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!!!
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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
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