Pine Tree 30 mile LD Endurance Ride Waterford, Maine June 2011

Louie’s first endurance ride had arrived, the Pine Tree. I had only entered the 30 mile LD ride but still a big step for Louie. My friend Ival McDermott was coming to this ride from NJ. I was so excited about seeing her and looking forward to riding with her if Louie and her horse Clover were paced well together. I had to work Thursday night. I planned to come home Friday morning, take a nap then head out to the ride. Ival and her group came up Thursday. I called her Friday morning to make sure they had made it ok. It had rained all day Thursday, through the night and was still raining Friday. Ival and her group were at the ride and she said they were doing a great imitation of drowned rats. She said they had gone through all the dry shoes and most clothes they had and were heading to Wal-Mart to purchase some dry items to wear. I headed out around 10:00 am. Louie was a little reluctant to load on the trailer but not a big deal. Though he started fussing right away once in with pawing and moving around. I got caught in some construction work on Rt. 26 on they way and had to sit and Louie was pitching a fit the whole time and rocking the whole truck and trailer. Bone head! When we got to the fairground, I wasn’t sure where Ival was parked. I had to get out and look for them. The whole time Lou-ASS is again pitching a fit in the trailer. I finally found where Ival’s group was parked, and parked fairly close to them. Just as I got parked, The NJ group arrived back from their exertion to Wal-Mart. I unloaded Louie and tied him to the trailer with a bag of hay. He was much happier once out of the trailer. After joyful greeting with Ival and Wendy, I was introduced to the rest of the NJ group.

Ival, Dom and Christine.


I set Louie’s pen up right beside Clover’s pen. I’ve never put Louie in a portable electric pen before and hoped all would go well. As I suspected, the batteries in my fence charger were dead. But, there was a store nearby so I could buy some if needed. I put Louie in the pen with water and some hay. He walked around the pen, checked out Clover then went to munching grass. He was very calm and relaxed much to my relief. I was still raining and though I was wearing water proof shoes and rain coat, my pants were getting quite wet and my socks were starting to wick the water from my pants. I put a rain blanket on Louie. He’s seldom ever had a blanket on but didn’t seem to mind wearing it at all. I then set up camp. Margaret Farnum had generously offered to crew for me and was bunking in my trailer. Ival brought me a chicken sandwich, granola bar and soda. (I have such good friends…) Ival wanted to see Louie fetch so I got out his rope bone and he was very happy to fetch for us. He did not want to bow with the blanket on though. He tried but seemed to feel too restricted in it for bowing. We all went up to get vetted in at 3:00 pm. Art King vetted Louie in. Louie was quiet and well behaved and did a nice trot out. His pulse was 32 so he was obviously very relaxed! He had all A’s on his vet card. A woman I’ve seen at other rides approached me and asked me if I would possibly sponsor her 11 yr. old daughter, Kayla, in the 30 mile ride as she was riding in the 50 mile ride. I had seen Kayla ride at the Crooked River CTR and knew she was a good little rider with a nice horse. So, I was happy to do this as long as our equines got along well. I just wanted to check with the rest of the NJ group I was riding with. They were all more then happy to have Kayla along with us.

Louie in his pen Friday




Louie, Clover, Jimmy and Razor in their pens Friday evening


We all went out for supper at Melby’s and as usual, had a wonderful meal there. When we got back, I fed Louie, picked out his pen and then visited with friends. The riders meeting was at 7:30 and was in a building out of the rain. After the riders meeting, Ival asked me if I’d fed Louie as he was mewling at her most pitifully trying to convince her that I was neglecting him. I told Ival he was making up stories. We didn’t stay up long as we were all eager to settle into our trailers and get into dry clothes for the night and stay there. Margaret had brought a bottle of wine which she shared with me and we chatted for quite a while. During the night I woke up numerous time to the sound of pouring rain on the trailer roof as well as thunder and lightening. I felt so bad for the animals having to stand outside in it.

Cindy with Louie just before the start of the ride


Cindy, Dom, Kayla and Ival ride start


I was up at by 5:00 am. I was relieved to see the rain had stopped, at lest for the moment. Louie looked no worse for the bad weather over night and was calm and happy to see me. I fed him, picked his pen, then went and had breakfast. When I came back to the trailer, Ival was up and about and asked if I’d fed Louie as he was once again telling her sad tales of how badly I was neglecting him. It still was not raining but we dressed for rain as it looked like it might very well do so. The 100 mile riders went out at 5:00 am, 50 mile rider at 6:00 am and we were going out at 7:00 am. I got Louie to saddle him up around 6:30 am. He wasn’t bad at all about being separated from his new NJ friends. We mounted up about 6:45 am and checked in with the timer. As it is a mass start and we had several newbie equines and a junior with us, we were going to hang back and let those that were going to race go out first. But, it was quickly apparent that everyone else was doing the same thing so we went out right away with only one other rider ahead of us. Louie was a ball of fire right at the start. He was strong but he never locked up and he was listening to me. For the first 3 or 4 miles, it was like riding Ruby! Yeeehaaaa! Kayla was doing great but it was apparent she could easily go faster. Dom was also pulling ahead of us. Within 5 miles, Dom left us and Kayla went with her. Ival, Liz and I rode the entire ride together with Louie and I leading the way. Louie did great. Once he settled down, we were no longer setting any speed records but he was steady and willing. He had a couple spooks at downed branches (his new phobia) but they weren’t big spooks and caused no problem. The rain held off and it was turning out to be a good riding day being cool with no bugs. The ride was much more challenging then I expected. But the trails were in much better condition then expected also. I though it would be bad with mud with all the rain we’d had but the trails weren’t bad at all. We went over French Hill in the first loop of the ride. That is a tough hill but thankfully it was done the opposite direction then last year. It is a 600 feet elevation gain in less then 2 miles. They way we went up was good in that the up hill had some short flatter sections to break up the climb. The downhill side is steep all the way with no break. We got off and led the equines down to give them a break. I think Tom, the ride manager found every hill in Waterford and put the trail over it. It’s the kind of trail I enjoy riding. Not sure Louie was as impressed. Though I have to say that he seemed perfectly happy out on the trail. We got into the hold in 3 hrs. We rode in slow so we able to go straight to the vet gate for pulse. All three equines were good on pulse and vetted fine. Louie pulsed 44/52 with all A’s. Margaret had everything ready for me. What a luxury to have such an experienced crew person! Louie ate well and was still very calm and relaxed. I had a snack bar and some mineral water. When I was done drinking my water, I dropped the water bottle on the ground and I asked him to fetch it. He could not quite get his mouth around it but he spent the longest time trying. It was a good way to keep him occupied, silly mule. He munched some hay and grass, ignored the water Margaret had lugged from her car for him but did drink some of Wendy’s NJ tap water. There no accounting for taste I guess. I left my rain pants at the hold. I took my rain coat off also deciding to leave it at the hold. So, I had to empty the pocket and find a safe place for all the things I was carrying such as my vet card and cell phone. I have Margaret my phone to hold onto. Then I changed my mind and decided to wear my jacket and took everything back. Margaret was very patient with me.

Ival with Clover walking into the hold


Ival trotting out Clover at the hold


Cindy trotting out Louie at the hold


We were out of the hold right on time. We continued to keep a very moderate pace taking it easy on the hills and in any rocky sections. A few riders passed us. Tom, the ride manager, had originally planned to have us cross a river. But, due to high water he decided for the sake of safety to reroute the trail to avoid the river crossing. This put us out on Rt. 118 for a mile or so. A very busy road. Louie is very good about traffic and none of us had any problem with this. Though when we turn onto a secondary tar road, Louie did spook out INTO the road to give a mule eating rock a very wide berth. Louie was doing very well and keeping a very steady pace. We were definitely not breaking any speed records but it was a pace that would get us to the finish in plenty of time. It was also a good pace for Liz's horse. Clover could have certainly gone much faster but seemed content to poke along behind Louie. 5 miles or so from the finish we spot a rider towards us. She asked us if we were riding the 30. We said yes and she thought we had missed the trail somewhere. I was quite sure we were on the right trail so we all continued the way we were going. Soon some 50 mile rider came up the trail towards us. They had already ridden loop 3, the loop we were supposed to be on and they confirmed we were ok. We did indeed finish the ride with time to spare. We did the last few miles quite slow so we wouldn't have to wait around long to pulse down. I went right to my trailer to strip Louie's tack. I was VERY pleased that he did not fuss about being separated from his riding buddies. He was fairly dry and not hot so I gave him a quick sponging just to clean him up a bit then got in line for vetting. There was a bit of line for vetting but it's always a good opportunity for socializing. One young man came up to admire Louie and he told me his dad wanted a mule. Louie just loves the attention. Louie's final vetting went fairly well. He pulsed at 48/60. He was reluctant to trot at first. I swung my lead rope behind me to smack him on the butt to get him to trot and he was absolutely outraged at the indignity! It is so funny how mules will humbly accept any correction that they think is delivered fairly. But if you correct them when they don't think it is deserved, they will be totally offended. So, he swung his butt away from me and did trot, but sideways with his ears back glaring at me something fierce. And while his return trot was much better, he still glared at me the whole way. SOOOOOO, on his vet card, he got a B for "attitude" and a B for "impulsion". He also got a B for "wounds" as he had interfered behind and dinged his fetlocks. But, he got an A- for the overall score. So, we had officially completed our first LD endurance ride! Yipppppeeeeee! I was very proud of my little brown mule. And thankfully he quickly forgave me for my unjustified (in his mind) behavior at the trot out.

Once done with the vetting, I put Louie in his pen with fresh hay and gave him some grain. I packed up what I could. As I was heading over to pick out Louie's pen, Ival asked me if I had fed Louie. He was once again mewling pitifully at her trying to convince her he was starving. I assured Ival that he was not being grossly neglected but did relent and allow her to give him some dengie. He LOVED that stuff. After I dumped the manure bucket and was returning to go visit with Wendy and Ival in Wendy's trailer, I saw that Louie had eaten a hole in the ground to get every scrap of that dengie. When I got in Wendy's trailer I told Ival that. A few minutes later Ival went out to look and was amazed to see I was not kidding when I said he ate a hole in the ground so she gave him a little more dengie. We sat, rested and visited for a while in Wendy's trailer. Dom came in an joined us.

Margaret had offered to work the ride once that I no longer needed her so she was busy up with the vetting crew. When lunch was ready, the NJ crew and I all sat together and ate. What a fun group they are. After lunch Ival headed for the showers and I drifted around a bit visiting with people and taking some pictures. We all gathered for the awards around..... 5:30 or 6:00 pm. There really aren't any awards for the 30 mile LD ride. But we all got nice towels with "Pine Tree 30/50/100 stenciled on them. And they had the awards for the 50 mile ride. A man and his son had come over to Louie's pen to admire him and Louie was happily soaking up the attention. Ival told them that Louie could fetch and they just has to see that. So, out came the rope bone and Louie happily showed off his fetching and bowing. He is such a ham. Once he was done with his performance, I tied him to the trailer so I could pack up his pen. He was pretty good. Margaret was done with her job and came down to say goodbye. I had to make a circuit of the fairground to find Ival and say goodbye. I then loaded up a reluctant Louie and headed home. Louie was SUCH a good boy the whole time at the ride. He was only naughty on the trailer. He just seems to be having so much fun at the rides which I love to see. I is amazing to see the transformation in him as he is growing up and maturing. He is turning into a top notch trail mule.

Irving with Peaches and Teddy (of Running Bear Tack)


Margaret, my excellent crew person


The vetting crew


Char Jewell (riding the 100)


Janet Brunjes-volunteer worker


Louie resting after the ride


Louie resting after the ride


Clover after the ride


Ival with Clover after the ride

Big Grin!

Crooked River 30 mile CTR May 28th 2011

Cindy on Louie

It was a slightly crazy week at work so I did not get very much sleep the day before heading to the ride. So, I decided not to go up first thing in the morning and opted for sleeping instead. I got up just a little bit before noon time, quickly packed and headed out around 2:00 pm. My friend Barbara was riding Marie in the competition but was not able to get the day off work. So, she was riding up to Waterford with Susie who also had to work.

It was a hot day in the high 80's and quite humid. Blah! When I arrived at the Waterford fairgrounds I checked in with the ride manager, Janet Brunjes, on where to park. We have had a LOT of rain this spring so the grounds were wet and parking was limited. Janet told me I could try parking in the pulling arena. One trailer was

already in there and he warned me the sand was softer then it looked. He was right, I did get temporarily stuck when trying to back into where I wanted to be. I unloaded Louie and Marie and a couple kind ladies offered to hold them while I worked on getting my rig out. I did get it out and eventually parked though not quite where I originally planned. Once I was parked, I then got Louie and Marie settled into stalls. The stalls are in cattle barns. They are open sided with quite low walls. This was only Louie's second camp out in his life. So, I was sure hoping he would be a good boy as he could easily jump out of that stall. I really didn't think he would try to go anywhere without Marie though. Louie seemed fine. He was alert and very curious but calm. Marie was the perfect babysitter for Louie as she's done this so many s. I settled them both in with full hay bags and water and both seemed content.

My friend Margaret was coming up to work the ride. She had asked if she could bunk with me in my trailer. I had not seen her all winter and was thrilled to have her company. I walked down to Melby's store/restaurant to get some drinks. When I got back, Margaret offered to help me get Louie and Marie vetted in so I wouldn't have to wait for Barbara and Susie to arrive. Louie was such a good boy. He remembered the vetting process from last weekend at the Acadia ride and was very calm about it. His trot out was pretty good though he did look a little bit.....uneven. Not lame in any one leg but just a slightly uneven stride. Hummmmmm. He did get new shoes the previous day. The farrier and I had decided to put a slightly rolled toe on him so maybe he was just getting used to the new shoes. The vet noticed and started him with a grade 2 lameness on his score card but was not worried. Marie vetted in just fine. Margaret and I settled them both back into their stalls. I had Janet set up a stall next to Louie for Susie's horse. When Susie arrived, she did manage to get her rig parked next to mine with a bit of cautious advise on driving in the soft wet arena sand.

Vet judge Peg Sheivly, Ride managers Louise Lester and Janet Brunjes, ride secretary Jane Graffam

When Susie was was done getting Spark settled into his stall, we were told the judges had gone down to Tut's for supper. We decided to go to supper also. If we waited for the judges to come back, it would be getting kind of late to eat. It was a little after 6:30 pm when we got to Tut's and we found out that the riders meeting was at 7:00 pm. Usually the riders meeting for this ride is held in the morning. Susie was very anxious about missing the riders meeting and was going to take her supper to go. I was not really worried as I knew we could get the information from someone when we got back to camp. Susie did stay and eat with us though she worried.

When we did get back to camp, the riders meeting was just over but I did get the map and directions we might need from Bill and Stephanie Rice. We took the horses and mule out to let them walk and graze and get in a good roll in the arena sand. Louie was still very calm and very interested in all that was going on. I was so happy to see he was not nervous or worried about anything. He was like a kid at his first slumber party. Once we settled the horses and mule back into their stalls for the night, I packed my hold bag and we all headed for bed. Scattered thundershowers had been predicted. We didn't get any where we were but we got a very impressive light light show from storms circling all around us.

I woke up quite a few times during the night. It was still hot when we went to bed but at one point I woke up chilly and had to pull a blanket over me. I was up by 5:30 am. Ride time was 7:00 am. I fed Louie and Marie and Louie still seemed very calm and happy. I then went to get breakfast that was provided by the ride. I was a bit early so sat and had coffee and visited with other early risers until breakfast was ready. Breakfast was French toast with strawberries and bacon. It was much cooler this morning and overcast. It was still slightly humid but a pretty good riding day for the equines.

Waiting to start Barbara on Marie, Susie on Spark setting her watch and Cindy on Louie

And We're OFF! Susie on Spark, Cindy on Louie and Barbara on Marie

We brought Louie, Marie and Spark to the trailers to tack them up. We didn't want to lug all our gear up to the barn. Louie was on high alert and did paw a bit when tied to the trailer if I walked away from him. But, when I mounted up, he stood still and was very good. We walked around for a little to warm them up. Louie was still alert but calm. And then we were called to start and we were off. We had started on Louie's first official CTR!!! Louie was quite excited and was trotting fast. I needed to rate him back this time because this would be the longest ride he's ever done but he didn't know this. Susie was struggling to hold back her horse Spark to a pace I thought was good for Louie. Susie has been having trouble with her hip and knees and I hated to see her struggling with her horse that was causing her pain just to stay with me. So, after a few miles, I told Susie to just go ahead of Barbara and I and she did. This was a good decision for everyone though Marie got very upset at first. She hates it when her "herd" splits up. She pulled Barbara for 15 or 20 minutes but then resigned herself to her fate and settled down. Louie too wanted to keep up with Susie and Spark but didn't pull or fuss and allowed me to rate him back.

Cindy on Louie out on trail

Barbara on Marie and Cindy on Louie out on trail

Because of all the rain the woods trails usually used for this ride were very muddy. So, the ride was kept to dirt roads and some tar roads. No one minded as none of us wanted to slop through mud. We got to the hold in very good time. This was Louie's very first experience with a hold. He did great. There is SOOOOOO much confusion at a hold and though Louie did get a bit anxious about keeping glued to Marie, he didn't loose his head. We took the full 10 minutes allowed to call for P&R. Marie needs the time as she is heavy muscled horse and pulses down slow. Louie's pulse was 44, Marie just squeaked in at 64. Louie ate the beet pulp slurry offered. He didn't drink anything. Neither did Marie. Louie didn't want to trot away from Marie for the vetting but thought about dragging me when going towards her! Louie did make an attempt to roll with his saddle on that I loudly and vigorously discouraged. We were a bit late leaving the hold but still were doing well on time.

At the 20 minute hold feeding while waiting in vetting line

Louie was wonderful on the 2nd half of the ride. He was now doing more miles and moving faster then he ever had in his life. He did get to the point were he didn't want to do so much fast trotting but was more then happy to canter and was still eager to go. I did not argue with him. He knew what was most comfortable for him and so we cantered a lot of the 2nd half of the ride. About 4 miles from the finish Marie suddenly put her nose to the ground and started sniffing. She then went into power walk mode. She never walks fast so we wondered what had gotten into her. She then started nickering and withing a few minutes we saw Susie and Spark up ahead! So that is what she was so excited about. We caught up with Susie so we were able to finish the ride together which was nice.

Barbara on Marie, Cindy on Louie and Susie on Spark about 4 miles from finish

Janet Brunjes, Cindy on Louie and Susie on Spark

Cindy on Louie

Barbara on Marie

We finished 10 minutes too fast so we stopped in a field just outside of camp and let the equines graze. Then we crossed the finish line right on time at 5 hrs. Louie was still bright and eager. We took them straight to our trailer to untack. We then took them right up to the barn to sponge them off and wait our 20 minutes for our final P&R's. Marie and Louie both pulsed at 48. Normal for Marie. I expected Louie to be a bit lower but it was not high enough to worry about. We then went for our trot out. Louie put on quite a show. He decided to do a "canter out" with a few bucks thrown in! Vet's said maybe he needed to do another 30 miles. Silly mule. AND, so far there is no indication that Louie's tack is not fitting well. Marie looked just a little off on her final trot on the circles. Once done with vetting, we settled them into their stalls with lots of hay and water to wait for the hands on part of the vetting. I gave them both some more wet beet pulp. Marie was happy to have it but Louie turned up his nose and didn't want it. But he did FINALLY drink some water! We went down to the snack shack for some lunch. We weren't quite done eating when they called the 30 mile riders for the hands on so we huffed down our lunch and hurried to get our equines. Louie stood nicely for the hands on. When the judges were done, I asked him to thank the judges and he did a lovely bow. They got such a kick out of that. We were done!!! And I knew both Louie and Marie had gotten a completion!! The vet commented that she thought Louie looked great for his first CTR and hardest ride he'd ever done. What a great feeling to have both my "kids" finish this ride after all I'd been through with injuries with them last year!!! I felt like a winner no matter what our final placing turned out to be. We packed up what we could and then hung out and visited with friends while waiting for awards. We checked on Louie and Marie several times while waiting. Marie snoozed. Louie was relaxed, munching hay and looked very good.

Coming into the finish, Susie on Spark, Cindy on Louie and Barbara on Marie

Susie on Spark, Cindy on Little Louie and Barbara on Marie

Cindy on Little Louie

Barbara on Marie

Susie on Spark

Cindy on Little Louie

Marie placed last with a score of 89.5. Louie tied for 2nd with a score of 98. They broke the tie in favor of the other rider so we were officially 3rd place. I was so pleased with Louie's score. He finished 100% sound. He lost 1/2 point for a scrape on his face, 1/2 point for slight filling in 2 of his legs and 1 point for his final pulse. The on trail comments on his score card were "calm and cool" and "forward and willing". And that was exactly so. Louie was very willing the whole ride and seemed very happy the whole way. I could not have been more pleased with how he did. Once again I underestimated my little brown mule.

Waiting a few minutes to cross the finish line as we were a little early

Barbara on Marie, Cindy on Louie and Susie on Spark

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

Pine Tree LD 30 mile endurance ride Waterford, ME June 2007

Ruby's first competiton finally arrived. We had a good start right off. Ruby, who has let me know that she is not thrilled with my trailer, loaded right up Friday morning without hesitation! (we have been working on this.) Yippee. So, off we went. The ride is usually held at the Waterford fairgrounds where stalls are available. This year, the ride was at a new ride site. We were in a big field on a quiet dead end road. It was a very lovely site. The only things we were going to miss about the fairground was the "real" bathrooms and our favorite restaurant being within walking distance.

I arrived around 10:30am. There were 68 riders between the 3 distances so there were lots of trailer and spaces marked off for each trailer. It is always nerve wracking camping with a new equine for the first time. I unloaded Ruby and put her on my spring-tie. She has been high-lined before so I didn't anticipate any trouble with her on the spring-tie. I gave her lots of hay and water and she settled right in.

I work 3rd shift and I had not slept the previous night. So, once I saw Ruby was quiet on the spring-tie, I went in the trailer and took a quick nap. I woke when a nasty but thankfully brief thunderstorm rolled though. I poured rain for a short spell. When it passed, I went out and gave Ruby a rub down and toweled her dry. The storm circled back a while later and I put a rain sheet on Ruby. I was afraid of hail. The wind was VERY strong and a few people loaded horses into trailer worried about hail. But, it was just another brief downpour.

Tracy Bradford, from the MulesOnly list, came to the ride. She was going to crew for me. Though she ended up working the ride. They needed her more then I did. It was so nice meeting a list member and she was sooooo nice! When my friend Susie arrived, we went out for a quick ride to stretch the equines legs. Susie's horse, MacKenzie, is new to her and it would also be this horse first ride. Ruby was a bit jazzed up when we rode out of camp. We got out on a long open stretch of pipeline and I let Ruby go and she settled into a wonderful extended trot. MacKenzie was a handful. We didn't go very far. When we headed back, Ruby slowed right down like she didn't want to be done but MacKenzie stayed all jazzed up and jigging.




Once back, we cleaned our girls up and headed to the vetting. I have been practicing trotting in hand. As well as doing skin pinches, poking gums and such. Ruby wasn't bothered by any of that anyway. She WAS afraid of the stethoscope! I check pulses by hand under jaw or tail and don't use a stethoscope. Ruby got all twitchy and squirmy and did NOT want the vet touching her with that cold hard thing! Because of this, the vet, Art King, thought she was girth sore. "How come your mule is so sore? Look how sore she is!" (because now she didn't want him touching her girth area at all) "I bet she is lame from being so sore". EEEEEKKKKKKK!!!! I knew she was not sore! He told me to go ahead and trot her out first. Ruby did a gorgeous trot out. After trotting, I showed Art I could touch Ruby's girth area with no reaction. Then, Art put the stethoscope on other parts of Ruby's body and she tried to twitch it off anywhere he put it. "Oh, she is just scared of the stethoscope." PHEW!!! So, all was well and Ruby vetted in with straight A's on her vet card. I settled Ruby in back at the trailer. A group of us then went over to Susie's trailer. She had made a birthday cake for Barbara and me. Then, a bunch of us went out to eat at Melby's, our favorite restaurant.



The Riders meeting was at 7:30. I was getting very tired by now and slept though part of it. I'm just glad my pit crew and other friends were awake. After the meeting, we readied our hold bags for the ride. Filled water buckets, snacks for the hold for both people and equines and put everything in the truck that Barbara would take to the hold.

Ruby was getting a lot of attention and just loving it. The only problem was her addiction to booty scratches. She would greet everyone with a sniff and let them pat her head. Then, she would swing right around and present her booty! Which caused everyone to run for the hills! Until I explained what it was Ruby wanted. Though I didn't want anyone to just assume it was safe to be behind Ruby either. One woman came over to admire Ruby and when Ruby swung around, this woman didn't even hesitate but put her hand right under Ruby's blanket and started scratching her booty. When she noticed my amazed stare, she laughed and said, "I have 3 young mules at home. I recognized a booty scratch request when I see one." I got a good laugh at that.

We went to bed around 9:30 PM or so. Ruby was very quiet the first part of the night. I woke up around 1:00 and went out and refilled her hay bag and water. The camp was blessed with a 3.00am wake up call by Ruby. She started braying. She was bored and wanted some attention. Thankfully, she didn't bray much but she sure was loud! The 100 mile riders were getting up around this time anyway. Their ride started at 5:00am. The 50 mile riders were starting at 5:30am and we 30 mile riders were starting at 7:30am.

Buy 4:30am, Ruby was getting restless. A lot of horses were now saddled up and being ridden around warming up. I got up and fed Ruby her grain and made myself some breakfast. At 5:00am, the 100 miles headed out and the 50 milers were warming up. Ruby was really getting upset now. She was really pulling on the spring-tie and braying. She was NOT happy about all the horses heading out without her! Not a relaxing time for me. Ruby bounced around and was kicking out at absolutely nothing. No one was near her. She was just getting mad and having a bit of a temper tantrum! (see, she is not completely perfect! hahahahaha) Once the 50 milers headed off, I took Ruby out to graze on some grass. She was still pretty unhappy at first but finally settled down to graze. I assured her that next year we would be heading out with the 50's and she would not have to wait.

Cindy Ross on Ruby, Margaret Farnum on Promise and Kendra MacDonald on Mystic


It was a LONG 2 hr. wait for our start time. At 7:00am, we saddled up and started walking around to warm up. Then, at long last, we heard the anticipated words, "trail is open". Yippeeeeeeee. Susie wanted to go slow and so did I. So, we let most go ahead of us. Ruby and MacKenzie were both VERY jazzed up. They were both jigging and pulling and dancing sideways. We had a stretch of tar road to start off and did not want to be going fast on this. We managed to hold them both until we hit the trail. At first I tried to hold Ruby back at the pace Susie wanted to go but I soon realized this was just not going to work for Ruby and I. Ruby was going to go nuts if I did that. So, I gave her some slack and off we went. Ruby was awesome. She did not run away or get out of control. She would do whatever pace I asked. Walk, trot or canter but she just had to do it at her speed. I caught up with Margaret and Kendra and rode with them for a bit. But, still too slow a pace for Ruby. So, at the first "fly by" (where you meet your crew for water) I rode on ahead. Ruby was incredible alone. She does not need another equine for inspiration like my horse does. We passed several more riders and finally caught up with Bill and Stephanie Rice. They were riding at a very good pace for Ruby so I stayed with them for the rest of the ride. Ruby would have passed them also, but I had to draw the line somewhere on speed and Ruby agreed it was a reasonable compromise.

Bill and Stephanie's horses were a bit spooky about some stuff. Every time they would hesitate about something, Ruby would go right to the lead and take them through. Ruby was as steady as a rock the whole ride. I was thrilled! And I was so proud of her. And every time we had to slow to a walk, Ruby would out walk those Arabs and they had to trot to catch up with her. Ruby powered up the hills like they weren't there. Floated though deep sand. Trotted down hills without a mis-step. Forded the rivers like a pro. At one point we were in a sand pit and walking so we humans could all take a moment to drink. Ruby thought she had found mule rolling heaven and started to go down! EEEEEKKKKKK. I wasn't really holding the reins so gave her a good kick and shouted a big "No!" Ruby jumped about 10 feet in the air and spooked both of the other horses. Oooops! Well, it saved us from going down though Ruby wasn't sure what she had done wrong poor girl.



We rode fast up to less then a 1/4 mile of the hold. We hopped off and walked them in that last short way and went straight to the pulse gate. You don't have to go straight to the pulse gate. You can take time to get the pulse down if you want. The pulse must be 64 or less for your hold time to start. If it is higher, you have to go to the end of the line and try again. I decided I would take a chance and go straight though. Ruby was not puffing and had not even broken a sweat. Ruby pulsed at 60. Then you trot them out and they check pulse again. If the heart rate goes up after a short trot, that is bad. Ruby trotted and pulsed at 52. Wooooohooooooo!!!! She was still not happy about the stethoscope but what a beautiful trot out she did.

Barbara and I checked that Ruby's tack was not rubbing anywhere. Offered her water, beet pulp and hay. Ruby didn't drink and didn't care for the beet pulp. She picked some carrots out of it that Barbara had added. She dug right into the hay though. Barbara sponged her down a little. Then, it was time to go. The hold was not in the middle of the ride. It was at 11 miles. So, we had 21 miles to go. A last minute change in the trail made it actually a 32 mile ride. If anything, Ruby was stronger on the 2nd half of the ride. She never slowed down and she showed no signs of tiring. We had two more "fly-bys". Ruby did not drink at either. Toward the end of the ride, we had 3 river crossing. At the 2nd crossing, Ruby finally drank like a fish. Phew! I was happy now. We had passed more people out on the trail so were in the front of the 30 mile ride now. We finished in great shape. We did the ride in 5 hrs. 1 min. (ride time). That is not super fast in terms of Endurance riding but just about the pace they want you to go for a 30 mile limited distance. You are allowed 7 hrs. 15 min. to do the ride.



I stripped Ruby's tack off and Barbara sponged her down. Ruby was still not puffing nor was she very sweaty. But, I didn't want to rush to the vet too quickly. I wanted to make sure we passed the check first time. I didn't wait long though. Just long enough to sponge her quickly. When I took her up, she pulsed at 60 again (still afraid of the stethoscope) did another beautiful trot out and pulsed at 48! Excellent! A different vet did our final vetting and gave her a B score on "tack galls". Only because of the way she was twitching with the stethoscope. The vet said he couldn't tell if she was sore or nervous. He thought she was probably just nervous but could not be sure. Ruby ended with straight A's on everything else. She looked like she could go out and do it all over again. The vets had all gathered around Ruby at this point and were really admiring her. They just were amazed at how lovely she moves. And how nice looking and friendly she is.



After giving her a good rub down, I put a fleece cooler on her as it was getting windy and quite cool. I tied her to the trailer with lots of water and hay. She was quiet now though bright eyed and watching everything. She did not look at all like she just did 32 miles! None of the horses what were camped near us were back from their rides yet so Ruby was alone at the trailer. She did fine, only braying a few times. When it was time to go home, she loaded right into the trailer like a good girl again.

I could not have been more proud of Ruby! She was the best of mule ambassadors!!!!

Pine Tree Limited Distance 30 mile endurance ride June 30, 2007
1. 4:44 Dorion, Lisanne on Nation's Glory
2. 4:51 Murphy, Frank on Desparado
3. 4:52 Linnell, Dianna on Half Moon's Majestic
4. 4:58 Rice, Bill on Potaca
5. 4:58 Rice, Stephanie on Prymtym
6. 5:01 Ross, Cindy on McAllister's Ruby
7. 5:14 Denardis, Kimberly on Omar
8. 5:15 Reich, Deborah on SA Zacks Comet
9. 5:15 Cader, Amos on FLF Blaze Star
10. 5:17 Bennett, Abbie on Juneson's Image
11. 5:18 McNaughton, Irving on RC Neon
12. 5:22 Cushing, Susan on Lappi Fra Curtis
13. 5:55 Reinheimer, Susan on MacKenzie
14. 5:57 Palumbo, Mary on Caspian Sea
15. 5:59 Dockham, Peg on Beckie
16. 5:59 Farnum, Margaret on LWF Paljoe Promise
Metabolic MacDonald, Kendra on Into the Mystic

Crooked River 30 CTR Waterford, ME May 2006

My adventure started Friday morning. I got out of work at 4:30AM (I usually get out at 5:30am) I got home, fed the critters and decided I had time to take a 2 hr. nap. I was already packed up and ready to go for the most part. After my nap, I decided I would take my truck and trailer out back to the garage and check the fluids and tires. I am notoriously bad about doing that and thought for once I'd be a good girl. It's a bit of a pain to take the trailer out back since there isn't a lot of room to turn around with my boarders trailer out there. And it's up a short steep hill to the garage that makes backing out even more awkward. But it's certainly do-able. I checked everything. I did have a couple tires low on air. I took care of that. I got back in the truck, start backing down the hill and.......NO BRAKES!!! AAAGGGHHHHH. I pump them...nothing, except the trailer brakes which was only slowing me down on that steep hill. Ok, I'm heading right for my boarders trailer.......AAAHHHH. I tramp the emergency brake, stay on the regular brake to keep engaging the trailer brakes and grind slowly to a halt. Now, I'm mostly worried about the heart attack I'm about to have. I put the truck in gear, pull back up to the garage and do what most of us ladies do. (I say most!) I go and get my husband. Now, he's not a mechanic, I know there’s most likely nothing he can do. But, I still feel compelled to at least vent about the problem to him. As expected, he said, "what do you want me to do, call your mechanic." And that is what I did. My mechanic told me it sounded like a break line went. Fred managed to carefully back the trailer down the entire driveway and up into the front yard. He then helped me get unhooked and without the trailer I had just enough brakes to slowly drive it to the garage. It was the break line and they had it fixed within an hour. PHEW! All I could think was that I could have been out on the road with my horse and mule in the trailer when that happened. Someone is watching over me!
I went home, hitched up, loaded Rosemarie and Emma Jane and I was off. Barbara, who is leasing Marie, was busy this weekend. So, I had another friend, Heather, ride Marie. Heather’s horse unexpectedly had a baby 2 months ago so she is without a horse to ride right now. Heather has another horse but had already told her friend Catherine she could ride him in the competition. I had told Heather I would be at the Fairgrounds at 9:30 am. I tried calling her on her cell phone with no luck. You can’t get a cell phone signal in Waterford. I knew she would be wondering where I was since I now would not get there until about noon time. Margaret had the day off from work and was also planning to get there early. I was a real special ride for both of us since Marie nearly died just one year ago from Purpura which she got as a reaction to her Strangles vaccine. Margaret’s horse Promise nearly died last fall from a tumor on his intestines and complications from removing it. And Promise is 25 years old.
This was the first time I would be camping out with Emma Jane. The ride is held at the Waterford Fairgrounds. There are stalls but they are the open cattle type. You have to rig up something for the front of the stall if you want to turn them loose in the stalls. I just brought along some rope. I knew Marie would stay in that. I was just praying Emma Jane would too. The rope looked like electrobraid fencing and Emma Jane wouldn't go near it! YEAH! I hung her water bucket close to the rope and later noticed her "scratching her lip" on the far edge of the bucket. After watching her do this a few times I realized she was thirsty and trying to pull the bucket away from the rope. Poor girl! I immediately moved the bucket away from the rope and she took a big drink! The sides of the stalls are quite low and for a moment when I first put Marie and Emma Jane in the stalls, Emma Jane considered jumping into Marie's stall. There was a bit of a tense moment. But then she settled right down.
Pre-ride vetting was set for 3:00 PM. We all started lining up by 2:30 PM. The vet was late to arrive. While waiting, everyone was asking me tons of questions about Emma Jane and mules in general. It’s so rare to see anyone with a mule here in New England. Especially Maine. Many questions I could answer, some I could not since Emma Jane and Bonnie’s mule Blossom are really the only mules I know. Many of the horses would sniff curiously at her. They could tell she was not another horse.
Well, unfortunately Emma Jane did NOT like the lay judge. The lay judge was Vicki Austin and seemed to be just a little bit nervous about Emma Jane. She kind of snuck up slowly and far too cautiously and put Emma Jane right on high alert. Emma Jane did pitch quite a fit. Of course I was in the front of the line so everyone was watching. I finally had to do the "circle game" with her. I give her the choice of trotting around me in circles without a rest or quietly doing what is being asked of her. Emma Jane know how that works between us and that I am willing to watch her do circles longer then she is willing to actually do them. So, she then decided to tolerate the Vicky touching her. Everyone got such a laugh at Emma Jane's expression. Ears at half mast with crinkled up mouth and nose. It was very obvious what Emma Jane thought of the whole thing but she stood quietly like a good girl. The vet judge was Craig Dowd. He was also watching all this and when it was his turn to examine Emma Jane he didn't look too excited about it. But he walked right up confidently, got right down to business and Emma Jane was perfect for him. And she then did a nice trot out. Marie being the old pro that she is, vetted in easily. Though she did rush forward when finishing the trot out and nearly took Heather off her feet! Heather had to haul her back and then repeat her straight line trot out.


After vetting in, we settled the horses and mule back in their stalls and headed down to Melby’s for supper. When we got back we got our chairs and hung out in the barn until it was time for bed. Emma Jane was very good about camping. She was quiet and well behaved. She didn't pace, paw, chew wood or bray. (much to everyone's relief) I was able to get a good night sleep which I wasn't expecting.
It was hot and muggy Saturday. The air got dryer later in the day but it stayed hot. After feeding Marie, Emma Jane and Maddy I went down to the kitchen and had my usual pre-ride oatmeal and coffee. I chatted with some of the other riders for a bit. The riders meeting was at 7:30. The ride was to start at 8:15. Our group was going out near the end. We got tacked up and all the equines were being very good. There was a bit of confusion with the starting order. Heather and I were supposed to be going out together. Margaret and Catherine were to start just before us. Somehow, the numbers got mixed up and had split Heather and I. Marie started getting upset as I headed off without her so thankfully at the last minute ride management decided to let the 4 of us go together.

Cindy Ross on Emma Jane

Margaret on Promise took the lead right off and set the pace. He did great and set a perfect pace. Emma Jane and I stayed behind them most of the ride. Marie hung back a bit with Emma Jane then decided she wanted to keep up with Promise. Then Marie and Maddy switched back and forth behind Promise most of the ride. Emma Jane was WONDERFUL the whole ride. Quiet and steady on the trail. Madddy did quite a few impressive spook and spins. Catherine did a great job of staying on and keeping him going. We got to the hold in good time. Emma Jane was a complete and perfect lady at the hold. Didn't even so much as twitch for the P&R or the vet check. She pulsed right down to 45 in less the 10 min. Trotted ok. (reluctant going away from Marie, very energetic going toward Marie!) Marie vetted out fine as well as Promise and Maddy and we were good to go. My only worry was that Emma Jane had not taken a drink yet.
We headed out on the second half of the ride on only a few minutes late out of the hold. At one point on the trail, there was a spot where a culvert was being replaced. Half was done and passable for the horses. But, the man working on it was actually in the ditch working on the culvert. Marie, Promise and Maddy all stopped dead and refused to move. After all, there really WAS a booger in the ditch. Emma Jane had been behind the horses the whole ride. While the horses were snorting and whirling around, Emma Jane suddenly marched out around them, without me asking, walked right through then stopped dead on the other side and waited for the horses. You could just tell she was saying "come on you stupid horses, we have a ride to finish!" I was SOOOOOO proud of my mule!!!!! I had been sponging Emma Jane along the ride but from the ground. I wasn’t sure what she would do if I launched a sponge from a string off her from the saddle. I’ve seen people get hurt doing that for the first time at a ride. Since I was on the ground already sponging Emma Jane, I was also sponging Marie. I could do a better job from the ground anyway. Emma Jane was being very good about being sponged so, at the last water stop, I finally sponged her from the saddle. She eyeballed the sponge as it hit the water and I dragged it back but didn’t do anything. After a couple of throws, she ignored it completely. I was also feeding her greens (tree leaves) from the saddle occasionally. The first couple times I leaned forward and stuck my hand out beside her face kind of freaked her out. I had to really pull her head around so she would look at what was in my hand. Once she figured out what I was doing, she was pretty happy about that! Hahahaha. Greens (grass, tree leaves, etc.) are good for helping to keep their gut sounds good and help hydrate them. Greens are also loaded with the electrolytes that they need replaced from sweating. About 20 miles into the ride, Emma Jane started drinking.

Catherine on Maddy and Heather on Marie


We finished in good shape. Heather’s knees were really hurting her from riding a horse that is as wide as Marie. Marie is like sitting on a 55 gallon barrel! We really put lots of water on Emma Jane and Marie to cool them down. Emma Jane was wonderful for the P&R. She was also perfect for the vet. But still didn't want the lay judge, Vicki, touching her. She didn't pitch a fit. She really tried to be a good girl. I don't know if this is common for the more "shy" mules but I know with Emma Jane, if she isn't happy about being touched but is trying to behave, just before she just can't "stay with you" any longer, she will twitch and cringe and then scoot away. She was doing this when the vet was trying to touch her in the girth area. Emma Jane was not at all sore. But, the judge took off 2 points for girth soreness. I even ran my hands all over the girth area to show her that Emma Jane wasn't sore but that didn't help. Oh well. Emma Jane was also a bit dehydrated. And she did do her "trot outs after a ride are stupid" routine. But, we finally managed and got it done. I had to trot out Marie since Heather’s knees were hurting too much for her to do it. Marie did great.
I was so pleased with Emma Jane. She was so much more relaxed on this second ride and very well behaved over all. She has come such a long way in just 8 months from the mule I brought home that couldn't be saddled, bridled, ridden or touched in most places. I never dreamed she would change so much in such a short time. I got most of my stuff packed up between the hands on and trot out. So, once that was done, we headed right down for the meal. They served a chicken stew that was full of beans. The stew was fine but the beans of course were nasty! (I hate beans!)
We all came down for the award ceremony. They started handing out the awards and Emma Jane placed 7th. They had given out awards up to 2nd place and Marie’s name had not been called. Hummmmmm. Then they realized they had messed up and had to take back all the ribbons and start again. Emma Jane was still 7th place. She had a score of 94.5. And 2 point of that were for the "sensitive girth area" that she didn't really have. So, she did great. Ribbons were passed out from 6th place up. They called out 5th, 4th, 3rd and still no Rosemarie. Then 2nd…….not Marie. To my total amazement, and delight…. Marie won Grand Champion of the ride!!!!! I have waited 7 long years for this day when Marie finally won the “big one”!





Crooked River 30 ME 5/27/06 13/S-F
Judges: Dr. G Dowd - Vickie Austin
J1. Morning Star Wakita / Wright, Caliegh
J2. SA Mr Madazsin / Daggett, Catherine
1. Marie / Bonneau, Heather (score 98.50)
2. Thunder / Veinneau, Mindy
3. LWF Paljoe Promise / Farnum, Margaret
4. BW Warrior / Brone, Ruth Bither
4. DLA Cassidy / Hatch, Janice Conley
6. Thunder / Stygles, Amanda
6. Stonewall Sally / Hoyt, Colleen
8. KA Shiloh / Niedoroda, Susan
9. Misu Koran / Navoy, Cory
9. Emma Jane / Ross, Cynthia (score 94.50)
11. S/B Mighty Country / Burgess, Robert

Hidden Brook 30 CTR Norway, ME April 2006

Cindy Ross on Emma Jane


Barbara McGovern on Marie


Well, the day had finally arrived. The first CTR for my mule, Emma Jane, and me! Emma Jane is a 10 year old, 14.3 Hand molly (female) mule that was given to me 7 months ago in September of 2005. When Emma Jane came to me she had a lot of “issues” that had to be worked through. She was ear shy and afraid of people she didn’t know. Emma Jane and I bonded right away. It still has been a lot of hard work getting her over some of her problems. And we still have some work ahead of us. But she has come a long way and is doing great! My two biggest worries were getting her through the vetting process. She just does not like strangers handling her. She had also developed and abscess on her left front hoof in November of 2005 and has shown mild lameness on a few occasions.

Cindy Ross on Emma Jane


My friend, Barbara McGovern is leasing my horse Marie. Barbara was competing in this ride with Marie. I was thrilled to have both of my girls going to the ride!!! The ride was being held on a Sunday. Sunday morning vettings were being allowed. Since it is only 1 ½ hrs drive to Norway, Barbara and I decided to go up Sunday morning rather then camp out overnight. It was supposed to be a rainy wet day. We went prepared for anything! We headed out 5:00 AM on Sunday morning and had a quiet uneventful trip up. We arrived at Hidden Brook Farm at 6:30 AM. It was overcast and lightly sleeting. It didn’t feel cold enough for sleet but it was. The good thing is the sleet just kind of bounced off and didn’t soak in. After parking my trailer I went in search of Heather, the ride manager, to get our riders packets and find out what time to be ready for vetting. As I was walking down the driveway, a man walking the other way stops and quietly says, “Cindy?” Right away I knew it was Everett Grant. He is a fellow mule owner! I had only known him and his wife, Cyndi, through an internet message board, Atlantic Coast Mule Lovers. I was the first time I had met them in person. I hadn’t yet found Heather but I had to go and take a look at Jenny, Ev’s mule. Jenny looked very much like Emma Jane. The same dark bay color. They are about the same size and weight also. Jenny is 19 years old. After checking out Jenny, I found Heather and she said to be ready for vetting at 7:00 AM at the indoor arena.

Cindy Ross on Emma Jane


Everett Grant on Jenny


I had cleaned and brushed Emma Jane and Marie before loading them in the trailer earlier so we just had to give them a quick check and we headed down to vet in. Emma Jane was behaving very well. She has previously been used as a show mule but you could tell she was wondering what was going on. Emma Jane was standing quietly with me in the indoor arena until the vet, Peg Schively, approached her. Sure enough Emma Jane wanted no part of that! She backed up and circled around me trying to stay away from the Peg. Peg backed off and went to do something else. At the same time the lay judge, Coleen Hoyt, came right up to Emma Jane and started to stroke her face and quietly talk to her. Emma Jane was just fine with her and Coleen did the hands on with no problem. Peg came back then and once again Emma Jane wanted nothing to do with her. I just quietly but firmly kept telling Emma Jane to “whoa” and “stand”. After only about a minute she finally settled down and let Peg approach her and stood very nicely for her vetting. After Peg was done we did our trot out and that went very well. I mentioned to the vet that I had some concerns about her left front being completely sound and she said she would really watch for any problems. PHEW! Vetting done! One big obstacle conquered! And it went much better then I had anticipated!

Barbara got Marie vetted with no problems. After all, Marie is an old pro at this. And it was a help to Emma Jane to see Marie being so calm and quiet about everything. We took the girls back to the trailer and saddled up. Emma Jane was just a tiny bit fidgety but not bad. Barbara and I took them down to the indoor arena to mount up and warm them up. Emma Jane had to circle me a few times before she would stand still and let me mount. But, once again, no big deal. It wasn’t long before it was time for us to head up to the starting line and get ready to head out on the trail. Everett with his Jenny was riding with Barbara and I. We were depending on Marie to set the pace and get the two rookie mules through the ride!
The trail consisted of two 15 mile loops. All public road. A good part of it dirt with a section of paved road in the middle. It was quite hilly. Marie set her favorite pace. A slightly slow but very steady trot. Barbara had to really push her to pick up the pace. Everett and Jenny would occasionally get out in the lead. Finally Marie spotted a white butt up in front of us. She always hopes it might be the love of her life, Cody, when she sees a white horse. Suddenly, she was off like a rocket putting on the big trot. Luckily, the white horse was setting a good pace and kept Marie inspired all the way to the hold. Marie and Jenny drank good at the first water stop. Emma Jane didn’t drink.



Emma Jane was doing great and still going strong when we reached the hold. Emma Jane fussed just a bit when Janet Brunjes came to take her P&R.. ECTRA now allows hand held heart rate monitors to be used at the holds rather then stethoscopes. When Janet got the initial reading it was 68. As Emma Jane realized that Janet was not doing anything to hurt her, her pulse went right down to 43 in less then a minute. Her respiration was 8. Emma Jane was in great shape. She fussed just a little bit again when Peg, the vet, did the metabolic check but settled fairly quickly. Her trot out went fine. No signs of lameness at all! YEAH. Marie and Jenny both did fine with their vetting and we were all cleared to finish the ride. Emma Jane didn’t drink at the hold. She was sure happy to chow down some oats with cut up carrots though! I had a hard time getting her face out of that so I could put her bridle back on to head back out on the trail.

Cindy Ross with Emma Jane at the hold

Since the second half of the ride was a repeat of the first, we knew exactly what we needed to do to finish on time. Once again Barbara had to really push Marie along until she saw some horses up ahead to inspire her. Ev and Jenny actually got out and lead quite a bit on the first half of the second loop. As Marie really picked up the pace she eventually fell behind for a while. A little more then half way through the second loop we lost sight of Ev and Jenny. They did eventually catch up with us though. Emma Jane kept going real strong until about the last 5 miles. Then she finally started falling behind at the trot and would have to canter to catch up to Marie. She was great though and never quit on me. And she was just wonderful the whole time I was on her. You could tell that Jenny (and Everett) were getting a bit tired also at the end. But we all finished on time!!!!! Now all we had to do was pass the final vetting!

The weather had cooperated quite well actually. The sleet stopped sometime before we got to the half way hold. On the second half of the ride we had a few very light brief showers. Not enough to even really get us wet. It had stopped altogether by the time we finished the ride. But it was getting a bit chilly. We got the saddles off Emma Jane and Marie and covered their hindquarters up with fleece blanket to keep their large muscles from getting cold and cramping. We did sponge some of the sweat off their necks and chests. Usually the P&R people come to your trailers or stalls at the end of a ride. Due to a shortage of help, we had to take our animals down to the indoor arena for P&R’s. Once again, Emma Jane fussed just a bit when the P&R person approached her but once again settled fairly quickly and then stood quietly. Her pulse was 46 and respiration was 12. The maximum pulse for a perfect score is 44 so we would lose some points there. But 46 is fine. Colleen Hoyt once again did the hands on. Emma Jane fussed a bit with her this time. Same routine though of a bit of backing and head tossing then settling down. Same for Peg the vet again also. Every time Emma Jane would fuss, she would then stand very quietly and nicely after she had gotten her opinion across! Then it was time to do the final trot out. I figured this would be a disaster. I’ve been doing practice trot out’s at home after each ride. Emma Jane thinks it is a totally stupid thing to do and lets it be known! She will refuse to trot, then when I do get her going she will pin those enormous ears back and scrunch up her lips and glare at me. It’s quite a sight! And this is what I was expecting for my final trot out at the ride. WRONG! She took off like a rocket on the straight. Then she got flying around in the circle and I couldn’t get her to stop. Even very firm “whoa’s” and strong yanks on the lead rope had no effect. I finally had to reel her in like a fish! She got herself together for the second circle and did much better. Well, at least she didn’t look too tired! Hahahahaha. She trotted out 100% sound! YEAH. Ev’s mule Jenny looked fine at the end of the ride but she refused to let the vet and judge examine her hindquarters and back legs. Because they couldn’t complete the exam, maximum points were deducted in that category which was 13 points. Jenny trotted out fine so didn’t seem to be at all lame. The vet thought that it was just muscle soreness and nothing to really worry about. But, he got a completion anyway. Heather had ordered pizza and Italian sandwiches for our meal. She had use of a nice screened in porch for us to use. Barbara and I blanketed the girls and left them tied to the trailer with plenty of hay to munch. After grabbing a slice of Pizza, Barbara and I hung out in the indoor arena where it was warmer and there was a place to sit. We hung out there and watched the rest of the vetting. That is also where they held the award ceremony. Ev won the award for oldest horse/mule to complete the ride. And Emma Jane being the only other mule on the ride won the high point mule award! Hahahahah. Emma Jane ended up with a score of 95 and was 15th place. Very good showing for her first ride! Marie had a score of 95.25 and was 14th place.

It was all in all a great ride! Look out CTR world, you haven’t seen the last of this mule yet!!! Hahahahaha.

Everett and Emily Grant at final vetting with Jenny



Words from Everette Grant:

As the pain in my back starts to ease a bit the positives are starting to sneak into my recollections. Meeting Cindy and seeing first hand the skill and mule sense she has and that we all knew she had from her stories was indeed a pleasure. It is an attitude and approach essentially necessary with mules that some folks never achieve after years of mule and horse ownership. I think she had it before she had the mule. Patient, calm, consistent and firm.

I am thrilled with Jenny and a touch perplexed as well. She tried hard all day and responded willingly to every request. She amazed me by drinking very well on the trail and at the hold. She trotted out in hand with ease, both before and after the ride. She was the oldest animal there and a rookie too, she looks this morning like she would be happy to go again today. The puzzlement comes from her post ride vetting. She refused to let the vet examine her hind legs, we therefor took a huge point deduction and finished dead last in points. The vet seemed to think she was just muscle sore, a theory that seems to be accurate as time has passed. Within minutes of the vet check Cyndi was able to rub her hands up and down both of Jenny's hind legs without incident. The final trot out was held roughly a half an hour after the vetting and Jenny trotted out a little stiff, but sound all around. So, I guess before I try this again I need to do a little more conditioning with a focus on adding muscle to the rear.

Definitely a learning experience. I am sure I would not have made time without Cindy and EJ and Barbara and Marie to push me along. Thanks again.
Ev

Hidden Brook 30 Drive 4/23/06 ME 2/S-F
Judges: Dr. M Shively - Colleen Hoyt
1. Day, Sondra / Ager's Lucky Magic
2. Buckley, Stephanie / Cliffe's Copper Peny

Hidden Brook 30 Ride 4/23/06 ME 19/S-F
1. Jewell, Char / Enshalia Fakama
2. Konecki, Ruth / Izusu
3. Lobb, Amy / Shyloh
3. Walker, Connie / Hermoine Granger
5. Stygles, Amanda / Thunder
6. Akerstrom, Sharon / Tonkakola Gold
7. Walker, Courtney / Picabo STreet
8. McKittrick, Janice / Apollo
8. Navoy, Cory / My Heaven Sent
10. Claar, Mitch / Nikademous
11. Libby, Karen / JB Roman Tarbajk
12. Levasseur, Sharon / Zephyr's Elegant Gift
12. Sweet, Eliza / Mainlee tuart
14. McGovern, Barbara / Marie (score 95.25)
15. Ross, Cindy / Emma Jane (score 92.00)
16. Tenggren, Traci / Travelin Man Maverick
17. Burgess, Carolyn / Rouk
18. Burgess, Robert / S/B Mighty Country
Completion Grant, EVerett / Jenny