AM. Riders meeting was at 6:30 AM. First riders were out at 7:30 AM. I was #23 and Susie was #24. We were out at 7:50 AM. The day turned out to be quite warm. Marie had been drinking a ton of water from the time we'd arrived. Cody wasn't drinking a lot but then he often doesn't. The trails were fairly dry overall. We had a couple areas where we had to muck through some mud. And there is one spot that is short but really deep. I managed to find just the right place there and sunk Marie in it up to the base of her tail! Same spot I sunk her in last year. Poor horse. She remembered the spot and didn't really want to go through. I felt guilty for making her but there was no other way around. We had to climb the mountain again this year. It is so beautiful at the top but what a climb! Cody had trouble with going uphill that steeply and kept stopping. Marie just puts her head down, digs in and goes without stopping. Marie may not be fast but she sure is steady. Susie was calling her "The Little Engine that Could." We went almost a little too fast the first day. We had to wait a few minutes before we could cross the finish line. Both horses did a great job and vetted out fine and cleared to ride the second day. Marie did get a tiny sore on her withers. I don't know what caused it. Maybe something under the saddle pad. I knew I'd have to be careful with saddling the next day. Norma House, who was the P&R person for our barn, went home and got me a gel pad to use so the sore wouldn't get more irritated over the next few days. That was so nice of her to do. that afternoon was the 'banquet' that we paid and extra $8.50 to attend. Well, to use the word banquet was a big stretch of the imagination. The meal was very good. We had ham, corn. potato, bread and salad. There was only lemonade to drink and no desert. It was the same sort of meal we usually get that is included in the price of the entry fee. We decided we'd have been better off going to Tut's for supper. Bonnie and I did sneak down there in the evening for coffee and desert. We hung out in the screen house house for a while. Norma and Irving joined us and we had a nice time chatting. They are both such characters and fun to talk to. Irving is amazing. He's in his 70's and and is at all the rides and still does one day 50's and 100's. He rides an old horse and travels around with his ancient dog. He is amazing and such a wealth of knowledge on this sport. The mosquito's were fierce so I was glad I'd brought the screen house. Susie and I played guitar for a while. Then we did the usual walking of the horses and socializing.

Sometime during the night it started to rain. we got up Sunday morning in the rain. It was just a light rain. The ride goes on no matter what the weather is so we just set about our business as usual. Everything was right on time this morning again. We were doing the same trails today as we did yesterday. Susie and I went out at 7:45 AM. There were fewer horses this morning. The 30 mile riders were gone and a few horses had been pulled from the 80 mile ride. It rained all day, sometimes quite hard. Once we got going though, we didn't mind it. It wasn't really cold and the rain kept the horses cooled down. Marie had to lead Cody up the mountain again. Two miles from the finish, Cody suddenly bolted without warning. Marie leaped into the air and gave and good buck, then also bolted. Both Susie and I were caught off guard. Both horses got running pretty good before we got ourselves together and got them under control. We decided they couldn't be very tired if they had the energy for that kind of behavior! It is very unusual for Marie to do something like that at all. We did the ride in great time today. I got though the vetting fine but Susie was told she would have to bring Cody for a re-check in the morning. I was so proud of my little Marie getting through 60 miles so far without problem. We went down to Tut's for an early supper. Heather went with us. Her horse got pulled the first day but she stayed to work the ride. Susie left to go and take a shower at a friends camp. She invited Bonnie and I to go but we decided we had been out in a 'shower' all day, we'd seen all the water we wanted to see. Now that I have a sink in my trailer, it's easy to take a sponge bath anyway. Bonnie and I hung out in the screen house to keep out of the rain. Later we went back down to Tut's for some desert and coffee. We just love that place. After we got back, Bonnie and I took down the paddock . We would be leaving the next day and with all the rain, knew we would not be putting the horses out again. We also took down the screen house. Heather helped me with that which I appreciated. Then, we went out to the barn and hung out in one of the empty stalls to play guitar and sing. Susie was so worried about possibly not being able to ride the last day. So was I, Marie would be so upset if Cody couldn't go.

Monday morning was overcast and misting when we got up. The riders meeting was a little late this morning due to the horses that had to be re-checked. Susie was nervous but Cody was cleared to start the ride! We were both very relieved. Monday's trail was easier but we had to ride faster to make the time. There was no hold either. The ride went great and we finished in great time. We rode the last five miles or so with Liz Szeliga from MA. She was very nice and fun to talk with. She had done the ride three times before but this was the first time for the horse she was riding. Marie was a bit sluggish at the trot out. And she was slightly sore in her shoulders when they did the hands on. Not surprising considering the mountain we had climbed two days in a row. Overall, she was in great condition for having just finished 80 miles. Susie was in a tizzy wanting to leave. She didn't want to wait for awards. Bonnie and I gave her such a hard time about it. We were served hamburgers, hotdog and potato salad for supper. The scoring was done quite quickly and awards were ready to be presented before Susie left so she stayed. It was such a great ride!

Maine 80 5/26/01 ME 31/S-23/F
Judges: Davis/Lorimer
1 Lord Darshan / L Szeliga
2 LWF Paljoe Promise / M Farnum
3 Alora Danin / K Brunjes
4 Jericho . C Sadowski
5 Willowbrook Precious / L Crowley
6 Hawks Neopolitan / M Coleman
7 Scatri / D Schrader
8 Rushcreek Equal / G Pawlowicz
9 High Country Piper / M Deleware
11 Kineo / P Snow
13 ? / J Stratemeyer
14 Brios Kavalier / K Duggan
15 Marie / C Ross (score 86.75)
16 Czar Nickolas / L Lester
17 Baskin Serafix / S Akerstrom
18 Xavier Sunny Acres / S Reinheimer
Comp PS Sir Sedgewick / S Corr
Comp sillows Rahmaan / I McNaughton
Comp Silvea / J Brunjes
Comp EJ Sheik / D Meldrum
Comp RKL Echo's Image / B Vanderminden

Appleblossom I 25 CTR Groton MA May 2001

Yeah, competition season begins! But, as usual, this story begins days before the ride. Several weeks ago, I noticed that the breaks on my horse trailer were getting a little grabby. Since it is a three hour drive to Groton, MA, I called Will's trailers to have the trailer serviced before the ride. I took it in on Monday before the ride weekend, explaining to the mechanic what was going on with the trailer. I had planned to just drop the trailer off for the day but the mechanic asked if I could leave the truck also. He thought there might be more going on then just the trailer breaks. So, I called Fred to come pick me up. When Fred got there, I was out on the lot looking over all the trailer, as I just can't resist looking. Fred scared the poor mechanic with his...... Fred-ness. Fred is such a wonderful man but some people don't know quite what to think of him when they first meet him. That evening, the mechanic called and said the truck and trailer were ready so we went to pick it up. The mechanic said the electric break system had not been properly grounded and he'd fixed that. He said all was fine with the trailer but the truck needed new breaks! AAAGGGHHHHH. I only drive it when I haul the trailer so I was blaming the trailer for the breaking problems. The mechanic thought I'd be fine to go to the competition, so I didn't worry about it. The Wednesday before the ride, Fred pulled the trailer out back to install a cabinet and sink. He did a wonderful job with it and it looks great. Then, on Friday morning, Fred came home from work and told me he noticed a squealing in the front end when he pulled the trailer out back and he's worried the wheel bearings need to be re-packed. He doesn't feel I will be safe to take the truck on such a long haul!!!! I was just about beside myself. I've got all this money into entry fee, shoeing and health papers for going out of state and NOW he's telling me he's worried about the truck! I told him he'd better start calling some garages. Poor Fred, I was trying not to get too excited but I was quite upset. I was supposed to be leaving at noon and follow Susie and Mary to the ride. Fred called the garage we usually go to and they said to bring the truck in. So begins the waiting game. I called Susie and told her and Mary to just go without me and to just try to save a place for me to park when I got there. They were both worried for me. At 10:30 AM the garage called to tell us that it was the breaks that were making all the noise, the ball joints were bad, the wheel bearing were loose and did need to be re-packed. But, he told me, none of that was really at the dangerous stage yet. The problem was that one of the tie rods was about to let go and that was dangerous. I would loose my steering if that went. He said he could replace the tie rod that day but nothing else. So, that is what we had him do. The truck wasn't ready until 4:30 PM. I rushed over, got the truck then rushed back to the house, hooked up and off I went. Mary gave me very good directions to the ride thankfully. I left the house at 5:30 PM and got to the ride at 9:00 PM. I had no problems with the truck other then the trailer breaks grabbing. I had reserved a pen for Marie so I wouldn't have to set anything up when I got to the ride other then giving Marie some hay and water. Susie and Mary went to bed soon after I got there. I stayed up a little longer and made myself a sandwich. I had left in such a hurry I hadn't really had any supper. I was really appreciating my new trailer. The living quarters, home made as they are, make for little to no set up when you arrived at camp. I didn't have the best night sleep because some horses in a pasture adjoining Marie's pen kept crashing through the bushes all night trying to check her out and they were all squealing at each other. I was afraid Marie might get loose if one of them kicked through the fencing. Nothing did happen and I woke up for good around 5:00 AM. I heated some water and had oatmeal and coffee. When Susie got up, we fed the horses. When I stepped out of the trailer and saw the barn at this place, I couldn't believe my eyes. I hadn't seen it when I arrived as it was dark. I've never seen such a heathen structure in my life. It was....well...hard to describe. It looked like it was thrown up with all scrap material. Lumber, plywood, carpeting... and nothing was cut to fit. I was just sorry I didn't have my camera with me. There was an outhouse in the middle of one of the paddock by the barn. But, otherwise the place was very nice. Vetting in was done the morning of the ride. The vet was late getting there are there were 31 riders. Needless to say we got a very late start on the ride. I will say the vet was very quick with the vetting. At the pre-ride briefing, Gail was describing the trail and what the markers would look like and it sounded complicated. Susie was totally stressing out. "It sounds hard, we're going to get lost..." etc. I wasn't worried. It always sounds harder then it actually is. It turned out to be no problem. It started to rain while were were vetting in, so, we broke out all the rain gear and resigned ourselves to a wet ride. By the time the ride started, it was clearing off and the weather turned out beautiful. The trails were outstanding. Very flat and easy with little pavement. Some of it was along an old railroad bed where we had to go through a 'tube' which was just a huge culvert that went under a road. the horses were very brave and went right through. They sped up towards the end of the tube but that was it. We followed a wonderful trail along a river for a while which was lovely. The first and second loop were the same nine miles then a hold back at camp. Marie was traveling very strong and was in good shape at the hold. The last seven mile loop was lovely also.We went through a state bird sanctuary with maintained trails, then through a cross country jump course. We were strictly told to not try any of the jumps going through there. Not to worry, these jumps were seriously huge Olympic caliber jumps and I would not even have considered trying one. The whole ride was great. After the ride, Susie got fretting about wanting to get home and didn't want to stay for the awards. By the time we'd had dinner they were ready with the awards so Susie ended up staying. The vet judge didn't like the way Marie traveled so she took off points for lameness. Just before my trot out, Marie had nipped me looking for a treat and I had given her a sharp slap for it. So, she was sulking when we went to do our trot out and was reluctant to trot. So, more points of for 'fatigue'. That was ok, it was a great ride and will be worth coming back to. We had a safe and uneventful drive home. The truck goes back to the garage tomorrow morning to have the rest of the work that it needs done. I'm not going to haul again until everything is taken care of.

Apple Blossom 25 CTR MA 5/5/01 24/S-23/F
Judges Newell/Stratemeyer
Juniors
1 Travelon's Two Times Two / M Kohler
Adults
1 Sir Narionn / S Corr
1 willowbrook Precious / L Crowley
3 Izusu / C Lester
3 Sherrington / K Redente
6 Czar Nickolas / L Lester
7 High Country Piper / M Deleware
8 Society Olympic Spot / R Johnson
9 FR Midori / M Batt
10 Peppers Bold Glory / R Bryant
10 Xavier Sunny Acres / S Reinheimer
12 ? / D Barrington
13 Lord Darshan / E Szeliga
13 Miss Pinata Bar / M Stuller
15 Oliver / A Quill
15 Kadets Charm / C Di Marzio
17 Marie / C Ross (score 91.50)
18 MBF Rifasa / M Guild
Comp Stormy Prairie / D McClary
Comp Jewely's Gem / C Breckstrom
Comp Marjas Majestic Breakaway / D Johnson
Comp Amalie Spunk / E Kohler