The Waterford 30 drive would be Marie’s second competition of the season. Bonnie went with me as my groom. This would be my first chance to really try out my new cart! I had finally gotten the new seat to replace the one that was damaged in shipping when I bought it. I headed up to Waterford a little after 10:00 AM. There weren’t that many people there when I arrived so there was no trouble finding a place to park. I didn’t bother with a stall. With my “Spring tie” on my trailer, I really don’t need one as long as the weather is good. Heather found me right away. We hung out for a bit and then Heather went down to Melby’s for lunch. I had brought some snacks for myself so stayed at camp for lunch. I got the cart out and all put together. My cart is a "traveler" cart which breaks down for easier hauling. The wheels and shafts come off. Bonnie came up after work that afternoon. Vetting was uneventful and quick. Heather, Bonnie and I went to Melby’s for supper after vetting was done. Bonnie and I fitted Marie into the shafts of the cart to make sure I had them adjusted properly. I wanted to make sure I didn’t have to fuss with it in the morning. We hung out at my trailer after supper until a bit after 9:00 pm. I had worked the previous night and been up all day so I was falling asleep in my camp chair and did not catch much of the conversation. We knew is was supposed to be quite chilly that night. So, I blanketed Marie. We had brought our warmest sleeping bags and snuggled in for the night. We knew the hard part would be getting up in the morning.
Saturday morning wasn’t as cold as I had expected. Though it was chilly enough. I got up and fed Marie. Then headed down to the food shack for coffee and my usual oatmeal. We had the riders/drivers meeting. Drivers would be going out first. We would have a 15 minute window to start from 7:30 to 7:45 am. Then the rides would start out at 8:00 am. After the riders meeting, Bonnie and I quickly harnessed Marie and got her in the cart. We got through the safety check fine and headed out at 7:32. Marie seemed happy enough to be on trail but was a bit pokey. After we had been out for nearly an hour, a team of ponies caught up to us. The first riders weren’t far behind them. Marie perked up when the team of ponies went by and then decided it was her mission to keep up with them. The ponies weren’t very big but boy could they move! A lot of the first half of the trail was wonderful dirt road. But, there was also a lot of rocky rough trail and a bit of really sandy going that was just a bit hilly. Marie really struggled in the sandy spots. She is still not as fit as she was previous to her being sick this spring. She was working herself a bit too hard trying to keep up with the ponies. When we got to the hold Marie’s pulse was high and she was panting causing her to be “inverted”. That is when their respiration is higher then their pulse. That can mean trouble, but only if their temperature is high. Marie was just a bit overtired. I knew that she would continue to work too hard the rest of the ride to keep up with the ponies. If I separated from the ponies and slowed down, she would fret about that and we probably wouldn’t make our time. I decided at that point to pull from the competition. I felt it was just a bit more then she was ready for at this point. And, if I didn’t overwork her at this ride, she would be ok to go to the last ride of the season the next weekend. Another one of the drivers horses had cut its leg on a nasty culvert out on trail. Both horses were trailered back to camp from the hold. I was glad I pulled. By the time we got back to camp, Marie had perked right up and was demanding her food. Bonnie and I stayed for the meal and award ceremony after the ride. Not a bad day really. We had a nice 16 mile drive!
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