Boo 25 CTR West Sumner, ME Oct 2002

This is the last ride of the season for me (sniff, sniff). The Boo is one of my favorite rides. Vicki Austin, the ride manager, really goes all out to put on the best ride. The ride is in West Sumner, ME held at an old farmsted dating back to 1736. The farm sits on the side of a hill with wonderful views of the surrounding mountains. The couple that owns the farm, Laura and Steve, are wonderful and so generous to open up their home for this ride. Laura has no arms so must do everything with her feet. She is amazing in what she can do and she both rides and drives her horses. Bonnie took Friday off work so she could go up to the ride early in the morning with me. We planned to leave around 8:00 AM. I got out of work at 2:30 AM. When I got home, I fed the horses, packed the trailer and then snuck in a couple hours of sleep. It was raining when Bonnie arrived but it was not supposed to clear off so we sat around and drank coffee until the rain stopped at 8:30 AM. The weather report said it was going to be cold Friday night and would also rain Friday night into Saturday. So we packed enough clothes for an army hoping to be prepared for anything. We loaded up the horses, Zephyr and headed out. We got to the ride in good time. No problems with the truck other then it being very loud from needing the muffler replaced. We were the second ones to arrive. Heather had been the first. We had our choice of where to park and set up our fence. We, of course, parked as close to the house as we could get as that was closer to the food. We unloaded the horses and tied them to the trailer. I hitched Zephyr's cable to the door handle of my truck. The field we camp in is wide open and on the side of a hill so it can get very windy here. We decided to set up the horses fence using my trailer for a wind break. So, I needed to turn the trailer around so we could set up the fence and not have the living quarters door opening into it. Bonnie untied the horses and held them. I jumped in the truck and pulled forward to make a loop in the field. I glanced in my side view mirror and see Bonnie jumping up and down and waving her arms as best she could while holding both horses. She was shouting something but I couldn't hear a thing over the rumble of my bad muffler. Then, I suddenly realized what she was making the fuss about, poor Zephyr was still tied to my truck!!! He'd been running for all he was worth to keep up, thankfully I was going slow and hadn't gone more then 50' so no harm done. I jumped out, got him and put him in the truck with me. I had to hug and cuddle him and tell him I was NOT trying to kill him! I got the truck and trailer situated to our satisfaction but it still took us forever to get the fence the way we wanted it. I'm not sure why we had such a brain cramp about it but we did. We did finally get the fence set up to our liking and the horses settled in with hay and water. It was cold and windy enough for me to put on my long underwear and heavy coat. We headed to the house to register. Vicki, the ride manager, also makes and sells horse, dog and people clothing. I had ordered a dog coat for Zephyr. It was to be made of coated nylon so it would be waterproof and lined with fleece. When I got to the house, Vicki saw me and she got all excited and started running around looking for my bag saying, "Oh, I can't wait to see your face when you see your dog's little coat." She finally found the bag and handed it to me. I pulled out the coat and it was indeed adorable. It is made to look like a horse blanket. Then I pulled out the bill ...... $60!!! Yikes, Zephyr is only a 15 lb dog so the coat is small! I sure hoped Vicki was not watching my face when I saw the bill. I should have asked the price before having Vicki make it! That's ok, she did a great job.

After registering, I unhooked my truck and we went down to the little store on the corner for lunch. It is a small place but they have good food. When we got back to camp Susie had arrived. Susie and I had decided previously that we were going to switch horses on this ride and had entered the ride this way. She told me that Cody had been really hyper on her last few rides and she was worrked about me not having a very good time if I rode him. We discussed it a bit and decided to ride our own horses. Poor Vicki had to redo our paperwork but was a good sport about it. Bonnie had thought Halla was coming to the ride and has asked to ride with her. Halla backed out so Bonnie was in the ride order with a group of people she didn't know. Vicki had set up the ride order with 4 riders starting together 5 minutes apart. Bonnie was starting 3 groups behind Susie and me. Bonnie was not at all happy about this. She was anxious about Lady Bug and Marie being separated. We talked to Vicky and asked if Bonnie could be put with our group. She didn't really want to make the change at first but the 4th person in our group hadn't shown up so Vicki let Bonnie take her spot. Susie wanted to go for a ride before the vetting but it was so close to vetting time, I didn't want to go. She decided to just lunge Cody instead. Bonnie and I got right in line for vetting so didn't have a long wait. I went first and while Marie was trotting one of her circles, she trotted into a slippery spot and fell down. She did it in typical Marie fashion. She went down on the side of her butt, then slowly rolled over onto her side and just laid there a minute like she was thinking, "Oh, gee, I fell down... this is kind of comfortable.. maybe I'll just rest here a minute.. oh, I guess I'll get up," and she calmy got to her feet and looked at me like, ok, now what? We finished the trot out but she was just slightly off on her right shoulder from the fall. The vet wanted to re-check her in the morning just to make sure she was ok. A lot of horses would have freaked out if they went down like that. Not Marie, it would take too much energy to freak out. Lady Bug vetted in fine. Margaret Farnum had parked right next to my trailer. I had ridden the Crooked River 60 with her. Marie was in heat and nuzzling Promise over the fence. Louise Lester was parked behind me and she had her stallion with her who was talking to Marie and trying to tell her he was the only 'real man' on the grounds. But Marie was only interested in Promise, silly mare. Bonnie brought a bottle of her father's famous 'recipe' with her. Homemade coffee brandy. It was very good. We made a couple drinks and went over to Susie's trailer to sit and chat. Mary Batt showed up around 4:00 PM. The riders meeting was at 5:00 PM and held at the starting line. Then there were snack at the house. It was the usualy layout that was more a meal then snacks. There were several pasta dishes, chili, beans, zucchini casserole and lots of homemade deserts. We ate like pigs. It was quite cold outside by now. After eating, we went outside and huddled around a campfire together. Vicki had even hired entertainment for the evening. "The Horse Hippy" who is a musician and comedian. He was late showing up since he'd written the wrong date on his calendar. I was hanging out by the campfire trying to avoid being roped into line dancing in the barn. I don't mind line dancing, I was just too tired for it. Vicki came down and told us the Horse Hippy had arrived and was all set up in the barn. I don't know what I expected but he was quite a sight. He definitely looked like an old hippy with his long gray hair and beard, disheveled jeans, denim shirt, and red flannel vest. Looked like he just came crawling out of the hills. He played banjo and electric guitar. He was actually quite good and very amusing. Marcy Gamester was dying to dance and trying to get everyone to dance with her. She got Steve, the farm owner, to dance a few with her. Then she got the man that had brought the Horse Hippy to dance with her. Susie got me up for one dance but I quickly retreated back to my comfy hay bale. Though my feet were getting cold enough that I was thinking about dancing just to warm them up. After the Horse Hippy left, I went back to the campfire. Eventually, Bonnie and I headed to bed. We knew we'd be warmer in our sleeping bags. Zephyr, as usual, spazzed out when he got up into bed with us. He crawled into Bonnie's sleeping bag to check it out. Then he tried to crawl into mine. I had my mummy style bag and it was too tight a fit for him so he crawled out and back into Bonnie's bag and slept with her all night. Silly dog! As we laid there, we could see our breath, burrrrrr. We knew we wouldn't want to get out of our sleeping bags in the morning. I put the clothes I was wearing the next day into my sleeping bag so they would be warm in the morning.

It actually warmed up overnight and was warmer in the morning. It was cloudy but so far the rain was holding off. For that I was extremely grateful. I fed Marie and Lady Bug then headed to the house for some breakfast. I had the usual oatmeal of course. But there were lots of other goodies as well. Home baked breads, pastires and donuts. I just love this ride! while the costume class was being judged, I got Marie out and lunged her so she would be ready for her re-check. It just happened the vet walked by as I was lunging her and he watched her and told me she looked fine to ride. Bonnie and I tacked up and got ready to ride. The start of the ride went down the long driveway, then turned into the fields and came back around along the edge of the fields. Bonnie, Susie, Mary and I headed out together. When we turned into the fields, Susie broke into a trot and all the horses got excited. Well, not so much Marie but the rest got excited. When we turned the first corner at the end of the first field, Mary's horse, Midori, kicked at Lady Bug just hitting Bonnie's stirrup. That set Lady Bug to bucking which got Cody to jumping and leaping. I just sat back to enjoy the show. Susie and Bonnie were getting a bit stressed so Susie asked if Bonie and I would mind if she and Mary rode on ahead of us to split the horse up. We were fine with that. About then, Margaret on Promise caught up with us and Promise was looking like a time bomb ready to explode. She asked if she could ride with Bonnie and me hoping this would calm Promise down. We were fine with that. Though now Marie was getting a bit excited due to Cody going ahead of us. She didn't do anything bad, just set a fast pace hoping to catch up with Cody. Promise didn't have any trouble with the pace Marie set but it was a bit faster then Bonnie really wanted to go. We caught up with Jan Hatch and rode with her on and off for a while. It started to sprinkle while we were riding the first loop. We slowed down a mile before the hold and came in with nice cool horses. The hold was back at camp. Since it was quite chilly and damp, we put fleece blankets on the horses so their muscles wouldn't cramp. I was able to have Marie's P&R done early so I had more time to get her and myself something to eat. Vetting went fine and we were out of the hold on time. I put on my rain poncho in case it started to rain for real. Bonne, Margaret and I stayed together most of the second loop. we eventually caught up with Susie and Mary. At that point, Margaret rode ahead with Jan. We caught up with Irving at a water stop and Mary decided to ride with him. So, Susie, Bonnie and I finished the ride together. I told Irving I was going to get ahead of him so he would not cross the finish line ahead of me like he did at the Crooked River 60. I teased him about this all weekend. Cody was still being silly and pulling Susie a lot. When we got back to the trailer, We quickly untacked and got blankets on the horses. I did sponge Marie off to get off the dirt and sweat but kept her covered. her pulse came down quickly. We went for our trot out and she spooked at the dog tied near the arena. The same dog she ignored when she vetted in. And the silly part was the dog wasn't even out!! So, she didn't do her best trot out ever, but then her trot outs are never very impressive. After the trot out, we settled the horses back in their fence with hay and water. We put rain sheets on them since it was really starting to rain now. We then headed to the house for supper. It was great as usual, Salad, chicken, potato, squash, string beans and pie as well as left overs from last nights snacks. After the meal, the hands on were done. They did this under a tarp. Some of the horses did not like the sound of the rain on the tarp and didn't want to stand under it. Lady Bug jumped around a bit at first. Lady Bug was also a bit chilled even though she was blanketed. Marie was good but you could tell she didn't like it. Lady Bug had a very sore back. The vet said a lot of horses did. It must have had something to do with the weather. As soon as we were done, we put the horses in the trailer with hay so they would be out of the rain. Then we packed up and got ready to go. The award ceremony was held in the house where it was warm and dry. Susie got an award for the scariest costume. I got a nice hand pained plate for high point QH. Bonnie got a plate for high point pony. Lady Bug is 1/2 Welch Cob. We left right after the awards. We took one wrong turn on the way home but when the road soon turned to dirt we knew it was the wrong road. Other then that, it was an uneventful drive home. It was a great ride and I was sad the riding season was over. I gotten to know so many people in this sport now and I will miss seeing them over the winter.

Boo 25 ME 10/19 25/S-23/F
Judges: Buggia - Lavelle
Junior
1. Travelon's Two Times Two / M Kohler
Adult
2. Nerzans Lady Mariah / H Bonneau
3. Prymtym / T Hutchinson
6. HFA Silver Savana / M Deleware
8. Xavier Sunny Acres / S Reinheimer
8. Menomin Medallion / L Hutchenson
10. Lady Bug / B Hinz
10. Czar Nickolas / L Lester
12. LWF Paljoe Promise / M Farnum
13. Marie / C Ross (score 93.50)
14. Amalie Spunk / L. Kohler
14. Nikita Bahar / L Crowley
16. Mighty Frankie / T York
16. DLA Cassidy / J Hatch
18. TC Spark / C Lester
Completions:
GBA Karakorum / J Sewell
Willows Rahmann / I McNaughton
Travelons Times Two / M Gamester
FR Midori / M Batt

Crooked River 60 CTR Waterford, ME October 2002

Another minor pre-ride adventure. First and most devestating was the news that Tut's restaurant in Waterford was closed!! That was almost enough to make me cancel my entry. Thankfully, the closing is only temporary. In August I went to the Northeast Challenge endurance ride to crew for Heather. The ride is held in Buckfield and I noticed that I was on RT. 117. Now, Rt 117 goes to Rt 26 in Norway which is on the way to Waterford. I asked Heather how RT 117 was between Buckfield and Norway. She said it was ok. So, I decided the next time I went to Waterford, I would try the back way and avoid going through Lewiston/Auburn. I don't mind driving through Lewiston/Auburn except for the million traffic lights. I decided to wait for Bonnie to get out of work so she could ride up with me. Bonnie wasn't taking her horse, she was working the ride. Bonnie got to my house a little after 1:00 PM. I was ready to go so we just tossed Bonnie's stuff into my trailer and we were off. Keep in mind that my muffler is falling off my truck and it is getting quite loud. Another reason to avoid Lewiston/Auburn. I was familiar with the back roads to Buckfield. We had no problems to that point. Then, from Buckfield on Rt 117 was new territory. It wasn't long before we started climbing. We went up and up and up.....and just when we thought we couldn't possibly go up anymore, there was a sign warning of a "steep incline ahead" !!! I though we WERE on a steep incline. We went around the next corner and I had sudden visions of a roller coaster! The incline did get steeper! Somehow poor "Old Blue" got my trailer to the top of the hill. We were down to about 15 mph by the time we reached the top but we made it. So, now I'm a bit worried what the down hill side is going to be like. Thankfully, it's long and quite gradual going down the other side. Phew! "Old Blue" is too old to be abused like that. Bonnie and I decided we would take our usual route home. We got to the fairground without problems. Heather was the first one to spot me when I drove in. "Gosh," she said, "I heard you coming before you even turned the corner by Tut's. I knew it was either you or Margaret. You two are the only ones that haul with such old trucks." The ride was low on entries so we were able to park where ever we wanted. We parked next to Heather near the camper hook-ups. I put Marie in the nearest barn in a stall right across from Heather's horse, Mariah. I took a chance and used ropes across the front of Marie's stall hoping she would leave them alone and stay in. It was misting when we got there. There was no line for the vetting so I took Marie up got her vetted in right away. Then, Bonnie and I set up camp. Bonnie had brought all kinds of goodies to snack on. We sat around a picnic table with Heather and snacked in the mist for a while. Margaret showed up and Heather went off to talk her into parking near us. Bonnie and I went to get our supper. The ride provided a meal tonight for an extra $6.50. It was prepared by Rich Gamester and was very good. half a chicken (nicely cooked) salad, bread, potato and green beans. Zpehyr was with us. He thought the supper looked quite good also and begged his hardest for some scraps. He got a few. Margaret put her horse, Promise, next to Marie. Marie was giving him dirty looks but not making much of a fuss otherwise. I walked Marie around later, then went up to the barn with our chairs to sit with some others out of the rain. Scott Hatch was in the barn with a group of people and spotted Heather's horse Mariah. He proceded to tell them the tale of the Fryeburg ride when Mariah and Promise bolted in a field. Margaret jumped off Promise, Mariah fell and Heather was thrown. Mariah got lost in a swamp and a search party had to gou out to find her. He described the terrain and conditions and then told how "we all" saw Mariah at the last minute. I don't think Scott realized that Heather, Bonnie and I were sitting in a stall at the other end of the barn. I almost jumped up and corrected his story to point out that it was "I" that saw Mariah at the last minute. We finally headed off to bed around 9:00 PM. Zephyr had his usual spazz out spell when we put him up in the gooseneck to sleep with us. We just hid inside our sleeping bags until he settled down. It is really funny watching him. We talked for a while before falling to sleep. I was raining quite hard by this time.

When I woke up, it was still raining. I had been having the strangest dream about Bonnie and a trailer. I dreamed her new trailer was parked in our yard and Fred was doing something with it. When he was done, he didn't chock the wheels and it rolled down the driveway and hit something. Bonnie was very upset and crying and she ran down the driveway and got underneath the trailer and pushed it back up the hill. when she got it to the top of the hill she couldn't hold it and it rolled back down and dragged her. That's when I woke up and I didn't know what happened to her. Strange.....I fed Marie and then went down to the building where breakfast was set up. I had coffee and oatmeal. The riders meeting was in the dance hall because of the rain. Marie and I were starting with Margaret Farnum and Promise. The ride was scheduled to start at 7:30 AM. It was raining so hard at 7:00 AM it was decided to push the start time forward to 8:30 AM. I was still raining at 8:00 AM, 8:15 AM still raining, 8:20 raining, 8:25 AM raining, 8:30 AM, Just like someone turned off a faucet, it stopped raining. YEAH! Margaret and I were numbers 10 and 11. We got off to a good start. The trails were good. I thought the rain would make them muddy but it didn't. Just a lot of puddles good for the horses to drink from. We set a fairly slow pace the first few miles of the ride due to rocks and hills. It quickly got warm and muggy. Then a breeze came up and it was much more comfortable. Margaret and I got into the hold in good time. Bonnie had all my stuff ready. Marie pulsed down well and passed the vetting without problem. Bonnie sponged her and fed her while I grabbed a sandwich. Just before I mounted up, I checked Marie's girth. It wasn't too bad but I tightened it up one more notch, and we left the hold. We met Marsha Deleware walking up the trail towards us leading her horse. She was wet from head to toe. Her horse had spooked and backed off the side of a little bridge into a stream and got caught in some cables with Marsha pinned under her. By some miracle, Scott Hatch was there on his ATV on his way to fix a trail marker and was able to get her and her horse out ok. Marsha was a bit shook up but mostly unhurt. Her horse got some scrapes but nothing serious. Marsha pulled from the ride. Heather's horse also spooked and Heather was thrown but she also was fine. Somewhere along the way Irving's group passed us and Margaret and I were last. Irving rarely passes anyone. We finished the ride on time but were humiliated at being passed by Irving! Bonnie had water and sponges out. I untacked Marie and sponged her off. I took her pulse several times and it wasn't going down like it should. Hummmm, the Bonnie lets out a groan and tells me to check behind Marie's elbows. Poor Marie had huge swollen ...... I don't know what it was ....huge swollen fluid filled pockets. I don't know what caused them. They were in front of the girth. They were not rubbed or raw looking. Just big swollen fluid filled areas. She was in pain and that was most likely why her pulse wasn't coming down like it should. Her pulse was still 54 when she was checked. She wasn't interesed in eating either, just hung her head. Her trot out was horrible, she was really hurting and didn't want to move at all. I thought for sure this was the end of my ride. The vet told me not to give up. I was not going to be eliminated. I was told to apply lots of cold water to the area and just come for a re-check in the morning. I agreed to this but didn't think for a minute Marie would be ok to ride in the morning. Bonnie and I spent a lot of time that night holding cold cloths behind each elbow. Then I would walk her a little, then more cold clothes. Her pulse stayed up around 58 for quite a long time. She was finally eating and drinking good though. The supper that was provided was very good. Spaghetti and meatballs, salad, bread and pie. We went down to the award presentation for the 30 mile riders. Then, more time putting cold cloths on Marie and walking her. Later we went over to Rich and Marcy's trailer to just hang out and socialize. Marcie was telling us of all the ECTRA rules she has managed to break. I checked Marie's pulse one more time before going to bed. It was finally down to 48 but that was still higher then normal. Char Lester came over to see how Marie was and offer some advise. She asked when the last time was that I had given Marie electrolytes. I know I got a bit defensive with her but I was just worried about Marie and didn't want to get into the "electrolyte debate right then as I was sure that was not any part of Marie's problem. I did apologize to Char later. I felt bad as I know she was just trying to help. When Bonnie and I went to bed, I had made a tug of war toy for Zephyr by tying some knots in a piece of rope. Boy did we get him wound up! We thought we would never get him settled back down so we could get some sleep.

Sunday morning I got up to feed Marie and approached her stall with a laden heart. I was so pleased to see her bright eyed and eager for breakfast. Her pulse was normal and the swollen areas had drained and were much smaller. She was moving comfortably and passed her re-check. I could hardly believe it. The weather was good and the ride started right at 7:30 AM. By the first water stop, Marie's swelling was completely gone and she was traveling great. Promise spooked and Margaret came off him but was unhurt. Margaret and I rode a little bit too fast on the 5 miles before the hold. We missed seeing the 1 mile to go sign so flew right into the hold. Oops.... I was afraid our P&R sould be too high but Marie just squeaked under within 10 minutes. Phew! We got through the hold fine and headed off on the final leg of the ride. We were really keeping an eye out for Irving. We were determined not to let him pass us again today. He got withing sight of us in the last mile. We did not want to speed up that close to the finish. Irvings horse walks faster then Marie and Promise and he keept creeping up on us. He passed us about 10 feet from the finish line! AGH! There was still one rider behind us so at least we weren't last. Bonnie once again had water and sponges ready. I untacked Marie and sponged her well. Her pulse was 48 after 20 minutes. Just a tad over normal but not bad at all. The swollen spots were completely gone but she was just a little sore to the touch there. All else was fine. Apparently 6 or 7 other horses had gotten the same swollen spots. None as bad as Marie's but still it was strange. Marie vetted out quite well. I settled Marie into her stall with lots of hay and water. Bonnie and I packed up most of our stuff and then got our supper. Tonight was soup and cheeseburgers. Then it was time for the award presentations. There was some comfusion with the paperwork and while we were waiting Margaret said to me, "I should go pack while I'm waiting and just have you let me know when they get things straightened out." I told Margaret that was a good idea and if she won grand champion, I would give her whatever I won and keep her prize and tell her I'd won the grand championship. She laughed and said maybe she would just sit tight and wait. Marie got a score of 91 which I though was great considering all she'd gone through. And don't you know Margaret did win grand champion! I told her she should have gone and packed up and left me to get her award! I told her it was Marie that inspired Promise to win. It only took Bonnie and I a few more minutes to finish packing up. While we were doing that, we got to witness Steve Rojek run over his riding helmet with his F550 truck. OOps..... We had an uneventful drive home.

Crooked River 60 ME 10/5 12/S-F
Judges: Creighton
1. LWF Paljoe Promise / M Farnum
2. TC Spark / C Lester
3. Fagan Farah / A M Savino
4. GH Jessee Jolody / D Houghton
5. AFX Ploaris / S Rojek
6. Pygmalion / K Downs
6. Nerzan's Lady Mariah / H Bonneau
8. Araba FAble / J Collins
9. Marie / C Ross (score 91.00)
10. SR Katherine / D Rojek
11. DLA Cassidy / J Hatch
12. Willow's Rahmaan / I McNaughton