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
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