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
