Mustang Memorial 50 mile endurance ride NJ, November 2007

A great time was had at the Mustang Memorial 50 mile endurance ride this weekend. Wednesday afternoon, I trailered Ruby to a friend’s home that had offered to take me to the ride with him. My friend Bonnie went with me to crew for us. Bill and Stephanie have a wonderful farm and we settled Ruby into a big comfy stall for the night. We loaded up Bill's trailer with all my junk. You'd have thought I was bringing 3 mules by the amount of "stuff" I had. And a cat crate for the new barn cat I was going to be bringing home from the ride. Bill has a BIG trailer thankfully. Another friend of Bill and Stephanie that was going to the ride and had traveled down from Canada was also there for the night. Stephanie cooked us a wonderful meal, which my husband came and joined us for.

We headed for NJ early Thursday morning. Ruby happily loaded into Bill's trailer with her new buddy, Epyc. The trip down went very well. At one stop we wanted to feed Ruby and Epyc but realized all my feed dishes were buried in my tack trunk so she was fed her grain in a big cooking pot that I held up for her at the trailer window. Only the best dinnerware for Ruby. Ruby also realized Bill's trailer was big enough to turn around in so whenever we stopped and dropped her window, we were never sure which end of Ruby we would find.

The trip took about 10 hrs. Ruby and Epyc did great. We arrived at the Kowboy Korral where the ride was held with enough daylight to get pens set up and Ruby and Epyc all settled in. Bill let Bonnie and I have his entire trailer to ourselves and he bunked in with his friend Bob from Canada. Bonnie and I had luxury living quarters! Heat, hot water .... SHOWER... wooooohoooooo. What a treat! Bill had brought some of his homegrown beef and we grilled burgers that night for supper.

Friday, we were up early to take care of Ruby and Epyc. Bill is not real sold on mules in general or mares for that matter. But, he sure was getting to be fond of Ruby the molly mule! Around 10:00 am we saddled up and headed out for a ride to check out the trails. Poor Bill got bucked off his horse the minute he mounted. Epyc was nervous about something as he was being saddled. When Bill mounted, Epyc spun around and got his back feet tangled up with the mounting block and he freaked out. Bill was not hurt but definitely rattled and nervous as I would have been also. We went out nice and easy with Ruby leading the way. Bill didn't go too far and had Bob and me ride most of the way back to camp with him. He dismounted and led Epyc back while Bob and I went back out and let Ruby and Galaxy have a good gallop.

Ruby vetted in great with all A's on her vet card. It was as I was in line for vetting that I met Ival! Yipppeeeeee. So exciting to meet at last. I admit I didn't recognize her at first but, it was cold and we were all so bundled up in coats, hat, hoods, gloves that it was hard to tell whom anyone was! LOL. Ival had the unfair advantage since I was holding the beautiful Ruby mule that is so easy to spot! LOL.

After I got Ruby settled back in her pen after the vetting, Bonnie and I went over to meet Ival’s mule Ginger. Ival had brought her cart just so she could take me for a ride in it. So, we got Ginger out and harnessed her up. Then we unloaded the cart. Ival had Bonnie and I hold Ginger as she hooked the cart to her. Ginger was a bit fidgety. We were still holding her when Ival climbed into the cart. Ival had no sooner hit the seat when Ginger reared up causing Bonnie and I to let her go while we scrambled for safety. Ginger was off like a shot. Ival seemed in control of things and did a few laps around the camp areas without doing anyone or anything any harm. I told her I was going to go get my helmet before I even thought about getting into the cart and headed to my campsite. Ival headed Ginger down the trail to get the edge off her. By the time Ival came back around to pick me up, Ginger was calmed down and we had a lovely drive. So, I am now part of the elite crowd who have had the thrill to go for a cart ride with the famous Ival and Ginger.

The ride provided a wonderful meal that night. Bonnie and I sat with and enjoyed visiting with Ival. I only wish I'd had more time to spend with her. I KNOW we could have a lot of fun together. Due to the cold temps. We did retreat to our ... or rather Bill's ... heated trailer early. We blanked Ruby and made sure she had plenty of hay and water and made a hasty retreat into the trailer and went to bed early.

When we got up Saturday, it was drizzling out and still cold. I came prepared for this kind of weather so did not really care. We fed Ruby, then I donned my rain pants, raincoat, layers of fleece and tall, insulated waterproof riding boot and was ready to go! I was ready for whatever Mother Nature was going to throw at us. It never did actually rain hard. It just sprinkled and drizzled a good part of the day. I was warm, dry and comfy in my gear! Ruby was quiet as I saddled up. When I mounted though, she was ready to go! Bill was still a bit nervous from getting bucked off the previous day. It was also his horses first 50 and he was planning to go real slow. He has ridden with me on two other ride, on a different horse, and knew Ruby was going to be too fast for his new young horse. I could see he really didn't want me to take off ahead of him since Ruby and Epyc and become buddies so I stayed back with him and we let all the horses go out ahead of us when the ride started. It wasn't long before we came up on two women that were planning to ride real slow. So, Bill tucked Epyc in behind their horses and told me to go. Ruby was off like a shot!



We caught and passed several riders before we hooked up with a group that was traveling at a good pace for us. The trail was very flat and sandy the whole way. Some of it was hard packed but some was beach sand soft. Not what rock-climbing Ruby is used to. And her narrow mule/donkey feet were no advantage here. Our first loop was 20 miles. We rode it in just a bit over 2 hrs. We came straight into the pulse gate at the hold and Ruby pulsed right down to 40! Impressive! Bonnie was ready with a fleece cooler for Ruby. We fed her and Bonnie rubbed her all down with a towel. Ruby LOVED that. I had to have Bonnie stop because Ruby wouldn't eat while being rubbed down. She just stood there with a silly ecstatic look on her face with her lip hanging down and quivering. I tied a rump rug on behind Ruby’s saddle in case I needed it out on the trail.

Just as I was heading out on the second loop, Bill came in. I thought Ruby would be upset about leaving when she saw Epyc but not at all, she nickered to him and then took off on loop 2 like it was the Kentucky Derby. The first few miles of this loop were really soft sand as they had just bulldozed the trail. I rated Ruby back a bit so she wouldn't wear herself out running in the sand. Our second loop was 17 miles. We caught and passed a few riders. Then leapfrogged with them. I caught up with several riders at some water tubs set out on the trail. As I neared them, one of the horses threw up its head and came right over to Ruby and was sniffing her and nickering to her. I was a bit surprised. Most horses are cautious of the mule. The rider and her friend just laughed. She told me she had a mule at home and her horse must have thought Ruby was “his” mule. We didn't really ride with anyone very long and did most of loop 2 alone. Ruby and I leapfrogged with the mule-owning woman several times. Her horse would nicker to Ruby each time! Ruby went strong the whole way. We did loop 2 in just 2 hrs. We came into the hold cheered on by Ival and Bonnie. Once again we sent straight to the pulse gate and Ruby once again pulsed right down to 40. Whoooohooooo! It was back to the trailer with Ruby to be fed and rubbed down again.

Now, it was going to be interesting. In doing CTR's there is only one hold. In the limited distance endurance rides I've done, there is only one hold. So.... Ruby thought we were done. When I tightened the saddle back up and went to lead her out of her pen, she stood firm and looked at me like I was crazy. I had to go back and whisper in her ear that she was so fabulous on the first two loops that I just HAD to do one more just for the fun of it. A slightly reluctant Ruby decided that if I really though she was that amazing, she could maybe show off for just one more loop. Physically, she was in great shape, mentally, she was not sure about this so we slowed the pace way down for the last loop. I was also concerned that she had not drunk any water at all yet. This last loop was 13 miles and we just went nice and easy and I did not push her too hard. Burning them out mentally is just as dangerous as burning them out physically. I wanted her to finish and feel like, "gee, I guess that wasn't too bad". And Ruby was a total sweetheart. We rode that last loop completely alone. I walked Ruby for nearly an hour until she finally took a good drink at a puddle. She perked up a bit after that so I sped her up some. She was rock steady and solid the whole ride. We met up with a big group of dirt bikers on that 3rd loop and Ruby was perfect. Though she was not offering me any more then I requested of her, she NEVER quit and did whatever I asked. We took about 3 hrs. to complete that loop.

At the finish we were once again greeted by our fan club which was much appreciated. We took Ruby to the trailer, pulled her tack. She took a good long drink of water and then we went right up for our final vetting. She once again pulsed right down to 40 and ended the ride with straight A's on her ride card!MULES RULE!Ruby is now an official 50 mile mule! I was so proud of her I could have burst. And Ruby has won the respect of many endurance riders.

Bonnie and I settled Ruby into her pen with lots of hay, water and other tasty treats. We rubbed her down and blanketed her. Then, we went to wait for Bill to come in. He was nearly 2 hrs. behind me and came in just after dark. He and his horse were fine. Epyc vetted in great and they also got a completion! Yippeeeee! As soon as Bill got Epyc blanked and settled in, we packed up as much of our stuff as we could. It looked like I was going to miss the woman that was bringing me the cat. We were heading out first thing in the morning. The cat would be arriving in the afternoon. Bob was riding on Sunday and heading home Monday. He would be spending Monday night at Bill and Stephanie’s. So, I left the cat crate with him so he could bring the cat to Bill and Stephanie’s and I would pick the cat up there.

We had another wonderful meal and got to spend a little bit more time visiting with Ival. But, we went to bed early again due to the cold weather, and the heated trailer. We were up early. We loaded up Ruby and Epic, then quickly packed up their pens. We pulled out at 6:30 AM and stopped at a diner for a nice breakfast. Bonnie and I had “Piney pancakes”. The trip home was uneventful. Though when we went to unload the Epyc and Ruby at Bill’s, we found that the divider between Epyc and the 3rd stud stall where all the stuff was stored had unlatched and squashed Epyc a bit. He was luckily unhurt. I put Ruby in a stall while we tossed my stuff from Bill’s trailer to mine. I thought Ruby would be happy to be out of the trailer but she paced in the stall and heehawed unhappily. It was funny watching all of Bill’s horses freeze and stare at the barn at her first bray. I was worried that Ruby would not want to get back into my trailer after her long ride in Bill’s. But, she seemed to know that was how she was going to get home, and she was ready to get home. So, she hopped right in without hesitation. The trip home from Bill’s was uneventful and Ruby was very glad to see Marie and take a good roll in her own pasture!

The cat arrived safely in Maine the next day with Bob.

Mustang Memorial Nov 10, 2007 54/S - 46/F
1. 3:38 Orr, Kim on Pandor
1. 3:38 Sandler, Samantha on Elliptic
3. 3:38 Linn, David on USA Carson
4. 3:51 Phillips, Christina on Elegant Pride
5. 3:52 Augustine, David on Shyrocco Troilus
6. 3:52 Rojek, Steven on Julio
6. 3:52 Barbosa, Hernan on Salt
8. 4:34 Fisher, Jenn on Hydaway's Sur Pierre J
9. 4:34 Reynolds, Tracy on Dime A Dance
10. 4:48 Williams, Frances on SS Yankee Clipper
11. 4:49 Gielen, Robert on FC Galaxy
12. 4:50 Richardson, Emily on Crimson Sage
13. 4:54 Renken, Sharon on Theodore
14. 5:15 Becker, Cinnamon on Pack-Man
15. 5:24 Jack, Kelley-Ann on Jahya Jamlin
15. 5:24 Jack, Sarah on Linkk
17. 5:28 Fuhrman, Gail on Shyrocco Crisedye
18. 5:32 Walker, Nancy on ASA Cameo Rose
18. 5:32 Dngle, Dawn E. on Wirtual Dream
20. 5:49 Kemerer, Ashley on Tarsu
21. 5:52 Pizzo, Patty on Hot S;pot
21. 5:52 Carangia, Linda on Creme Bruelee
21. 5:52 Connolly, Diane on Harmony
24. 5:53 Kemerer, Barbara on Ellis Messiah
25. 6:01 Matthews, Emily on Fantasy Of Flight
26. 6:02 Muzzio, Natalie on Hawks Neopolitan
27. 6:05 O'Brien, Georgia on SBK Sasha's Treasure
27. 6:05 Kain, Nancy on Kimfadonis
27. 6:05 Murphy, Frank on Desparaddo
30. 6:06 Hillard, Dean on CH Yaa Shilbiy
31. 6:07 Hay, Steven on Twenty Four Carrots
32. 6:18 Taylor, Amanda M. on HEM Lucky Pierre
32. 6:18 Cleri, Amy on Lynika
34. 6:21 Brosious, Jessee on Epic Moniet
35. 7:10 Reeder, Dana on Charlie Brown
35. 7:15 Lynn, Helen on Ironstone Pacific
37. 7:25 Ross, Cindy on McAllister's Ruby
38. 8:16 Hays, Laura on SHF Tifaan
39. 8:17 Kemerer, Skip on Ice Joy
40. 9:20 Maynard, Mary Ann on Gift of Grace
40. 9:20 Rice, Bill on Epyc
40. 9:20 Bianchi, Rebecca on HA Batez
40. 9:20 Hass, Trish on Whisman's Whiskey
Completion Miles only:
Reich, Deborah on Tryxa
Cader, Amos on FLF Blaze Star
DNF
Denardis, Kimberly on WWA Gypsy Sun
Lame - Renee Fisher on Asked and Answered
Lame - Thomas Barber on Sunhaven Bahd
RO/Lame - Oliva, Pat on Saruk Jet
Lame - Wendy Mancini on Dusty Grand Bonanza
Lame - Pamela Williams on Valor Ruhani
Lame - Diane Brosious on Cezzanne
RO/Lame - Catherine Paloquin on Thisspotsforyou H
RO/Lame - Julia Bianchi on Lady Monalaina

Trails from the Crypt, Sumner, Maine October 2007

Another great ride and the last CTR of the season. Barbara went with me and was riding Marie. We arrived at the ride site on Friday about 11:00. It was VERY foggy and drizzling but not all that cold. There were not all that many people at the ride when we arrived so we had our choice of places to park. We parked near the turnout for Laura and Steve’s horses. They are the farm owners that were hosting the ride. The turnout is sold pipe panel fencing so seemed a nice safe place to set up our portable fence. We quickly set up the pen and turned Ruby and Marie out with lots of hay and water. The ride site is held at a farm that is absolutely beautiful. Up on a hill with gorgeous view. The farm owners/ride managers open their home to everyone for the weekend and they have such a lovely home.

I only had my low slip on Bean boots and soon had wet feet and pants to my knees! Sure glad it was not cold! I was going to steal Barbara’s boots from her (yes, she was smart enough to bring them) but she has such a tiny foot I figured I wouldn’t even get my big toe in her boots. After Marie and Ruby were settled in, we went to the house to register and get a cup of coffee. When we went back out, Susie had arrived. She brought both of her horses. Rocky, a girl we had met on our Ireland vacation last year, was riding her horse, MacKenzie. Rocky is a studayn at Bowdoin College and was coming up to the ride later in the evening after she got out of classes.

At 3:30 PM we went up to get vetted in. I was so foggy we couldn’t even see the arena where the vetting was being held from our trailers. Ruby vetted in with no problem. She was a good girl and did a very nice trot out. Including lounging the circles. My horse was actually just a bit lame on the left front but not bad enough that the vet pulled her from the ride. He told us he would just keep a close eye on her through the ride.

After getting vetted in, we all hung out in my trailer to visit and have some snacks. Marie was having FITS about Laura’s horses in her turnout. They were hanging right at the fence near my pen. Marie was jealously guarding Ruby from them. She would herd Ruby to one side of the pen away from them, then rush at them like she was going to kill. Shaking her head, rearing, striking and kicking. She looked like some wild enraged stallion! I have NEVER seen my horse act like that in the 16 yrs. I’ve owned her. I was afraid she was going to run Ruby though the far side of the fence! Or trample one of us if we were in the pen. I finally had to go in the pen with a whip and really get after her to quit it before someone got hurt. Marie knows me well enough to know when I’m serious so she finally quite and settled for keeping herself between them and Ruby and just glared at them. I was sure happy when Laura put her horses in for the night.

The riders meeting was at 6:00 PM. Laura made that short and sweet and we went straight to the snack buffet provided for us. Due to the predicted bad weather for Friday night, a lot of people that had entered the ride decided not to come. Wimps!!!! There was a horrible storm at this ride last year. It was cold, it poured rain and the winds were so strong that it rocked the trailers HARD! Since Barbara and I had survived that storm no worse for the wear, we decided this one could be no worse. Rocky finally showed up sometime a little after 7:00 PM. Susie was very relieved when she finally arrived. We headed back to the trailers around 8:30 PM. It was now starting to rain pretty steady. We put rain sheets on Ruby and Marie. Though I wasn’t really convinced they needed them since it was quite warm. Susie was quite worried about her horses. After going to bed, I woke up when I heard Susie loading her horses into her trailer to get them out of the rain. Later, I woke up again when I heard her unloading them because the rain had let up. Then again I woke to hear her loading them up once again because it was raining hard again. And later yet, she unloaded them. When I did check on mine, Marie was busy eating hay and Ruby was laying down taking a snooze. Good enough for me.

It was still raining when we got up at 5:00 AM. We fed Ruby and Marie then went to the house for some breakfast. One poor woman had gotten kicked square in the face while feeding her horse and had to go to the hospital. Broken nose, teeth, split lip and mild concussion! It has stopped raining by the time we went back out to saddle up. Yeah!!!! Susie and Rocky were going out ahead of Barbara and I. We tacked up and had about 10 min. to walk Ruby and Marie around to warm them up. Soon, our numbers were called and we were on the trail. This ride is on great trails. It is somewhat hilly with lots of nice dirt roads and woods roads. No pavement. Ruby was awesome and started out strongly. It wasn’t long before we caught up with Susie and Rocky. Cara York was riding with them also. Susie was having a very bad time with her horse Cody. He was pulling her arms out of the sockets and was a bit out of control. Rocky was having a tough time of it also. This was stirring up Cara’s horse, Laureado. Susie didn’t want to stay in a big group so we went ahead. But, then she would catch up with us because she couldn’t hold Cody back. If she went ahead, we would keep catching up with her. About ¾ of the way though the first loop, 2 riders passed us going a bit faster then we were going. Barbara and I hooked up with them and went on ahead fast enough to keep ahead of Susie for a while. We did the first loop and came into the hold in good time. Ruby breezed through the hold pulsing in at 38! with a respiration of 8. Marie was good too. Pulsing at 54. Very normal for her. We got held up in the vetting line at the hold so were late getting out. We could have requested extra time added since it wasn’t our fault but knew we could finish on time so didn’t bother. The second loop was the same as the first. Ruby was actually stronger on the second loop and made me work at rating her speed. She didn't misbehave at all, just going strong and so much fun to ride! I just had a blast. Marie was also stronger on the second loop.

Ruby is definitely making some mule converts here. The judge mentioned that she had been watching Ruby out on the trail and what a beautiful mover Ruby is. Then went on to say, "I have to defend my chosen breed here though, I think your mule gets her beautiful movement from her Arabian breeding." I told her she didn't have to defend anything, I fully agreed with her. Ruby definitely moves like an Arabian. We finished the ride in good time. It was quite warm by the time we finished but Ruby easily pulsed right down to 40. Marie pulsed at 48. Ruby was a complete lady for the final vetting and did another good trot out. Not perfect but she is definitely getting the idea and doing well.

Once we were done, we settled Ruby and Marie into their pen with lots of hay and water to let them rest. We all went into the house for the catered buffet supper. And it was wonderful! After eating and socializing, they had the award ceremony. Ruby and I got 7th place out of 20 riders. Ruby had a very good score of 97. She got 1.5 points off for wind puffs. And 1/4 point off for slight change in "anal tone" Hummmm. And 1/4 point off for "willingness". Meaning her trot out at the end of the ride was not quite as animated as the one at the start. The vet did say there were a lot of ties and they had to really nit pick to decide the placings. Marie got a score of 90. She was still slightly "off", but was much better then when she started. When we went back out to pack up. Ruby was laying down taking a snooze. Barbara cut up some apples and put them in two pans to give to them. She went into the pen and Ruby just waited for Barbara to serve them to her. Barbara put the pan by her and she ate them laying down! It was so funny watching her. So, that is the end of my CTR season. I am really looking forward to the NJ endurance ride coming up in three weeks and Ruby's first 50 miler!!!




Trails from the Crypt 25 Oct 20, 2007 21/S - 20/F
Judges: L. Buggia / J. Brunjes
J1. AD Laureado / York, Cara
1. Thunder / Stygles, Amanda
2. Enchanted Safire / Seams, Cynthia
2. GBA Karaloram / Sewell, Judy
4. SS Polar Ice / York, Theresa
5. Cliffes Copper Penny / Buckley, Stephanie
6. Beckie / Dockham, Peg
7. McAllister's Ruby / Ross, Cindy (96.75 pts)
8. Salt / Barbosa, hernan
8. MacKenzie / Cornelius, Roxanne
8. Xavier Sunnyacres / Reinheimer, Susan
11. Cattila Lee / Haijar, Pam
11. Cindi Jo's Velvet / Levasseur, Kathy
13. Beaujolais / Arsenault, Rich
14. Aladdins, Storm / Seams, Peter
14. Thunder / Vienneau, Mindy
16. Marie / McGovern, Barbara (90.75 pts)
16. SPD Carousel / O'Connor, Colleen
MCO:
EPYC / Rice, Bill
Prymtym / Rice, Stephanie

Hot Toddy Hustle 35 mile Limited Distance Endurance ride Orland, ME September 2007

Ruby and I had a good weekend. We headed out early Friday morning for ride camp. Ruby was not too keen on getting into the trailer without her pasture mate. But, didn’t put up too big a fuss. She stomped around a bit in the trailer on the ride up but she has been far worse. Orland is a 2 hr. drive from home. I was a nice sunny warm day. There weren't many people at ride camp when I arrived so I had my choice of spots. I pulled in next to Irving McNaughton. A seasoned and crusty old timer who all know and can’t help but love. I was going to set up Ruby’s pen beside his horses pen. He quickly informed me that he was saving a spot for a couple of woman who he would be mentoring through their first ride. That left me with setting up my pen on the living quarter door side of my trailer. Which actually worked out great since I could step right out into Ruby’s pen to take care of her and feed her. And go out the back door if I didn’t want to go over her pen fence. Though I still managed to “test” the fence at least 3 times over the weekend. Apparently the batteries in the charger are good since it was working great. Ouch! I quickly set up Ruby's pen and settled her in with hay and water. She could not see any other horses at first so did some hee hawing in protest of her loneliness. Soon others began arriving. Heather showed up at noon time and Ruby’s new boyfriend, Maddy, was soon camping beside her. She was a very happy mule with her boyfriend nearby. The vetting in went quickly. There were two vets for the ride. Art King and Ron Miles. Ron vetted Ruby. He loudly announced that he was the specialized mule vet and would be judging all the mule while Art handled all the horses! Too funny. Of course Ruby was the only mule there. It's amazing how quickly Ruby has become an old pro at the vetting. She knows what it's all about and what is expected of her and is such a good girl about it. No more fussing about the stethoscope. You can see her still trying to control her twitching but knows it is ok and won’t hurt her. She still wants to pick up her feet when the judges run their hands down her legs but that is minor. When I first went up to get Ruby vetted in, Ron was talking to me while scratching and patting Ruby’s face. Ruby decided this meant they were now friends and quickly spun around and requested a “booty scratch”. Of course Ron immediately jumped out of the say asking, “Hey, why is your mule trying to kick me!” and he was wondering why I was laughing. I then enlightened him about the mule addiction to booty scratches. I’m not sure he believed me but he carefully went back to Ruby, got behind her and started rubbing her butt. When he was how much Ruby liked that, he got a good laugh about it.

Tracy Bradford came with her husband and their horses. I can't wait until her mule, Prize, is old enough to ride. There was a pot luck supper that night. Heather did not bring anything for the supper nor did she want to unhitch her truck and go out to eat. Nor did she bring any food. So she ended up with my bag of Dorito’s. There was lots of good food at the pot luck and I ate too much. After supper I sat talking with Heather and had a beer. The lack of sleep and the beer did me in and I went to bed early. I had worked Thursday night into Friday morning.

Sat. morning was cloudy and very foggy. It was not hot, but quite humid. It kind of stayed that way all day with periods of light drizzle. The humidity did drop through the day though. The ride was supposed to be 30 and 60 mile distances. But, the ride manager changed the trail at the last minute to keep us off pavement and on more trail. So, the 30 mile ride went to a 35 mile ride. The 60 mile riders went out at 6:00 AM. Ruby is getting so much better with everything and did not pitch a big fit when the 60 mile riders went out. She was bright and alert and you could tell she would like to be with them, but she knows now her turn is coming. We 35 milers headed out at 8:00 AM. The trail was TOUGH. The hardest ride I've done. I had planned to race this ride a bit but within the first 3 miles there was a hill we climbed that was so steep, I nearly had to cling to Ruby’s ears to stay on her back. This was NOT going to be a racing kind of trail. There were several members of the US endurance team at this ride. When one of the “big time” riders and her husband went by us, he commented it was the tougher rides he's ever done. They have ridden a LOT of rides so know a tough trail when they see one. This ride was very hilly. Some VERY steep sections. And sections of rocky, rooty, woods trail that was slow going. I rode with Tracy and Heather most of the ride. The horses got along fairly well. Ruby and Maddy are definitely in love. And both were being kind of crabby with Tracy’s horse, Fanny. Fanny was a good girl and minded her own business. Maddy did manage to give her a good kick right square in the chest in the beginning of the ride. No harm done thankfully. We all 3 leapfrogged leading throughout the ride and all the equines were good about that. A couple times Ruby had to lead past some horse eating boogers! It took us 3 hrs. 15 min to get to the hold. We went straight into the vet check before we even pulled tack. Ruby pulsed right down to 40. Ruby had not started to drink yet but I am finding this is normal for her. She usually goes 20 miles or so before drinking. She ate well. Heather didn’t bring anything for her horse so I shared my alfalfa cubes, dengie and hay with her horse. I had brought extra. And I shared my food with her also. Tracy had come well prepared and also shared her hay with Heather’s horse. We were out of the hold right on time. It was an "up and back" trail so we knew what we had facing us on the return trip. A few miles out of the hold the first of the 60 mile riders caught up with us. It was Connie Walker. A top competitor who has represented the US and won international rides. We thought she would want to pass us but we were coming up on the worst part of the trail and she said she would be happy to follow us though the "nasty stuff". Soon, two more riders came up behind us. One being on the US endurance team and her husband. They also were happy to let Ruby lead through the tough trail. So, Anthony can now brag that his Ruby mule led part of the US Endurance team through "the nasty trail!" Once we got out on dirt road, they were all off and gone! Ruby started drinking good about 20 miles out. Near the end of the ride, Heather and Tracy were getting a bit tired. Heather was suffering from an undergarment malfunction so refused to trot or canter any more. Tracy was just getting sore legs. So, I went on ahead of them. Ruby sure hated to part from her boyfriend but only expressed her displeasure by hee hawing her way down the road. She did not resist going nor did she try to turn around. Good girl. Ruby and I crossed the finish line alone. I took her straight to my trailer, pulled her tack and quickly sponged off the worst of the dirt. Then I took her straight up to the vet to get our completion. Ruby was pulsed down fine. She trotted out nicely and we had now officially won the limited distance ride!

After the ride, I settled Ruby in with food, water and hay. Later the wind really picked up and got chilly so I put a light blanket on her. I stayed for the award ceremony. When they called Ruby and my name as the winners of the 35 mile ride, I heard on person comment, “A mule won the ride?” Then they added, “Well, it was a tough trail and a real mule kind of ride!” I sure am proud of Ruby!

Hot Toddy Hustle I 6/S-F
1. 7:15 Cindy Ross on McAllister's Ruby
2. 7:20 Heather Bonniea on SA Mr Madazsin
3. 7:30 Tracy Bradford o LS Simply Fantastic
4. 7:50 Angela Gore on Megal
5. 7:50 Belinda Crose on Ruckus
6. 7:50 Irving McNaughton on RC Neon

Scribners Mills 25 mile CTR Harrison, ME September 2007

Well, here we are heading into the fall riding season. The week prior to this ride had been very cool and fall like. Then, listening to the weather report just a few days before the ride, I hear we are going to have a heat wave with possible record setting high temperatures just in time for the ride. So much for lovely cool fall riding! Thankfully Friday morning Ruby loaded into the trailer quite well. She did hesitate just for a second when she realized Marie was not in the trailer but didn’t make a fuss really. And she was very quiet on the trip. It was an uneventful trip, or so I thought anyway. There weren’t many people at the ride when I arrived. I was soon glad I arrived early since I could see parking was going to be a bit tight. I picked a good spot and got parked without problem. I unloaded Ruby and as I was tying her to the trailer, I see that there is some damaged to the fender of my trailer! They are fiberglass and thank goodness for that! I crossed a bridge just before the ride site. It is on a dirt road and quite narrow with a sharp turn onto it. Apparently, I did not quite make the turn since I could see were it looked like two rails had scraped down the side of the fender. It cracked the fender. Had it been metal, it would have bent it into the tire! Yikes! In all the years I’ve been hauling, I’ve never hit anything before. I was horrified! The damage is not bad and does not affect the operation of the trailer but …… my new trailer.....

Ruby and Promise


Anyway, I decided to set up a pen for Ruby this time. I did not get much sleep either time I put her on my Spring-tie. She keeps trying to reach the grass when on it and pulls quite hard. And then has little temper tantrums when she can’t reach what she wants. So, you hear her “springing” and pulling all night. Setting up a pen is more of a pain but I decided it would be worth the sleep if she was happier. And she was VERY content with a pen. Never challenged it at all. Even if it was not electrified, I don’t think I would have had to worry.

Kyle Nielson with Wakita and Caliegh Wright with River

Caliegh Wright with River

Kyle Nielson with Wakita


It was soooooo hot when I got to camp. By the time I had the pen set up and Ruby settled in, I was ready to pass out! But, no time for that so I went and registered. Then set up a cot in my trailer for Margaret. I had invited Margaret to bunk with me since she always sleeps in the back of her pickup. It has a cap on it. But, she packs everything she needs in there. Then, when she gets to camp, she has to move everything to the back of her trailer so she has room to sleep. And then put it all back to go home. This takes her a lot of time. I thought it would make things a lot easier on her if she just bunked with me. She was happy to take up my offer.

Irving McNaughton & Judy Sewell


After I was all set up, I went to visit with Terry, Judy Sewell and Irving. Judy had brought a friend of hers along that is interested in trying a CTR sometime. She seemed very nice and asked tons of questions. Soon Heather showed up and she parked very close to me. She brought her horse Maddy. We hung out in what shade we could find and I had some lunch I had brought with me. By the time Susie arrived, there were already a lot of people and she could not park near us. But, the field was not so big that she was that far away either.

Maddy, Heather Bonneau's gelding


Ruby was drinking very well and eating lots of hay and seemed very relaxed in her pen. When the vet arrived, we all got in line to get vetted in. Ruby is starting to figure this all out now and was very relaxed in line. The grass is very dry and burned right now so there wasn’t much for the horses do though Ruby did her best to grub up what she could while waiting. The vetting went fine. Ruby was nice and relaxed and let all the judges and vets crowed around and work on her at the same time. She trotted out fine. Good girl! After vetting I settled her back in her pen.

Kathy Brunjes

Stephanie Rice with Prymtym

Margaret Farnum with Promise and Tom Hutchinson

Margaret Farnum with Promise

Tom Hutchinson


At feeding time, I went to my trailer to get Ruby’s grain. I opened the grain container and came to the sudden realization I had not packed any grain! What an idiot. I have camped with my horses and mules for years and years. I have NEVER forgotten to pack grain. I did have beet pulp but no grain. I set some beet pulp to soaking and went around the campsite begging for Ruby’s supper. Surely someone had extra grain near enough to the kind I feed Ruby. Before I knew it, I had a smorgasbord of grain and I swear enough to last me a week! Ruby was not going to starve for sure! LOL. I did have one baggie of her regular grain I keep in the trailer since I always put a handful of in on her hay when traveling. So, I was careful to use this to mix with the grain given to me so I would not get her sick from a sudden change in feed.

Susie Reinheimer waiting in line for vetting with MacKenzie

Susie Reinheimer vetting in with MacKenzie. Char Jewell, lay judge (at head) Dr. Tirrell vet judge (right)

Susie Reinheimer doing her trot out with MacKenzie


That evening the ride managers, Jan and Scott, had us in their house for a nice little meal and wine. It was very nice and fun to just relax and socialize with everyone. The ride vet happened to be the woman I had out to see Emma Jane for lameness. This was the woman that was a bit intimidated of Emma Jane and was not able to draw any blood from her. I was very tired since I had worked all night before coming to the ride so soon headed for bed.

I had just fallen asleep when I heard the shout of “ Loose horses!” You just hate to hear those words at a ride. Because even if it is not your own horse that is loose, with so many electric pens set up, a loose horse will often run though someone else’s pen or pens and it can get bad in a hurry. Sure enough, two horses got loose and ran through someone else’s pen and we had three horses running. They all went down the road. Thankfully it is a quiet dirt road. I didn’t take too long to get the horses back and they were all fine. About an hour late, another shout of loose horses wakes me up. Two more pens had come down but once again horses were quickly secured and all were fine. Geesh, I was sure glad I had arrived early and chosen a spot in a quiet corner of the field. The noise and running horses got all of them excited. Ruby was a good girl and just watched with interest. The rest of the night went quietly and I slept very well with Ruby happily and QUIETLY in her pen with lots of hay and water.

It was still dark when I got up and already feeling muggy. Ruby was nickering for her breakfast. She eaten a lot of hay during the night and drank a full bucket of water and seemed very relaxed. As I was picking out her pen, she was very insistent on getting a booty scratch. I finally gave in and as I was giving her booty a good scratch, the guy camping next to me looks over and says, “ I really wish you would stop scratching your ass in public”. LOL. After taking care of her, I went over to the house for some breakfast. There was a lot of good stuff to eat!

Susie Reinheimer on MacKenzie and Cindy Ross on McAllister's Ruby




We had the riders meeting at 6:45 AM. The ride was to start at 7:15 AM and Susie and I were going to be the 3rd pair out. We weren’t expecting that since we were #20 and #22. We thought we would be out at the end so were expecting more time to saddle up. We both rushed off after the meeting to get ready. I know Ruby could sense I was in a hurry and that got her a little bit fidgety. But, she was pretty good and we were soon ready to go. Soon, it was time and we were off. Ruby was feeling great and set off leading with her huge ground covering trot. In only about 15 min. we had caught up to Margaret and Heather, the pair that went out ahead of us. We rode together for a while but Susie’s horse was getting very wound up riding in a group of 4. So, she pulled up and let us go in front of her. Ruby was still leading the way very strongly. At the first water stop we caught up with the lead riders and passed them there. For the rest of the ride, we kept swapping spots with those riders. Susie caught up with us and rode with us but soon had to drop back again. The trails were wonderful. It was a mix of dirt road, woods roads and some beautiful single track through the woods. We crossed the Crooked River early in the ride. You actually ride up the river a short spell to get back on the trail, which is real fun. We got to the hold in good time and were the first riders in. Despite the heat, Ruby pulsed down to 40 very quickly. Her trot out when well. Her gut sounds were slightly diminished but we had been traveling quite fast and Ruby had not had much opportunity to snack along the trail. Susie gave me some Dengie to feed Ruby and she loved that. I will have to buy some for when I compete. I had also made her a wet grain mash and she devoured that quickly. Ruby had not had anything to drink yet but checked out fine for hydration. And I am finding it is normal for her to not drink much until 15 or 20 miles into a ride. Soon, we were off on the second half of the ride. Ruby was still traveling strong. Susie caught up to us again. Her horse was finally starting to settle down and she rode the rest of the way with Margaret, Heather and me. At one point on a single track trail, we heard someone racing up behind us. It was Kathy Brunjes. She was tying to finish the ride in under 3 hrs. And trying to complete the last 12 miles in under 1 hr. She knew it would disqualify her from the ride since that was way too fast. She was just using this ride as a training ride. She is on the US Equestrian team to represent the US in the World Equestrian Games next year. She is going to Malaysia next month for a big international endurance ride. We got out of her way and let her pass us. And she did do the last 12 miles in 55 min!

Susie Reinheimer on MacKenzie, Cindy Ross on Ruby, Margaret Farnum on Promise and Heather Bonneau on Maddy


Cindy Ross on Ruby


About 3 miles from the finish we crossed the river again. Ruby finally drank. And she took a good long drink! Good girl. We let the horses rest and drink in the water for a few minutes. Sponging them off good. Ruby is not bothered about me tossing out my sponge and pulling it in dripping wet from the saddle anymore. Not that she was ever bad about it, but now she pays no attention at all. At the end, we had to slow down and walk the last mile or so or we would have finished too soon and also been disqualified! During the ride, Ruby had fallen in love with my friend Heather’s horse. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen her pay much attention to a strange horse. But, she was obviously taken with him. We crossed the finish line on time and headed right to our trailers to cool our animals down. Ruby is now quite used to all the sponging and is actually starting to like it. It was still very hot of course and I sponged her a lot though she didn’t seem to be in the least stressed out from the heat. 4 riders had dropped out due to the heat. Ruby pulsed down just fine. Heather and I headed up together for our trot out. Heather trotted out first. Then asked me if I wanted her to wait. I told her no. BIG mistake. I trotted the straight line fine, but, as we went to make our first circle, Ruby spotted Heather’s horse (and her new boyfriend) walking away and headed down the road in that direction. After a few seconds of being the "dope on a rope" I was able to pull her up and stop her but I sure could not convince her to do a good circle after that. She wanted her boyfriend! Silly girl! After the 2nd unsuccessful attempt at a circle, I heard a comment of “Typical mule” from the sidelines. Now I was mad because I’ve seen a million horses do the same thing when they are worried about where a buddy is! I pulled Ruby up, stared her in the eye and told her “you WILL do a circle if it’s the last thing you do!” I swear she must have understood me for she did then do a circle. Not a very round circle and quite reluctant but we did it! Of course by now I feel like I’ve run a mile in the heat and am ready to have a stroke! But, I don’t care. There was no way I was going to let them see a mule get away with that and perpetuate their silly prejudices.




I took Ruby back to the trailer to rest for a while. Then I walked her for a little bit waiting for the hands on. Ruby was a complete perfect lady for the hands on. She really is starting to understand what this is all about and getting very comfortable with it all. After the hands on I took Ruby back to the trailer and settled her in with lots of hay and water. I was sooooooo proud of Ruby. She did a great job on the trail and was so much fun to ride. Heather and I then went down to the river to cool off for a bit while waiting for the rest of the vetting to be completed. After the vetting as done, there was a great meal served. A real live pig roast! Beans, cole slaw, potato salad, rolls and every kind of pie you can imagine. After the meal was the award ceremony. Ruby lost 8 points for swelling of the inside tendon sheath on both rear legs. I couldn't really see any swelling but I’m not the judge. She also lost 1 point for a “slight nick”. It was a tiny old scar that the vet missed when I vetted in. (sigh) She lost ½ point for a raised bump in the girth area. That was accurate. Ruby had no points take off at all for lameness, metabolic fatigue or mechanical fatigue! (Good mule) It was all in all a great ride. Fabulous trails, great food, Ruby was awesome and a blast to ride. Lots of good friends. What more can you want!

Sribners Mills 25 Sept 8, 2007 29/S - 24/F
Judges: J. Tirrell/ C. Jewell
J1. Linkk / Jack, Sarah Jane
J2. AJ Morning Star Wakita / Nielson, Kyle
J3. Asa / Kortz-Rossi, Allegra
J4. Cry Me A River / Wright, Caliegh
1. Thunder / Stygles, Amanda
2. RC Neon / McNaughton, Irving
3. DB Prophet / Fisk, Debra
4. Prymtym / Rice, Stephanie
5. GBA Karakoram / Sewell, Judy
6. LWF Paljoe Promise / Farnum, Margaret
7. Classic / Ward, Dianne
8. SPD Caruosel / O'Connor, Colleen
9. Jahyr Jamlin / Jack, Kelley
10. SA Mr Madazsin / Bonneau, Heather
11. Tektonic / Hutchinson, Tom
12. McAllister's Ruby / Ross, Cindy (89 pts)
13. SS Polar Ice / York, Theresa
14. Potaca / Rice, Bill
15. Enshalla Fakama / Niedoroda, Susan
16. SRF Atlas / Rojek, Dinah
17. Travelon's Times Two / Gamester, Marcy
18. Beaujolais / Rojek, Steve
Completions:
MacKenzie / Reinheimer, Susan
Wisp / Murray, Lindsey

Western Maine 30 mile limited distance endurance ride Fryeburg, ME August 2007

Ruby’s 2nd endurance ride of the season! I hadn't planned on doing this ride since it was so close to the 2 day 50 I had just done with her. This ride was the Western Maine 250 mile ride. A 5 day ride. Each day being 50 to 55 miles. Each day was a separate ride and on 4 days they also had 30 mile Limited Distance Rides. I went to the ride to work as a volunteer. After a few days scribing for the vet and talking to him, he convinced me it would do Ruby no harm to do another ride so soon. As long as I only did the 30 mile Limited Distance ride. And many others that had seen Ruby at the Pine Tree ride were bugging me to go get her. They all wanted to see her again. So, Friday evening after I was done scribing, I went home and picked up Ruby.

The ride went great! Ruby was a real star! She didn't bray until 4:00 AM. But, since we had to be up at 3:30 AM that was ok! I rode with Bill Rice. That is who I had ridden with at the Pine Tree ride. Ruby and Bill’s horse Potoca travel nice together. He was real happy to have Ruby to ride with again. The woman I got Emma Jane from was there with her new horse but she knew she would be going too slow to ride with me. It was hot and humid. We didn't have to do any circles at the vetting, so Ruby did a beautiful trot out and vetted in with all A's. No one can believe what a beautiful trot Ruby has. One woman there that was from PA, said her friend competes with mules. They are also Arab mules and she says none of them trot beautiful, or as willingly as Ruby. The 30 and 50 mile riders all started together at 5:00 AM Ruby was very wound up when I was trying to saddle her and it took a few tries to get the saddle on! (naughty mule!) Stephanie (Bill's wife) offered to hold Ruby while I got on but Bill told her to stay from Ruby because "she's a mule". Yeah, so? Didn't matter, Ruby wasn't bad when I got on. She was a bit excited when we first headed out but not even close to how excited she was at the Pine Tree. Bill and I quickly settled into a good pace. Not far into the ride we caught up to Heather Hoynes. She is a vet and a world class competitor. It was a first ride for her horse and he was a nut case! So, Heather was holding back from a pack of riders ahead of us. Her horse went nicely with Ruby and Potoca. People that saw us on the trail could not believe what a fabulous big Arab trot Ruby has. That was one of the things I got so excited about when I first rode her in Illinois.

The first loop was 18 miles. When we got to the first fly by, the crew people there said we must be setting a fast pace, we were the first riders they had seen. ?????? We knew there was a big group ahead of us????? We look down the road the way we had come and here comes Steve Rojek and another rider. You have to know Steve to appreciate this. Steve is all excited, "Oh, yeah we got lost” he says, “but, look what I got! We stopped at a yard sale and I found this great jacket! It was a bargain! Only $5!". And he is holding up a red, white & blue leather jacket proud as can be! It was too funny! Of all people to be excited about such a bargain. Like he can't afford to buy a leather jacket. And this is also a man who has on several occasions been on the US Team and ridden in the world equestrian games.

We kept up a good pace and came into the hold at 7:15 AM. We stopped at our trailers, stripped tack and as soon as Potoca's pulse was good by Bill's heart rate monitor, we went up to the vet gate. Ruby was pulsed right down to 52. And Ruby did a lovely trot out. She got straight A's on her vet card. In the heat and humidity, that was impressive. We had a 45 min. hold. Ruby was not drinking yet. She did eat some grain and was devouring grass. We got out of the hold on time with only 10 miles to go. We kept up the same pace though it was getting steadily hotter. Heather was still with us and all three equines seemed fine. We kept up a pretty quick pace until the last mile and walked them in. Bill and I went straight up to the vet gate. Ruby pulsed at 48!!! Wooooohoooooo!!!! And she did another lovely trot out once again getting straight A's on her vet card. Outstanding! After having scribed for the vet for 3 day, I knew it was rare for any of the horses to get straight A's throughout the entire ride. Our ride time was 4 hrs. 13 min. Nearly an hour faster then her Pine Tree ride time. (the milage was actually slightly shorter)

Once again everyone was extremely impressed with Ruby and both vets agreed that Ruby really does have some potential to be very good at this sport

Western Maine V August 4th 2007 8/S-F1. 3:34 Mestemaker-Harris, Catherine on Phlairr
2. 3:46 Hartmann, Lynn on Syrocco Blair
3. 3:59 Mruphy, Hanna on WWA Gypsy Sun
4. 4:00 Murphy, Frank on Desparaddo
5. 4:13 Ross, Cindy on McAllister's Ruby
6. 4:14 Rice, Bill on Potaca
7. 4:15 Hoyns, Heather on Zainal
8. 5:45 Robbins, Kathleen on Aramis

Fryeburg 2 day 50 mile CTR, Fryeburg, ME July 2007

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The weekend of the Fryeburg 50 and Ruby’s first CTR had finally arrived. Fryeburg is my absolute favorite ride. It is held at the Fryeburg fairgrounds, which are lovely. The shed row barns are wonderful and well maintained. Water is piped in between every 4 stalls and you get to camp right in front of the stalls. There are also nice bathrooms and … SHOWERS! And the meals served at this ride are worth coming for alone!!!!

I had to work the night before the ride. I got home at 6:15 AM, fed Ruby and Marie and cleaned stalls then had a quick breakfast and finished packing up. Barbara got to my house around 9:15AM. I was going to take Marie’s saddle out of my trailer to make room for Barbara’s saddle but decided to just crowd things in. You never know when you might need some spare saddle parts. Ruby was a bit more reluctant to load then usual but still didn’t take too long. Soon we were on our way. We took a bit of a round about trip to Fryeburg. I wanted to stop in at Adams Horse Supply to pick up some girth ring protectors. Barbara wanted to buy a real sheep skin girth cover. I had been using my mohair girth on Ruby but didn’t like where the metal rings sat against her. So had switched a few weeks back to my felt girth. That seemed to be working ok, but I didn’t like the way that was bunching up where her leg were hitting it though it didn’t seem to be bothering her and was not causing any rubs. I wanted to switch back to my mohair girth. I was able to find the girth ring protectors but all the girth covers were too wide for Barbara’s girth. Because of going to Adams supply, I headed to Fryeburg down Rt. 202 to Turner. Then out Rt. 117 to Waterford. There was major construction along a long stretch of Rt. 117. The pavement was torn up and one lane traffic. Stop and go for MILES. It was hot so I had Barbara jump out at one point and drop down the windows for the horse and mule. There are grills so they can’t stick their heads out and I wanted them to get as much air though the trailer as possible. It took about 3 hrs. getting to Fryeburg when it normally takes no longer then 2. But, I had Barbara’s good company and it was still a pleasant trip.

When we got to the fairgrounds, our favorite spot was available. I pulled up and situated myself to back up in front of the stalls, which are numbered. I called out to Barbara I was going to put my trailer in front of stall #14. I back around and expertly put the trailer squarely in front of stall #15. Hahahaha. Good enough! Hahahahaha.

Zephyr


I brought my dog, Zephyr, with me. Shavings were already in the stalls, so we quickly got Ruby and Marie off the trailer and into the stalls with water and hay. Both were very thirsty! It was sooooooo hot and muggy! Then I got Zephyr hooked were he could get some shade. Barbara and I had planned to go for a short ride before we vetted in to stretch the girls legs. It was just too hot and we decided against riding! We didn’t see anyone else going out for pre-vetting rides either. As soon as we got camp set up and the animals all settled in, we went to the ride office to check in and get our riders packets and numbers. I was #66. Barbara, who originally only entered one day of the ride, was #6. Hummm, #66 and #6, this was a little disconcerting. Then, when the ride secretary realized Barbara had “upped” to the 2 day 50 mile ride, her number was changed to #70. Much better! After putting the numbers on the girl’s butts, we collapsed in front of the stalls. We were drenched in sweat! Barbara brought something very yummy tabouli for our lunch. It was cold and and really hit the spot. She also brought home made blueberry muffins made with blueberries I had picked in my yard. Marie’s right eye had been “boogering” up for a few days. I was not sure what was causing it and had just kept wiping it clean. It was getting a bit worse so Barbara was diligently keeping it clean.



Someone called out that the vetting was starting so Barbara and I brushed and cleaned Ruby and Marie and headed up to get in line. Susie and Joanie arrived just as we were heading to vet in. Susie and Joanie brought their dogs also. Joanie’s dog, Olie, is a very nice Black Lab. Susie’s dog, Callie, is a Lab cross that is a bit neurotic and barks a lot.



I went up ahead of Barbara for vetting. Ruby squirmed just a bit when the vet approached her. Dr. Perkins is a real nice vet and was great with Ruby. Dr. Perkins did the “skin pinch” first and I think Ruby thought she was getting a shot. And you know all animals seem to know a vet when they see one. Ruby settled quickly though and was very good. The vet judge checks pulse, respiration, gut sounds, legs, muscles tone, and hydration by skin pinch and pressing the gums. Ruby still thinks she is supposed to pick up her feet every time you touch her lower legs so it took the vet a minute to check her leg thoroughly. And all my work getting Ruby used to the stethoscope paid off. She was fine all weekend about this. Then we went to the lay judge. She checks their entire body for cuts, scrapes, bumps and any signs of tack problems. Ruby didn’t even wiggle for this. Then came the trot out. I am so ashamed to admit that I was very ill prepared for this part of the vetting process. I had concentrated on getting Ruby to trot in hand in a straight line for the Pine Tree endurance ride. You only have to trot a straight line for endurance vetting. And Ruby is fine with this. But lounging in circles I have not practiced much at all. We trotted down fine. I stopped, set her up for her first circle and Ruby was immediately confused about what I wanted. About half way through the first circle, Ruby decided she would rather be with Marie standing back with the vet then with this woman asking her to do something she didn’t understand. I felt Ruby stiffen up to head back so I had to yank her around to avoid getting dragged off. Consequently, Ruby spun around and just stared at me like I had two heads or something. Now I was in front of her and in the totally wrong position and scrambling to get behind her shoulder to start her again. After another failed attempt to circle Ruby, I just reeled her in and paused to reconsider the situation. It was not at all Rubies’ fault, she just didn’t know what I wanted and did know where her pasture mate was. I did not want to confuse her any more then I already had. I decided to just trot the circles “in hand”. Ruby was not real happy with me at this point and didn’t really want to trot with me at all, but grudgingly did and we got the job done. Poor Ruby. I promised her (and the vets) I would make sure to work on this. Ruby got over it immediately. Thankfully, she does not seem to be the grudge holding type of mule! I was really embarrassed. I usually make a point of never showing up at a ride unprepared to do the things we have to do. Marie vetted in fine and did a great trot out. Marie is an old pro at this having been in competition for the past 8 years.



After everyone was vetted in, Susie and Joanie set up Joanie’s screen house. They were going to sleep in there rather then the trailer because of the heat. We then settled in by the stalls with some beer and had supper. Barbara had brought some delicious sausage pasta soup I heated up. Later we walked the horses, mule and dogs before settling in for the night. The black flies were horrible and limited the amount of time we could let them graze.



It was very hot still when we went to bed. It cooled off to a comfortable temperature quickly though. Someone turned on the barn lights during the night and they were shining right into the trailer and woke me up. Apparently the lights woke others also because Susie eventually got up and turned them off. I woke up again at 3:30 AM to the smell of bacon. Nice way to wake up! The owners of the horses stalled next to us drove in about 4:30 AM. Ruby started grunting when she heard them so I got up and fed her and Marie. Breakfast was being served by then. I had a breakfast sandwich and fruit salad. Did I mention I love the food at this ride? Hahahaha.

The riders meeting was at 5:30 AM and first riders were out at 6:00 AM. We were having an early start due to the hot weather predicted. It was already getting quite muggy. We were all thrilled to find out we would be crossing the Saco river twice each day. Yippee. The past two years the ride had not been able to cross the river due to high water. Riders are sent out in pairs 2 minutes apart. Barbara and I were going out near the end so had plenty of time to saddle up and warm up our girls. Susie and Joanie were starting well ahead of us. Ruby was very calm and relaxed. Seems she is already starting to figure this all out. Soon, we were called and off we went. Ruby headed out very strong, but still calm and relaxed. I let her go on a lose rein and she settled in to her strong trot and was wonderful!!! We caught and passed a few other riders and got to the river, which was 4 miles out. There were a lot of ride volunteers there. The Saco River is lined with deep sandy beaches in is a VERY popular camping and canoeing spot. The volunteers directed us though the city of tents on the beach and pointed us to the crossing. Ruby led the way and didn’t bat an eye at all the tents, camping equipment and canoes. It was fairly quite since most people were still in their tents sleeping. (or passed out in alcohol induced comas...) She marched right into the water and crossed like a pro! Good mule!!!!! We were then directed though the city of tent on the other side and soon were back on the trail. We came out of the woods and had miles of agricultural road though HUGE corn and potato fields. Ruby must have thought she was home to see the acres and acres of agricultural fields! Except we were in a big valley with mountains all around us. Soooooo beautiful! I just let Ruby choose her pace around the fields and we did the most relaxed wonderful canter for several miles!!! Yeehaaaa!!! We went though one field where there was no road on the edge of the field. We had to ride between rows of corn that were waist to shoulder high. We were told to NOT let the horses eat in or around the fields because of the pesticides sprayed on the crops. So, we had to keep them trotting along to distract them from wanting to eat. The cornrows were not quite as wide as we were and it was really funny trotting down the row with the corn hitting our legs. We passed a few more riders and about 9 or 10 miles out, caught up to Susie and Joanie. The equines were all as happy to see each other as we were. We traveled together into the hold. Ruby was still traveling strong but calm. I didn’t know how Ruby would pulse down in this heat. They extended the hold time from 20 to 30 min. and raised the pulse parameter from 60 to 64 due to the heat. So, we had to pulse down to 64 or less within 10 min. Barbara and I sponged Ruby and Marie a ton. At 10 min. we called for our P& R. Marie just made it at 64. Ruby pulsed at 47!!!! Respiration was 36. That is super for such a hot day. The vet check and trot out went great. While waiting in line for the vetting, one of the other riders little girls was there with her dad. The little girl was maybe 4 yrs. old and kept insisting Ruby was a donkey and not a mule. After the vetting, we fed the girls some grain mixed with water to make it wet and soupy with carrots in it. They both gobbled that right down. The girth ring protectors were sliding down the girth and not doing much good. I wasn’t too happy with that. Ruby seemed fine though. We left the hold 3 min. late. Leaving the hold late is no problem. You just have to make up any time you lose at the hold on the trail. But, thanks to Ruby’s pacing, we had plenty of time. Susie and Joanie were just getting in line for the vetting so we could not wait for them. Ruby was still going very strong yet relaxed so I let her choose her pace. When we came back out on the fields, it was VERY hot, with the sun blazing and not a breath of a breeze. Ruby didn’t seem to care at all and I let her pick her pace once again. She alternated between cantering and a strong trot. I was a little worried it might be too much for Marie being a heavy muscled QH. She was panting a bit but seemed to be traveling comfortable so I let Ruby go. When we got back to the river crossing and beach, it was quite different. Everyone was up. There was lots of noise and activity. People were swimming and canoes in the river. Ruby still didn’t bat and eye and once again led the way though and crossed the river with no trouble at all. SUPER GOOD MULE!!



We got back to camp and the finish too soon. The ride time was 4 hrs. and 20 min. to 4 hrs. 50 min. You have to cross the finish line in that 30 min. time window or take time penalties. So, we had to stop and let Ruby and Marie graze some grass in the field before the finish line to kill some time. When our 4 hrs. and 20 min. were up, we wandered across the finish line. Ruby was already developing a fan club and she was cheered across the line! We now had 20 min. to get them pulsed down. P&R’s were to be taken at the stalls. It had gotten cloudy so we tied them to the trailer in front of the stall. It was very stuffy in the stall and better outside. We sponged them down like crazy, and let them drink. Ruby did not drink much on the trail but I am finding this is normal for her and did not worry too much. Marie almost always drinks like a fish all the time. At 20 min. we called for P&R’s. At the end you have to pulse down to 44 or less. Rosemarie pulsed at 48 and Ruby pulsed at 32!!!! With respiration of 20. My horse could be dead and not pulse that low!! WOW!!!! Those of us riding both days only had to do a quick trot out (no circles) to pass for the next day. That went fine for both Ruby and Marie. We were good to go for the second day. Yippeeee. Marie’s eye had continue to keep “boogering” up so we asked the vet if she would take a look at it after she was done with the vetting. We put the girls in their stalls with lots of water and hay. They were both drinking a lot at this point. They ate a little bit of hay then all took a long snooze. Marie lay down for a while. We humans felt about the same. Tired, hot, sweaty. We were served a wonderful lunch of several different salads and make your own BLT’s or Italian sandwiches. And deserts to die for! After lunch, Susie and I headed down to take showers. There are only two so we just hoped they were empty. They were. They are single small shower stalls with separate outside doors. I remembered from previous years here that they were small and quite airless. You want to dress quickly once out of the shower and get out or you end up as sweaty and hot as before you went in. I had threatened to run out naked and dress outside! They made me promise not to do that. I brought clothes that I knew I could get on quickly. I went into one stall, closed the door, went to lock it with the hook and eye ….. and realized it had latched on the outside and I was locked in. I immediately pictured swooning from the heat and dying in there. I started banging on the wall between the stalls and yelling for Susie! I had to do this quite a few times but she finally heard me. “Help, Susie, I am locked in this airless cell and can’t get out…” She, of course, thought it was quite funny but released me from my prison! Once unlatched from the outside, I was able to carefully latch it with the hook and eye, which was long enough to keep the door from latching from the outside! PHEW! I then had a lovely shower. We all took naps after showering. We all went to the awards for the one-day 25-mile riders. Then went back and snoozed some more. While snoozing in my chair, Louise Townsend called out to me that she needed help. And by the tone, I could tell something was wrong. I followed Louise around to the other side of the barn. A horse had gotten cast in its stall. The owners were not staying on the grounds and were not answering their cell phone. So a couple of us carefully went in and got some ropes on the horse’s legs. We managed to roll the horses over and get it up. The horse seemed fine so one of the other riders took the horse out and walked it for a while to make sure the horse was ok. We were mostly worried since we didn’t know how long the horse was cast before being found. The horse was fine. Just a few minor scrapes.

After that excitement, we snoozed some more. The vet did come look at Marie’s eye and said she didn’t see any real problems and said if any of us had contact lens solution, to keep it rinsed out with that. We did so Barbara rinsed her eye out good with that several times that evening. The weather forecast called for strong thunderstorms. And in the many years I’ve competed this ride, I’ve seen a lot of very strong thunders storms here. They really circle the valley and can get quite nasty. So, we took down the screen house. It had started to cool down a bit since noontime and was getting much more comfortable. After napping, Barbara and I tied Ruby and Marie to the trailer so we could clean their stalls. Ruby was all rested up and quite perky at this point. She was even a bit bored and looking for something to do. Our riding shoes had gotten very wet in the river crossing so were sitting on the wheel well of the trailer to dry. Ruby kept picking up one of my sneakers and shaking it like a dog and then tossing it! It was very funny and I ran to get my camera. Of course, she had tired of that game by the time I got the camera and had decided she wanted a booty scratch. Barbara was standing between Ruby and Marie reapplying the rider number on Marie's butt. Ruby started edging over step by step until he bumped Barbara with her butt. Barbara started giggling because she knew what Ruby wanted. Ruby squeezed Barbara out from between her and Marie and got her booty scratch! Silly mule! We walked and grazed the horses and mule again before supper. And supper was another wonderful meal. Taco bar, more nice salads and more deserts to die for!! At this rate, Ruby was going to collapse when I mounted her the next time!!!! We walked and grazed the horses and mule one more time before we went to bed. We also took the dogs out to run in the field. My dog Zephyr was having such a good time running with the big dogs. He is a 20 lb. short legged dog but thinks he is a big guy. There were no thundershowers but it had cooled just enough for comfortable sleeping.







I woke up to the sound of hoof steps on concrete. Hummmmm….. not something I should be hearing. I looked out my window and there was Frannie out of her stall grazing between the trailers. I jumped out of bed to get her. She let me walk right up the her and I tried to see if she would let me lead her back to the stall with just my hand on her head. Nope, and I could not quite reach her halter that was hanging nearby on a post. I had to let her go to get the halter, when I went to put the halter on; she took off, but not too far. I was hoping to catch her without alarming the whole camp. At this point Susie and the dogs comes stumbling out of the trailer. “What’s wrong, what’s going on?” and then she starts urgently calling for the dogs that are running everywhere all excited. I tell her Frannie is loose, I think I can get her, please get the dogs…… Frannie did let me catch her and put her back in. Just as I got her back in the stall, Joanie stumbled out to see what the commotion was all about. Frannie had busted the latch on her stall door. The latches are just blocks of wood with a nail in the center to swivel over the closed door. There are second metal latches on all the doors also that you put a clip on to hold the doors shut. I did this on Ruby and Marie’s doors not trusting the wooden latch. So, I was able to use the second latch to secure Frannie’s door. And we were all soon back in bed.

We got up at 4:30 AM to feed since we were to have an early start again due to predicted heat. Marie’s eye was definitely much better. Barbara gave it another good rinse that morning. Nancy Weeks, the woman serving breakfast had overslept and was not out yet. The ride manager woke her up and she came out all in a fluster! Poor woman. Coming out to a crowd of hungry riders. She did an amazing job of getting us coffee immediately. Before we knew it, the fruit salad was out as well as donuts and bagels. In record time we had breakfast sandwiches off the grill. We had the riders meeting at 5:30 AM. We were riding in reverse order from the first day so Barbara and I would be starting at the front of the ride today. This meant we didn’t have a lot of time to get ready after the riders meeting. As we were quickly saddling up, I hear a very worried Barbara exclaim that her saddle is torn! I walk around Ruby to look and sure enough, her fender had torn just above the stirrup about ¾ of the way through!!! There was no way she was going to be able to ride like that! Good thing I had decided to leave my saddle in the trailer. We didn’t need spare parts; we need a whole spare saddle! Now we were a panic to get ready on time. We grab out my saddle and throw it on Marie. We had to adjust the stirrup length since Barbara is a LOT shorter then me. All the rushing got both Marie and Ruby a bit excited and Ruby was prancing around a bit by the time I got on her. We made it and were ready to go on time. Ruby felt great and headed out strong. But, once again, calm and not pulling at all. The first 8 miles were the same as the first day’s trail with the river crossing 4 miles out. This time Susie and Joanie started well behind us and they never did catch us. Though Ruby was traveling strong, she was a bit reluctant to do her big “Arab” trot. She snaked her head a few times when I asked for the big trot so I felt there must be a good reason she didn’t want to extend and I stopped asking. In the short time I’ve had Ruby, I trust her so I let her chose what she wanted to do. She chose to do a lot more cantering and her trots where much shorter strided. She felt fine otherwise and not lame at all, so I just trusted her and let her choose her pace. We came into the hold in good time. The hold the second day was held in a lovely shady wooded area by the river next to an old covered bridge. It was hot the second day also but not quite as bad as the first day. So, we only had the normal 20 min. hold. Ruby pulsed at 40 with 20 respiration. That is fabulous!!! Marie pulsed in at 57. This is good for her. Trot out went fine. We fed the same grain “soup” and were on our way just a few minutes late. Marie had a sudden burst of energy after the hold and took the lead for 3 or 4 miles doing her big “Arab” trot that is amazing to see a QH doing! Ruby chose to canter once again rather then extend her trot. I let her. At one point we had to repeat a section of the trail to make a loop to get enough miles. I was in the lead and Ruby was very sure we were going the wrong way and let me know. She was easily convinced to go the way I wanted but you could tell she wasn’t sure I know what I was doing. We had to do a loop around a big cornfield and caught up with the front riders here. We ended up slowing down just a bit and letting them get ahead of us again because we were getting choked in a cloud of dust. But, we knew we weren’t going to have as much time to spare as the first day and had to keep moving right along at a good pace. After the ride we all agreed that the mileage on the 2nd day was off and that it was longer then 25 miles. The river crossing went great once again and we came in sight of the finish line with 15 min. to spare before our maximum time was up. So, we let Ruby and Marie relax and graze just a few minutes before crossing the line. That would help their pulse come down. The sun was out and very hot so we decided sponging them in their stall was the best option. Marie pulsed at 48. Ruby pulsed at 40. GREAT with a respiration of only 4!!! When the P&R person was trying to count her respiration, Ruby was requesting a booty scratch! The woman was a bit startled at first until I explained what Ruby was doing. Before I got a chance to correct Ruby, the woman reached out and started scratching Ruby’s butt with on hand, while watching her watch and Ruby’s breathing. I think that is why Ruby’s respiration was only 4. She was holding her breath in ecstasy. The trot out at the end went much better. I did not ask her to lounge in circles and confuse her again. I simply trotted her in hand the whole way and took the chance that I would pass out from running that far in the heat. Neither Susie nor Joanie made it in on time and both took a 9 minute time penalty.

Susie & Joanie at the hold

Cindy on Ruby at the hold


After the trot outs were done, we took a break for lunch. More wonderful salads, with chicken and green beans. More delicious deserts. We then did the “hands on”. Ruby was a perfect lady. The vet just loved her and told me: “You have grand champion material here.” Everyone was soooooo impressed with Ruby. Her looks, her good behavior, her athletic abilities. Ruby did absolutely wonderful for her first ride.

Ruby lost ½ point for scuffing the hair off an old interference mark. She lost 1 point for windpuffs. 3 points for “mechanical fatigue”. (not trotting as lively at the end as at the beginning). Not sure how they could decide that considering how bad the initial trot out went but…. And Ruby was indeed a bit tired. She only has 11 weeks of conditioning on her unlike my horse that has 8 years of conditioning and experience. Ruby also lost ¾ point for sore girth area. Right were those stupid cinch buckles were sitting against her. She did have wrinkled skin there and was sore to the touch. THAT was why she did not want to extend her trot!!!! Those cinch buckles were digging in to her there and bruised her a bit! ECK! Poor girl. I was so glad I had not pushed her to do her big trot and had just let her chose her own gaits. I knew there was a good reason she had shortened her stride.

Ruby had now successfully completed her first CTR! She was an absolute pleasure to ride and could not have been better! No one laughed at this mule I can tell you. Not even from the first sight of her. Ruby sure is the total package of looks, brains, ability and a huge heart!!

We packed up camp while waiting for awards. I was very proud that my little mutt of a QH got 1st place. Ruby got 6th out of 20 riders. It was a great weekend and I can’t wait for our next ride!!!!



Fryeburg 2-day 50 July 27/28, 2007 20/S-F
Judges: B. Perkins - S. Day
J1. AJ Morning Star Wakita / Wright, Caliegh
1. Sault / Rojek, Dinah
2. Beaujolais / Rojek, Steve
3. Marie / McGovern, Barbara (97 pts)
4. Omars Montana / Greenall, Sue
5. Trijas Confection / Butterfield, Patricia
6. Apollo / Tenggren, Traci
6. Thunder / Stygles, Amanda
8. Tappedanick / Lester, Louise
9. Rotan of Craggy Lea / Glock, Linda
9. SPD Carousel / O'Connor, Colleen
9. Robin's Nest Allegra / Stacy, John
12. McAllister's Ruby / Ross, Cindy (92.75pts)
13. Highcountry Piper+ / Deleware, Marcia
14. Rockin Rudy / Hall, Kathy
15. Frangelica of Foxden / Mitchell, Joanie
16. Xavier Sunnyacres / Reinheimer, Susan
17. Patenaude Vulcan Gazelle / Gardener, Jeffrey
18. Sebec / Been, Amy
c. Thisspotsforyou / Peloquin, Cate