Another great adventure. Usually I head off to the rides after I get out of work in the morning. But Barbara, the woman who is leasing Marie, had to work so I went to bed and slept Friday morning. I got up around 2:00 PM. Bonnie had decided to go to the ride also. It would be her pony mule, Blossom’s, first ride. Barbara got to my house at 3:45 PM. Bonnie was already there and I had everything packed so we loaded up the equines and headed off. Bonnie was following me to the ride. The drive to the competition was uneventful. Except for being able to hear Blossom braying at every stoplight! We got a big chuckle out of that. She sure can be loud and was obviously not happy about being alone in the trailer. We arrived at 5:30 PM. It took a minute to get parked to our satisfaction. I was going to put Emma Jane on the ‘Spring-tie’. Marie, and Blossom would be put in the portable electric pen. I started to set up the pen but we had to get the horse and mules vetted in before it was dark. The black flies were horrible! I had put Emma Jane’s fly mask on her at home before we left. I figured I would have trouble if I tried to put it on her at the ride. There would be too much stimulation at the ride for her to be able to keep calm about having her ears handled. I presented her to the vet judge first. It was a new vet and her first CTR. Here name was Janelle Tirrell. She was very nice and Emma Jane was perfect for her. Then I presented Emma Jane to the lay judge, Sondra Day. Sondra is wonderful and has judged Emma Jane before. Emma Jane wiggled around a bit at first but then settled down and was good. But, I had to take Emma Jane’s fly mask off. Emma Jane trotted out fine but I could hear the judges say something about her being a bit off. They cleared me to ride so I figured it couldn’t be too serious. Blossom and Marie vetted in fine. Now I had to make a decision. Try to put Emma Jane’s fly mask back on ….. or just let her suffer with the flies. I decided to put the mask back on her. That was a bad decision. She had reached the limit of her ability to tolerate uncomfortable situations and she was determined that I was NOT going to put anything over her ears. But, now I had started something I felt I had to finish. And I had quite an audience enjoying the evening’s entertainment of Cindy and her mule wrestling routine. Eventually, everyone got tired of watching and headed up to the ride manager’s house for food. Bonnie and Barbara went up also since we all though they were going to have the riders meeting. So, there I was alone in camp. Just me and one unhappy mule. 45 min. later, Emma Jane froze just long enough for me to slip one ear into the mask. I decided this was going to be as good as it would get. So, I quickly fastened the mask on leaving the one empty ear of the mask hanging limply over her eye. By now it was dark and the flies were gone anyway. Bonnie had come back down to set up her trailer to sleep in. Barbara finally came back down to let us know they didn’t have the riders meeting but everyone was invited to go up to the house to hang out and there was food. I ended up moving my trailer since Emma Jane could not see Marie and Blossom very well in their pen from the ‘Spring-tie’ and that was making her anxious. Overall though, she seemed pretty relaxed on the ‘Spring-tie. After getting parked in a better spot, we fed the horse and mules and headed up to the house.
Marie with feed bag having supper
Emma Jane having her supper
Blossom having supper
Janice and Scott Hatch were the ride managers. Scott makes a living restoring old barns and taking down old barns and building houses from the barn materials. Their house was built from an old barn and is very unique. They have a huge fireplace and had a fire going. There was plenty of food. We had not expected this and had planned on making our own supper. We were pleasantly surprised and happy that we did not have to. None of us like to cook. We stayed at the house till about 9:00 PM then headed back to camp and to bed. Bonnie would have stayed up longer but for us party poopers! Emma Jane seemed to be doing fine on the Spring-tie. There is a large metal grate bridge by the field we were camping in. Scribner’s Mill is on a dirt road but there was surprising amount of traffic all night. And the bridge was very loud and clangy when a vehicle went over it. This scared Emma Jane at first. But she soon got used to it though she never turned her back to it.
Once I was in bed, I couldn’t sleep. I was worried about Emma Jane on the ‘Spring-tie’. Every noise she made woke me. Then she was so quiet for a while that I ended up getting up to make sure she had not gotten loose. Though I’m sure Marie and Blossom would have let me know if she had. She was fine and just snoozing. I went back to bed again but finally gave up. I was now awake since I had slept during the day and I was hungry. So, as quietly as I could not wanting to wake Barbara up, I got out my stove and pan and heated up a can of soup and made a cup of tea. It was a full moon out and really lovely. I didn’t need any extra light. It was even light enough for me to clean up the manure while waiting for my soup to heat up. It was really pleasant outside hanging out with the equines with the sound of the river behind me in the full moon. Blossom and Marie lay down beside each other to sleep while I was eating. They looked so cute together and I wanted to take a picture but figured with my luck, the camera flash would spook them. I finally went back to bed and by the time I was really falling asleep it was time to get up.
Riders meeting on a foggy morning
Barbara was up the same time I was. I went and checked on Bonnie who was also getting up. We fed the horses and mules then went over for breakfast. I was not that hungry due to my 3 AM ‘snack’. So, I just had some coffee that I’m pretty sure caused some hair to grow on my chest! And I had half a bagel. We were taking our time since we were going out at the end starting order so would have plenty of time to get tacked up and ready. I got our hold bag ready. I made up a package of Beet pulp for Blossom also. Emma Jane was having a fit on the Spring-tie. She was just plain tired of being tied and was bored. She was rearing and hopping and pulling. They called for the riders meeting. Emma wasn’t pulling hard enough to look like she would get in trouble so we walked off and left her. As soon as she no longer had an audience, she stopped and settled down! Silly mule! After the riders meeting we tacked up and got ready to go. Soon, we were out on the trail with Barbara on Marie leading.
Barbara McGovern with Emma Jane & Marie getting ready to ride
Bonnie getting Blossom ready to ride
Barbara McGovern on Marie
Cindy Ross on Emma Jane
Barbara McGovern leading us across the Crooked River on Marie. Cindy Ross on Emma Jane behind.
The first half of the trail was very pretty. Mostly all woods trails wide enough for 2 equines side by side. Quite flat and easy with one nice shallow river crossing. Bonnie forgot her sponge so borrowed one of ours. We made it to the hold with no problem and were doing ok on time. It was quite warm and humid but Emma Jane and Marie pulsed down quickly and we were able to get our P&R done in 5 min. We waited for Bonnie and then went and did our trot out. All went well there. We then fed the horses and were out of the hold only a minute or so late. The second half of the trail was tougher. It was still very lovely but some very rocky spots and more hills. And I knew in the last few miles we were going to have a very tough hill to climb. When we hit the 5 miles to go marker, I knew we were in trouble on time. I was quite sure we were not going to make it on time and we still had the tough hill to climb. I was also quite sure that the mileage was not right and longer then 25 miles. But, all we could do was push as fast as we could to the hill. This is what we did. Marie and Blossom trotted up much of the hill. It was VERY steep and halfway up, Emma Jane slowed down to a walk and would not go faster. At the top, I had to get off and fix my saddle since it had slipped way back going up the hill. Now we had a tough descent down a power line that would also be slow. Once back on flat ground, we pushed fast the last 1 ½ miles back to camp. Not the best of plans but it was either take FOR SURE time penalty points or POSSIBLE points for a high P&R. There was a short steep hill into the camp and finish line. We got down the hill and on the last flat stretch though camp to the finish line when I heard a commotion behind me. Just as I looked back, I saw Blossom stumble and she did a complete summersault. I saw Bonnie roll clear of Blossom. I was torn…… do I stop and help Bonnie….. or race for the finish line. The clock was ticking…… I saw Blossom and Bonnie both get up, lots of people moving in to help so I went for the finish line. Blossom was caught and brought back to Bonnie were she had come off so she could get back on and finish the ride! Bonnie and Blossom were fine and finished!!! YEAH.
We got the horse and mules back to our trailers and sponged them heavily with water since it was such a warm day. Blossom’s P&R was very high so Bonnie walked her for quite a while. Within less then an hour Blossom was fine. Marie’s pulse came right down fine. Emma Jane’s was a bit high at 60 when taken at 20 min. I had it taken again at about 23 minutes just to make sure it was coming down and she was at 52 so no worries there. I was just going to take some points for a higher then optimum pulse. Her respiration was very low. I could tell she was quite tired from racing at the end. Emma Jane is still not nearly as fit at Marie. The vet decided to do the “hands on” first, then the trot out. Not the favorite order for the riders but that’s ok. We like to do the trot out first before the equines have time to stiffen up. Hands on went fine. Emma Jane was quiet for both the vet judge and lay judge. At this time, a thunderstorm rolled in and we had a downpour. The storm circled us several times with the rain coming and going. Luckily, the three of us managed to get our ‘hands on’ and trot out done between the rain.
After the “hands on” the meal was served. A pig roast. Very good except for the baked beans!!! (I hate beans!) YECH! After the meal was the trot out. Emma Jane was reluctant to do her trot out but we managed. She was definitely a bit lame on her left front. Sigh, not again! Marie trotted out just fine, though Barbara dropped her whip and got a bit discombobulated. Marie just stopped and stared at her like, “come on lady, just let me do my thing, I know what my job is.” Bonnie could not get Blossom to trot out at all except back towards the judges (towards Marie). After the vetting was done, Bonnie gave Blossom a dose of Banamine to help keep her from being too sore from the unaccustomed exercise. Blossom put up a bit of a fuss about that. We stayed for the awards even though we knew none of us had scored all that well due to the time penalty we had taken. Turns out quite a few others had taken time penalties also. A lot of other had left already because of the rain. Wimps! Bonnie ended up with a low score. She took the full 25 points for lameness. Blossom was not lame but since she would not trot out, the vets have to give the points automatically. Emma Jane didn’t get a great score either due to the points for high respiration and the slight lameness. Marie did fine. They actually all did great and finished in good health. Blossom didn’t want to load up into the trailer for a long lonely ride home but Barbara and Bonnie managed to get her in. It was a very nice ride on beautiful trail so a good weekend in all.
Marsha Deleware on Savana, Cara York on Laureado & Char Jewell on Zus
Heather Bonneau with Mariah
Scribners Mills 25 ME 9/9/06 37/S-35/F
Judges: Dr. Janelle Tirrell - Janet Brunjes
J1. Linkk / Jack, Sara Jane
J2. Prymtyme / Bean, Lindsay
J3. AD Laureado / York, Cara
1. Enchanted Safire / Seams, Cynthia
2. SPD Carousel / O'Connor, Colleen
3. Tispiret Tafira / Quill, Anne
3. Michabou KT Brigadear / Rice, Stephanie
5. J Roman Tarbask / Libby, Kerry
5. Travelin' Man Maverick / Tenngren Traci
7. Julio / Rojek, Steve
8. Travelon's Times Two (Moon) / Gamester, Marcy
9. Sahara / Alexander, Phillis
9. Potaca / Rice, Bill
9. Misty Falls Amanda Lyn / Beem, Amy
12. Beckie / Dockham, Peg
13. Anchor Hill Alan (Max) / Huson, Rosemary
13. Ishtar/ Jack, Blaine
15. BW Warrior / Brone, Ruth Bither
15. Thunder / Stygles, Amanda
17. Picasso , Rojek, Dinah
18. Izusu (Zus) / Jewell, Char
18. Nerzans Lady Mariah / Bonneau, Heather
Completions:
Marie / McGovern, Barbara (score 85.00)
KA Shiloh / Niedoroda, Susan
Odie / Palmer, Judy
Alladins Storm / Seams, Peter
HFA Silver Savana / Deleware, Marsha
Rally / Doan, Ann
CF Angel By Far / Handren, Jillian
Emma Jane / Ross, Cynthia (score 84.75)
Cindi Jo's Velvet / Levasseur, Kathy
Stonewall Sally / Hoyt, Colleen
Count CAnaskis / Arsenault, Steven
MCO
S/B Mighty Country / Burgess, Robert
Blossom / Hinz, Bonnie
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