Boo! 25 CTR West Sumner, ME Oct. 2003

The seasons last ride. Sigh. The Boo! ride is one of my favorite rides. Held at the farm of Laura and Steve Falconer. They open their home to us every year so that we have a warm place to gather and have our meals. Laura is the amazing woman that has no arms. She doesn’t let that stop her from doing anything.
At work, the night before the ride, we had a mandatory day six (Friday night) scheduled at the last minute so I couldn’t go to the ride on Friday like usual. I went home and went to bed Friday morning. Susie called me early afternoon worried about me. I had her ask Vicki if it would be ok If I came in the morning and vetted in then. She said it would be ok.
I went out to feed the horses at 3:00 AM. They thought that was rather strange but that didn't stop them from eating. I managed to get to the ride at about 5:30 AM. It was still dark when I arrived. Everyone was parked in the upper field and it was muddy getting in. I unloaded Marie down in the driveway and tied her to Susie’s trailer so I could make a run for it up into the field and not worry about thrashing her around in the trailer. It’s a good thing I did and that I have 4 wheel drive! I was told that Louise Lester had to be hauled out with a tractor. The ride wasn’t starting until 8:30 so I had plenty of time to go down to the house and have some breakfast. Marie vetted in just fine. I was riding with Margaret Farnum and Mary Batt. Margaret and I had prearranged to ride together. The Boo! 25 is the last ride in the Triple Trail Series which consists of the Hidden Brook 25, Streaked Mt. 30 and the Boo! 25. Margaret and I had ridden the first two ride together so we figured it was only right to ride the last one together also. Coming into this ride, Margaret and Promise were in first place and Marie and I were in second place for the Triple Trail Award. If Marie and I completed this ride, we would also earn our 1,000 Competitive miles award. Only Marie would earn that since, for the rider, ECTRA splits ride and drive miles. I’ve driven 2 competitions so I am 75 miles behind Marie. The milage is combined for the horse. Susie was one group ahead of us in the starting order with Heather and Heather’s friend. Susie wasn’t too happy about that. When it was time to go, She let them get a head start on her before going out herself.

Zephyr & Grizz

Mary Batt, Susie Reinheimer & Margaret Farnum


It was a good and ride. Beautiful day. Mary’s horse was a bit strong with her and pulling. Marie and Promise were wonderful. A bunch of us came into the hold at the same time so we were held up there for a while. Marie passed at the hold without problems. Just as I was mounting to head out for the second loop, Marie stepped on her own foot and pulled a front shoe off!!! Thank goodness for Easy Boots! I jumped off and quickly put the boot on and we were off for the second loop. The second loop went fine and we were done in good time. Marie passed the final vetting and she had earned her 1,000 miles!!! YEAH! While we were waiting for the meal, we took pictures of all the dogs. Zephyr and Margaret’s dog Grizz. One giant ball of black hair and one small one. They are funny to see together. Susie’s lab cross, Callie, and Mary’s dog are also all black. The meal provided was wonderful as usual. Grilled steak and chicken, salad, scalloped potatoes many different kinds of pie for dessert. Then…..time for the awards! We gathered in the kitchen for this. (The Falconer’s have a very large kitchen) Marie and I got 9th place overall. Susie got Grand Champion for the second ride in a row! Margaret got Grand Champion of the Triple Trail Series and I got Reserve Champion. Not bad for a 23 year old Morgan and a grade Quarter Horse from the Humane Society!

Cindy Ross, Susie Reinheimer & Margaret Farnum


Boo 25 ME 10/18 25/S-F
Judges: Dr L Buggia - J Levellie
J1. SA FR Madazsin / Dagget, Catherine
J2. Willows Rahmaan / York, Cara
J3. Snowfield Kelley, Cricket
1. Xavier Sunnyacres / Reinheimer, Susan
1. Theatic / Brunjes, Kathy
3. Tapped A Nick / Lester, Louise
4. Moria NA / Hurton, Bonnie
4. LWF Paljoe Promise / Farnum, Margaret
6. Travelon's Times Two / Gamester, Marcy
6. Nikadeous / Seames/ Peter
8. FR Midori / Batt, Mary
9. Marie / Ross, Cynthia (score 94.25)
10. Keeper / Brooks, Leslie
10. Shiloh / Seames, Cynthia
12. The J Man / Raymond, Faith
13. Disco Dust Bunny / Nelson, Cindy
14. Alizahr / Bell, Patricia
14. Rugby / Mersereau, Rene
16. Nikita Bahar / Crowley, Lois
17. Nerzans Lady Mariah/ Bonneau, Heather
18. HFA Siver Savana / Deleware, Marsha
Completions:
Dreamcatcher / Soscia, Joanne
Tashi Samr / Rice, Bill
VH Phazon / McNaughton, Irving
SFD Carosel / O'Connor, Colleen


Triple Trail Series
Higest combined score for same horse/rider team for:
Hidden Brook, Streaked Mountain & Boo!
Grand Champion - Margaret Farnum on Promise
Reserve Champion - Cindy Ross on Marie

Boo 25 CTR West Sumner, ME Oct 2002

This is the last ride of the season for me (sniff, sniff). The Boo is one of my favorite rides. Vicki Austin, the ride manager, really goes all out to put on the best ride. The ride is in West Sumner, ME held at an old farmsted dating back to 1736. The farm sits on the side of a hill with wonderful views of the surrounding mountains. The couple that owns the farm, Laura and Steve, are wonderful and so generous to open up their home for this ride. Laura has no arms so must do everything with her feet. She is amazing in what she can do and she both rides and drives her horses. Bonnie took Friday off work so she could go up to the ride early in the morning with me. We planned to leave around 8:00 AM. I got out of work at 2:30 AM. When I got home, I fed the horses, packed the trailer and then snuck in a couple hours of sleep. It was raining when Bonnie arrived but it was not supposed to clear off so we sat around and drank coffee until the rain stopped at 8:30 AM. The weather report said it was going to be cold Friday night and would also rain Friday night into Saturday. So we packed enough clothes for an army hoping to be prepared for anything. We loaded up the horses, Zephyr and headed out. We got to the ride in good time. No problems with the truck other then it being very loud from needing the muffler replaced. We were the second ones to arrive. Heather had been the first. We had our choice of where to park and set up our fence. We, of course, parked as close to the house as we could get as that was closer to the food. We unloaded the horses and tied them to the trailer. I hitched Zephyr's cable to the door handle of my truck. The field we camp in is wide open and on the side of a hill so it can get very windy here. We decided to set up the horses fence using my trailer for a wind break. So, I needed to turn the trailer around so we could set up the fence and not have the living quarters door opening into it. Bonnie untied the horses and held them. I jumped in the truck and pulled forward to make a loop in the field. I glanced in my side view mirror and see Bonnie jumping up and down and waving her arms as best she could while holding both horses. She was shouting something but I couldn't hear a thing over the rumble of my bad muffler. Then, I suddenly realized what she was making the fuss about, poor Zephyr was still tied to my truck!!! He'd been running for all he was worth to keep up, thankfully I was going slow and hadn't gone more then 50' so no harm done. I jumped out, got him and put him in the truck with me. I had to hug and cuddle him and tell him I was NOT trying to kill him! I got the truck and trailer situated to our satisfaction but it still took us forever to get the fence the way we wanted it. I'm not sure why we had such a brain cramp about it but we did. We did finally get the fence set up to our liking and the horses settled in with hay and water. It was cold and windy enough for me to put on my long underwear and heavy coat. We headed to the house to register. Vicki, the ride manager, also makes and sells horse, dog and people clothing. I had ordered a dog coat for Zephyr. It was to be made of coated nylon so it would be waterproof and lined with fleece. When I got to the house, Vicki saw me and she got all excited and started running around looking for my bag saying, "Oh, I can't wait to see your face when you see your dog's little coat." She finally found the bag and handed it to me. I pulled out the coat and it was indeed adorable. It is made to look like a horse blanket. Then I pulled out the bill ...... $60!!! Yikes, Zephyr is only a 15 lb dog so the coat is small! I sure hoped Vicki was not watching my face when I saw the bill. I should have asked the price before having Vicki make it! That's ok, she did a great job.

After registering, I unhooked my truck and we went down to the little store on the corner for lunch. It is a small place but they have good food. When we got back to camp Susie had arrived. Susie and I had decided previously that we were going to switch horses on this ride and had entered the ride this way. She told me that Cody had been really hyper on her last few rides and she was worrked about me not having a very good time if I rode him. We discussed it a bit and decided to ride our own horses. Poor Vicki had to redo our paperwork but was a good sport about it. Bonnie had thought Halla was coming to the ride and has asked to ride with her. Halla backed out so Bonnie was in the ride order with a group of people she didn't know. Vicki had set up the ride order with 4 riders starting together 5 minutes apart. Bonnie was starting 3 groups behind Susie and me. Bonnie was not at all happy about this. She was anxious about Lady Bug and Marie being separated. We talked to Vicky and asked if Bonnie could be put with our group. She didn't really want to make the change at first but the 4th person in our group hadn't shown up so Vicki let Bonnie take her spot. Susie wanted to go for a ride before the vetting but it was so close to vetting time, I didn't want to go. She decided to just lunge Cody instead. Bonnie and I got right in line for vetting so didn't have a long wait. I went first and while Marie was trotting one of her circles, she trotted into a slippery spot and fell down. She did it in typical Marie fashion. She went down on the side of her butt, then slowly rolled over onto her side and just laid there a minute like she was thinking, "Oh, gee, I fell down... this is kind of comfortable.. maybe I'll just rest here a minute.. oh, I guess I'll get up," and she calmy got to her feet and looked at me like, ok, now what? We finished the trot out but she was just slightly off on her right shoulder from the fall. The vet wanted to re-check her in the morning just to make sure she was ok. A lot of horses would have freaked out if they went down like that. Not Marie, it would take too much energy to freak out. Lady Bug vetted in fine. Margaret Farnum had parked right next to my trailer. I had ridden the Crooked River 60 with her. Marie was in heat and nuzzling Promise over the fence. Louise Lester was parked behind me and she had her stallion with her who was talking to Marie and trying to tell her he was the only 'real man' on the grounds. But Marie was only interested in Promise, silly mare. Bonnie brought a bottle of her father's famous 'recipe' with her. Homemade coffee brandy. It was very good. We made a couple drinks and went over to Susie's trailer to sit and chat. Mary Batt showed up around 4:00 PM. The riders meeting was at 5:00 PM and held at the starting line. Then there were snack at the house. It was the usualy layout that was more a meal then snacks. There were several pasta dishes, chili, beans, zucchini casserole and lots of homemade deserts. We ate like pigs. It was quite cold outside by now. After eating, we went outside and huddled around a campfire together. Vicki had even hired entertainment for the evening. "The Horse Hippy" who is a musician and comedian. He was late showing up since he'd written the wrong date on his calendar. I was hanging out by the campfire trying to avoid being roped into line dancing in the barn. I don't mind line dancing, I was just too tired for it. Vicki came down and told us the Horse Hippy had arrived and was all set up in the barn. I don't know what I expected but he was quite a sight. He definitely looked like an old hippy with his long gray hair and beard, disheveled jeans, denim shirt, and red flannel vest. Looked like he just came crawling out of the hills. He played banjo and electric guitar. He was actually quite good and very amusing. Marcy Gamester was dying to dance and trying to get everyone to dance with her. She got Steve, the farm owner, to dance a few with her. Then she got the man that had brought the Horse Hippy to dance with her. Susie got me up for one dance but I quickly retreated back to my comfy hay bale. Though my feet were getting cold enough that I was thinking about dancing just to warm them up. After the Horse Hippy left, I went back to the campfire. Eventually, Bonnie and I headed to bed. We knew we'd be warmer in our sleeping bags. Zephyr, as usual, spazzed out when he got up into bed with us. He crawled into Bonnie's sleeping bag to check it out. Then he tried to crawl into mine. I had my mummy style bag and it was too tight a fit for him so he crawled out and back into Bonnie's bag and slept with her all night. Silly dog! As we laid there, we could see our breath, burrrrrr. We knew we wouldn't want to get out of our sleeping bags in the morning. I put the clothes I was wearing the next day into my sleeping bag so they would be warm in the morning.

It actually warmed up overnight and was warmer in the morning. It was cloudy but so far the rain was holding off. For that I was extremely grateful. I fed Marie and Lady Bug then headed to the house for some breakfast. I had the usual oatmeal of course. But there were lots of other goodies as well. Home baked breads, pastires and donuts. I just love this ride! while the costume class was being judged, I got Marie out and lunged her so she would be ready for her re-check. It just happened the vet walked by as I was lunging her and he watched her and told me she looked fine to ride. Bonnie and I tacked up and got ready to ride. The start of the ride went down the long driveway, then turned into the fields and came back around along the edge of the fields. Bonnie, Susie, Mary and I headed out together. When we turned into the fields, Susie broke into a trot and all the horses got excited. Well, not so much Marie but the rest got excited. When we turned the first corner at the end of the first field, Mary's horse, Midori, kicked at Lady Bug just hitting Bonnie's stirrup. That set Lady Bug to bucking which got Cody to jumping and leaping. I just sat back to enjoy the show. Susie and Bonnie were getting a bit stressed so Susie asked if Bonie and I would mind if she and Mary rode on ahead of us to split the horse up. We were fine with that. About then, Margaret on Promise caught up with us and Promise was looking like a time bomb ready to explode. She asked if she could ride with Bonnie and me hoping this would calm Promise down. We were fine with that. Though now Marie was getting a bit excited due to Cody going ahead of us. She didn't do anything bad, just set a fast pace hoping to catch up with Cody. Promise didn't have any trouble with the pace Marie set but it was a bit faster then Bonnie really wanted to go. We caught up with Jan Hatch and rode with her on and off for a while. It started to sprinkle while we were riding the first loop. We slowed down a mile before the hold and came in with nice cool horses. The hold was back at camp. Since it was quite chilly and damp, we put fleece blankets on the horses so their muscles wouldn't cramp. I was able to have Marie's P&R done early so I had more time to get her and myself something to eat. Vetting went fine and we were out of the hold on time. I put on my rain poncho in case it started to rain for real. Bonne, Margaret and I stayed together most of the second loop. we eventually caught up with Susie and Mary. At that point, Margaret rode ahead with Jan. We caught up with Irving at a water stop and Mary decided to ride with him. So, Susie, Bonnie and I finished the ride together. I told Irving I was going to get ahead of him so he would not cross the finish line ahead of me like he did at the Crooked River 60. I teased him about this all weekend. Cody was still being silly and pulling Susie a lot. When we got back to the trailer, We quickly untacked and got blankets on the horses. I did sponge Marie off to get off the dirt and sweat but kept her covered. her pulse came down quickly. We went for our trot out and she spooked at the dog tied near the arena. The same dog she ignored when she vetted in. And the silly part was the dog wasn't even out!! So, she didn't do her best trot out ever, but then her trot outs are never very impressive. After the trot out, we settled the horses back in their fence with hay and water. We put rain sheets on them since it was really starting to rain now. We then headed to the house for supper. It was great as usual, Salad, chicken, potato, squash, string beans and pie as well as left overs from last nights snacks. After the meal, the hands on were done. They did this under a tarp. Some of the horses did not like the sound of the rain on the tarp and didn't want to stand under it. Lady Bug jumped around a bit at first. Lady Bug was also a bit chilled even though she was blanketed. Marie was good but you could tell she didn't like it. Lady Bug had a very sore back. The vet said a lot of horses did. It must have had something to do with the weather. As soon as we were done, we put the horses in the trailer with hay so they would be out of the rain. Then we packed up and got ready to go. The award ceremony was held in the house where it was warm and dry. Susie got an award for the scariest costume. I got a nice hand pained plate for high point QH. Bonnie got a plate for high point pony. Lady Bug is 1/2 Welch Cob. We left right after the awards. We took one wrong turn on the way home but when the road soon turned to dirt we knew it was the wrong road. Other then that, it was an uneventful drive home. It was a great ride and I was sad the riding season was over. I gotten to know so many people in this sport now and I will miss seeing them over the winter.

Boo 25 ME 10/19 25/S-23/F
Judges: Buggia - Lavelle
Junior
1. Travelon's Two Times Two / M Kohler
Adult
2. Nerzans Lady Mariah / H Bonneau
3. Prymtym / T Hutchinson
6. HFA Silver Savana / M Deleware
8. Xavier Sunny Acres / S Reinheimer
8. Menomin Medallion / L Hutchenson
10. Lady Bug / B Hinz
10. Czar Nickolas / L Lester
12. LWF Paljoe Promise / M Farnum
13. Marie / C Ross (score 93.50)
14. Amalie Spunk / L. Kohler
14. Nikita Bahar / L Crowley
16. Mighty Frankie / T York
16. DLA Cassidy / J Hatch
18. TC Spark / C Lester
Completions:
GBA Karakorum / J Sewell
Willows Rahmann / I McNaughton
Travelons Times Two / M Gamester
FR Midori / M Batt

Boo 25 Ride & Drive West Sumner, ME Oct. 2001

The last big adventure of the season. I decided to enter this competition as a driver. Marie has been doing so well with her driving. I wanted to have a 'groom' for this ride as a driver. So, I invited Holly to come along with me and she agreed. I was very surprised she could go since she works two jobs, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask. She took the time off both jobs to go. I was so excited! Holly and I haven't done anything together in a long time. Fred picked Holly up Friday morning on his way home from work. I had packed the trailer Thursday. Halla arrived at my house at 8:25 AM. Fred helped us load my cart into my little Mazda truck. Bonnie was going to pick up the truck when she got out of work and bring it up to the ride. I was hauling her horse, Lady up for her. Holly and I put shipping boots on Lady and Marie, loaded them up and we headed out. Halla led the first half of the drive up. She was familiar with a shortcut that would take us around Lewiston/Auburn. Once we got to Turner, I took the lead. When we arrived at the ride site, there was only one trailer there so we had our pick of where to park. We parked as close as we could to where the food and vetting would take place. The farm where this event is held is so beautiful. It sits on the side of a hill with great views of the surrounding mountains. Leaves were at their peak color. We each set up our portable fences. Holly bounced back and fourth helping both me and Halla. I put a line across my pen to keep Lady and Marie separated. Lady picks on Marie occasionally and I figured we'd have a more peaceful weekend if they were kept apart. The horses all stood quietly in the trailers while we were setting up the fencing. We just opened up their windows so they could stick their heads out and watch. After we got the horses settled into their pens with hay and water, we headed down to the house to sign in and get our riders packets.




Laura, the owner of the farm was there. She was in her kitchen, sitting on the floor cleaning her harness. The ride manager had not arrived yet so we had to wait to sign in so we decide to go out for lunch. There is a little place to eat less then two miles from the Farm. Halla and Holly had breakfast. Holly had been sick and still wasn't feeling her best so wasn't very hungry. Bonnie arrived at camp around 2:30 PM. When I went over to my truck to unload my cart, I noticed something wrong. The seat to my cart was not there. I asked Bonnie where she had put the seat, she just gave me a blank look. The stupid seat had blown out of the truck somewhere along the way! AAAGGGHHHHH! We quickly unloaded the cart and all jumped in my truck to go looking for my seat. We drove all the way back to my house scouring the sides of the road getting more and more sure we had seen the last of my seat. Just two miles from my house, there it was laying on the side of the road. The seat is not that light and it was right near where Bonnie pulled out from the road I live on so couldn't have been going very fast. I was really surprised it had blow out of the truck. Weird. Anyway, I was just glad to have it back! By the time we got back to the ride site, a lot of people had arrived. Susie had wanted me to save her, Joanie and Mary a place but since we were out looking for my seat, we'd been unable to do that. We hurried to the house to sign in and get our rider/driver packets. Then, we got the horses, put their numbers on them and got them vetted in. All the horses vetted in fine. I trotted Porsha for Joanie. Joanie's foot is giving her trouble again and she has to go back in for surgery. Poor Joanie. Once done vetting, we headed over to the house for 'snacks'. Just like last year, 'snacks' turned out to be a full meal. There was ziti, chop suey and goodies of all descriptions and was absolutely delicious. After we ate, we fed our horses. Then went to the barn where there was line dancing. Susie was teaching the dances. Holly took charge of the music and it was a lot of fun. We danced from 8:00 to 10:00 PM. We took one short break in the house to get refreshments. Steve and Laura, the farm owners, built a big campfire and those not dancing to sit around. Everyone enjoyed themselves. After we all went to bed, Holly, Bonnie and I talked a long time in the trailer before finally going to sleep. I was so worried we would freeze to death camping out this late in the year. I had brought all my warmest sleeping bags and a down comforter. It wasn't actually all that cold that night and even warmed up some through the night.



Bonnie and I were up before 6:00 AM. We fed our horses and Halla's horse. Then we made a bee-line for the house for coffee and breakfast. Halla showed up for breakfast soon after we got there. We had plenty of time to relax, eat and socialize. Joanie and Ruthie West showed up a little after we did. Susie rushed in later as usual. Holly was still sleeping when I got back to the trailer to get Marie ready. Holly got up and went to the house for something to eat while I harnessed Marie. Bonnie and I knew that Lady and Marie were not going to be happy about being separated today. We were just hoping it wouldn't be too bad. The safety inspection for the drivers was at 8:00 AM. Then, ther was the costume judging. I didn't have a costume so I just drove Marie around trying to keep her quiet. She wasn't quiet. She was very unhappy about being separated from her buddies. She whinnied and called and danced around. I happened to look over at the pen were Bonnie and Halla's horses were. Halla's horse, Slick, was rearing up high and pawing the air. Lady was popping and bucking around. Bonnie and Halla's eye's were the size of saucers and they were both looking like, "Do we really want to get on these crazy horses!". I must say the horses looked very impressive. I managed to keep Marie under control until it was time to go. The first driver went out at 8:30 AM. Joanie was out at 8:31 AM and I was out at 8:32 AM. The first 4 mile or so were woods trails. It was very rough for driving. Marie wanted to catch up with Joanie very badly so was strong and pulling me. Because the trail was so rough, it took a few miles to catch up to Joanie. Once we did, Marie finally relaxed and was much happier. There was one spot on the trail that was so rough, I though Joanie and Ruthie were going to bounce right out of the cart. I was faring a bit better as my cart was narrower. After we got out of the woods, we had 8 miles of beautiful dirt roads. Joanie slowed down on a hill and I ended up passing her and going on ahead. A bit later as were were going down another hill, a dog came crashing through the woods just behind us and scared Marie half to death. Marie isn't afraid of dogs, but it never barked and was just crashing loudly through the leaves. Marie with her driving blinders on couldn't tell what it was. She bolted down the road! I pulled back on the rains and told her to whoa. At first she kept running and then was angling off towards the woods. I was having flashbacks to the accident I'd had driving my pony. I dropped my left rein and got both hands on the right rain so I could at least try to keep Marie on the road. Holly immediately picked up the rein I had dropped and helped me to stop Marie. She finally did come to a stop. When I tried to get out of the cart, Marie bolted again, I got her stopped quickly this time but now she was rearing. Holly quickly took the reins while I jumped out and ran to Marie's head. As soon as Marie could see me, she stopped and stood quietly. She was so scared though that she was shaking like a leaf. Marie has never spooked like that in all the years I've had her. I told Holly to get out of the cart until Marie was calm. I walked Marie back up the road in the direction we had come from. Eventually, Joanie caught up to us. Holly and I got back in the cart and I put Marie behind Joanie and Porsha so she would have the security of another horse in front of her. I was so proud of Holly for keeping her cool and not panicking. We finished the rest of the first loop with no further excitement. The last two miles into the hold were the hardest. All uphill and some quite steep. It was also muddy and rocky and very hard work for the driving horses. Marie dug right in though and pulled hard. Marie did fine at the hold. She was looking around for Lady and was a bit anxious but not bad. We were late leaving the hold as I was waiting for Joanie not realizing she had been pulled from the competition due to Porsha being lame.
As soon as I realized Joanie was pulled I headed right out hoping not to run into Bonnie on Lady coming into the hold. The last thing I needed was for Marie to actually see Lady. But sure enough, just as we were heading for the trail, along came Bonnie and Lady. I slowed down hoping Bonnie would get off the trail and up into the hold area before Marie saw them. Bonnie missed the hold entrance and rode right down the road towards me. AAAHHHHH!! I yelled and pointed, "Bonnie, you missed the hold, on your right!!". She stopped, looked around then saw where she was supposed to be. But, it was too late, Marie and Lady has spotted each other and started calling. Marie got very excited and started rearing. Larry Buggia, the vet judge, saw what was going on and hurried over to hold Marie until the trail was clear for me to go. Marie at least did go when I asked. Marie was not very happy through the whole second loop, which was a repeat of the first loop. She called the whole way around, but otherwise behaved quite well and we actually had a very nice drive on the second loop. I was worried about passing the spot where the dog had spooked Marie on the first loop. I thought she would be nervous and looking for the dog there. But, all went well and Marie was fine. About 5 miles from the finish, Holly and I realized we had a flat tire. We stopped and I put some air in the tire but I could hear the air leaking right back out. I pumped it up one more time before we went onto the woods trail but it didn't last. I just prayed the rim would hold out. As we neared the end of the ride, I realized I was very close to my maximum time. We hurried as much as we could. The trail was rough, uphill and muddy at this point. Holly was bracing herself on her seat and holding on for dear life telling me, "go Cindy,go, we can make it." We didn't quite make it. We were 4 minutes over so took a 4 point time penalty. Holly and I took Marie to the trailer and got her unhitched. Marie was once again very anxious and looking for Lady. I was worried that her pulse would never come down with her fretting like that. She finally calmed a bit about the time I had to have her P&R done.... and that was when Bonnie rode into camp. I urgently called to Bonnie and asked her to bring Lady over to stand by Marie while her P&R was taken. The P&R person was very understanding and gave Marie a minute to settle down. She did and her P&R was fine. Marie had a good trot out also. Halla's horse Slick didn't want to do his trot out. Tom Hutchinson had to get in the arena and chase him to get him to trot. I knew that wouldn't lead to a very good score for Slick. Lady's trot out was great. Once Bonnie, Halla and I had done our trot outs, we put the horses in their pens and went to the house to eat. As usual, the food was wonderful. We brought our food back to the trailer so we keep an eye on the vetting and would be ready when it was our turn for the hands on. Once that was completed, I hurried over to Susie's trailer to return some things I had borrowed. I knew she wouldn't want to wait around for the awards. She is always in such a rush to get home after a ride. Halla didn't believe me when I told her Susie wouldn't stay. I was right, she was in a rush packing up and getting ready to leave. Bonnie, Halla, Holly and I went down to the house to hang out and socialize while waiting for the award ceremony. It didn't take them long to get the scoring done. I won high point rookie driver, high point rookie horse. Anna, Susie's niece won high point rookie rider, high point rookie horse and oldest horse to complete the ride. Joanie won "most original costume". Halla's Slick won high point QH. After the awards, it didn't take us long to pack up camp. Halla had adopted Holly as her personal slave so Holly helped her pack up her pen. It was dark by the time we finally pulled out. Holly decided to drive my little truck and lead the way home. She was pretty sure she could find the way. She did take one wrong turn but we came out on a major road we were familiar with so got home with no trouble. We all had a great weekend. I am so glad Holly came, it was so much fun spending time with her.

Boo! 25 Ride/Drive CTR ME 10/20/01 5/S-3/F
Judges: Buggia - Levillie
1 Ben Putnam / S Day
2 Marie / C Ross (score 91.00)

2001 ECTRA Year End Awads
Career miles Cindy - 605 Ride
Career miles Cindy - 25 Drive
Career miles Marie - 630

Versaility Open
Certificates
Czar Nickolas - Louise Lester ME
Cover Boy - Christina Sadowski MA
Baskin Serafix - Sharon Akerstrom NH
Serr Rascal - Edwin Reynolds VT
Silvea - Janet Brunjes ME
Hawks Nest Tradition - Alan Wells VT
Brios Kavalier - Kathie Duggan MA
Scatri - Mary Colemam (owner) PA
Marie - Cindy Ross ME
PS Sir Sedgewick - Sue Corr
Skys Orion - Barbara Gerstner VT

Bronze
Alora Danin - Kathy Brunjes ME
LWF Paljoe Promise - Margaret Farnum ME
Rushcreek Equal - Gracelyn Pawlowicz NY
SR Gibralter - Steve Rojek VT
Sea Hawk - Suzanne Novatny NJ
YR Nicodemus - Deena Smith MacDonald NH

Silver
Chelby - Joe Steele (NH) & Jenny Kimberly (VT)
Stoneybrook Lyric - Stephanie Muncy VA
Syrocco Blair - Dr. Meg Sleeper NJ
WCM Beaumark Morgan - John & Sue Greenall VT
Wildwoods Lira Lyn - Joyce Sherman NJ

Gold
Hawks Neoploitan - Mary Coleman PA

Boo 25 CTR W. Sumner ME Oct 2000

Well, this ride has a little pre-drama that I must add before telling about the ride. I was sitting in my living room last Friday, looking through the latest Uncle Henry's and reading the ads by the horse trailer dealer where Bonnie and I bought our present trailer. They had just gotten in some trailers with living quarters and I wanted to go take a look at them. They were out of my price range but I still enjoyed looking at them. But, I did find a trailer I fell in love with. It is a 2000 Bison 3 horse slat load gooseneck with rear tack and front dressing room. It was a used trailer but had only been used three times. I inquired about the price and it seemed very reasonable. I asked them to give me a ball park figure on what the payments would be and it was very reasonable. I went home and casually mentioned the trailer to Fred. The next day, when Fred got home from work, he looked at me and said, "well, what are you waiting for?" I gave him a funny look not knowing what he was talking about. "So," he said, "I thought we were going to look at that trailer." I was out the door like a shot. We went down and looked. Fred liked the trailer and told me to go ahead and get it if I could work things out with Bonnie with the trailer we have. Bonnie came over to ride that afternoon and we discussed it. She said to go ahead and trade in our trailer on it. So, Monday, I called the dealer and set up an appointment for 11:00 AM on Thursday to have them look at our trailer to give us a trade in price. The dealer had been out of state and couldn't do it sooner. I took the trailer in and was given a trade in price that was more then I expected. So, I did the paperwork for the loan. The dealer said it would be a couple of hours before we heard from the bank so I headed back home. By the time I got home there was a message on my answering machine telling me that the loan had been approved. I was asked when I could pick the trailer up. I laughed and jokingly said tomorrow morning as I had a competition to go to tomorrow afternoon. I was told fine, no problem. I was speechless. I told her I didn't have a hitch and one would have to be installed. I was told to bring my truck in right away and they would get the hitch installed tomorrow morning. So, back I went with the trailer. My mom followed me down so I could drop the truck off and not have to wait. I didn't hear anything from the dealer that night so I assumed everything was ok. Fred and I headed over Friday morning to finish up the paperwork and pickup up the truck and new trailer. Sure enough, they got the hitch all in and fixed and electrical problem with the wiring on the truck we had been having. Then, when the new trailer was hooked up, there was some problems with the wiring. It took a while to get it figured out so Fred went home. Meanwhile, I'm getting nervous about getting to the CTR too late. I knew Bonnie was at home waiting for me. They got it all taken care of before 11:00 AM so that wasn't too bad. The trailer hauls real nice. I took it right over Oak Hill to see how the truck handled it. We usually avoid Oak Hill when hauling and go around by Rt 126. The trailer is certainly a bit heavier then the 2 horse trailer but not bad. When I got home, Bonnie was not there. I went in the house an asked Fred if he had seen her. He said she had gone out to meet me on the road. I had not seen her and I knew she would not have missed seeing me with the trailer. Then I realized that she would not have expected me to go over Oak Hill Rd. and that is how we missed each other. I started loading the trailer and eventually, Bonnie got back. She thought I must have stopped for gas when she hadn't seen me. We just heaved everything into the trailer and figured we'd sort it out when we got to the ride. We got the horses and prayed they would load into the new trailer without trouble. When we'd gotten our other trailer, our horses had refused to load the first time. There was nothing to worry about, the horses loaded right in. The ride was in West Sumner. I have never been there before but we figured it would take us about an hour or so to get there. We went by the directions we were given. 1 1/2 hrs......2 hrs......2 1/2 hrs.......and we're still driving??? 2 1/2 hrs and we're still seeing signs for Turner, which isn't all that far from my house. The directions we'd gotten took us the looooooong way around. We finally did find the ride camp. We set up the portable pen and got the horses settled in. We had to divide the pen because Marie and Tamara do not get along. Then we took the horses up to be vetted in. Larry Buggia is the vet judge. He is our regular vet. The vetting went great. Bonnie did a great job on her trot out. Tamara was a little fussy about having her mouth messed with but Larry managed. Just as we were getting finished, Susie arrived. She didn't know about us getting the new trailer. We could see her looking around for our trailer and wondering where we were. We flagged her down and pointed toward where we were parked. She looked over there with a puzzled expression, then suddenly recognized my truck. Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head, she was very excited.

The ride was being held at the home of a couple that have horses. Their home is an old farmstead (1736) on a dead end road. The home and main barn have been restored. It is a really beautiful place owned by Steve & Laura Falconer. There are acres of fields which we are camping in. The farm is up on a hill with great views of surrounding mountains."Snacks" were provided for us in Steve and Laura's house. 'Snacks' was a bit of an understatement though. It was a regular meal with soup, finger foods and lots of baked goods. We were stuffed and decided we did not need to go out for supper. When we got back to the trailer, we could hear all this screaming coming from a house across the field. It was a large field so the house was not all that close, yet we could clearly hear a woman screaming, " stop, you're hurting me, someone help me." Over and over again. Even the horses were all staring. Susie called 911. We don't know what happened but the screaming continued until the police showed up. It was very scary. The riders meeting was held at 6:00 PM in the house. It was nice having the meeting in the evening so we didn't have to rush around in the morning. When I walked into the house, I noticed Laura sitting on the floor writing in a notebook with her feet. She wrote, turned a page, wrote some more then tore the page out of the book. She then picked up some pens and pencils, but them in a box and placed them on a shelf all with her feet. I did not realized until then that Laura has no arms. It is absolutely amazing what she can do with her feet. Laura rides and Susie asked her how she controls her horse. Laura said she uses a lot of leg signals. And she has a harness that goes around her upper body and which the reins attach to. So, she has some control of the horses head this way.

Vicki, the ride manager, had us all sing a Halloween song done in rounds. No one had heard of the song before so we did a pretty poor job of it. It was kind of fun anyway. After the meeting, Bonnie, Susie and I went over to visit with some of the riders gathered at one of their trailers. Around 8:30 PM, we heard Vicki yelling that there was a bonfire at the house. We wandered over and it was really only a campfire but very nice and cosy. And, they were serving wine. It was interesting watching Laura holding wine and a cigarette with one foot and even flicking off the ashes. That's more then I could managed with 2 hands. Around 11:00 PM we wandered back to our trailer and went to bed. Bonnie and I are really going to enjoy this trailer.

We were up plenty early in the morning. Breakfast was served at the house at 6:00 AM. It was very good. Hot and cold cereals, baked goods, fruit and all sorts of drinks. Bonnie, Susie and I wandered over to check out the barn. It's a big old barn built in the 1730's. It's been nicely restored. While we were there, the resident rooster came in and decided to defend his territory. Bonnie and I beat a hasty retreat with Susie covering the rear with a large barn broom for defense. Stupid rooster! The ride started right on time and the first riders were out at 8:30 AM. They let Bonnie, Susie and me go out together. Bonnie was at first worried about riding with Susie. She was afraid Susie would set a pace that was too fast for Tamara. Tamara was quite pumped up at first and was quite a handful. We held back and let Susie go on ahead of us. Of course that didn't settle well with Marie. Tamara was so excited that she was trotting along quite fast so that Susie wasn't really getting that far ahead of us. On a straight stretch, we would catch sight of Susie, Marie would start calling to Cody, then Cody was answer and start fussing. Finally, I told Bonnie we might as well ride together. Tamara was moving as fast as Cody whether she liked it or not. So, we joined up and all the horses were happy and did just fine together. Tamara settled down then fairly quickly and was great. we did a 12.5 mile loop and the hold was back at the camp. Marie's P&R's were very good. So were Tamara's. We were about five minutes late getting out of the hold but the trails were great and the time was easily made up. We did the same loop again to complete the ride. The vet judge, Larry Buggie, didn't waste any time with the final vetting. Marie's trot out was good. And Tamara's looked good to me also. Cody looked like he always does. We got the horses settled into their paddocks and went to see how supper was coming along. Supper was being catered. It was ready when we got over there and we were first in line. The meal was great. Grilled chicken, mixed veggies, baked potatoes, fresh bread and apple pie. Bonnie and I sat on the lawn near the house. One of the riders, Becky Lester, was sitting on the lawn near the barn. I noticed 'the rooster' coming out of the barn behind Becky. I pointed him out to Bonnie. Sure enough, the rooster attacked Becky. After trying to kick him a few times from a sitting position, Becky tried to jump up but tripped and fell dropping her plate of food. Becky jumped back up and kept kicking the rooster trying to keep it off her. Finally Steve saw what was happening and ran to her rescue, grabbing the rooster and putting him in a pen. Poor Becky!

The awards followed the meal. Bonnie got a sixth place in her division. Susie got a 5th and I got a 3rd. Marie and Tamara had both done wonderful. Tamara lost point where her girth had rubbed the hair off behind her elbows. It didn't take us long to break camp thanks to the new trailer. We headed out and NOT the way we had come. We went home through Turner and within 40 minutes were in Lewiston. It was starting to get dark at this point so I turned on my headlights. Soon, I noticed I had no interior lights. Then I lost my headlights, then the trailer lights. Now I was quite worried. I knew I could not keep driving in the dark with no lights so I pulled into a gas station in Sabattus. I pulled up to the pumps as I needed gas anyway, and turned off the truck. This was a big mistake as the truck wouldn't start again. A couple girls getting gas helped me jump the truck so I could pull it out of the way. While we were doing this, Bonnie called Fred to come help us. He came, took a look at the truck and said the alternator was shot and there was nothing we could do about it that night. So, I called Susie and she came out with her trailer to get the horses and hauled them home for us. What a pain! Fred and I went back the next morning to get the truck and trailer. We jumped it and headed home. We got about half way and had to jump it a second time. We did get truck and trailer home safely.

Boo 25 ME 10/21/00 28/S-27/F
Junior
1 San Sierra / A Catanease
Adult
1 Silvea / J Brunjes
2 SPD Carousel / C O'Conner
2 LWF Paljoe Promise / M Farnum
4 Alora Danin / K Brunjes
5 Talzrianon / N Okun
5 HVA Silver Savanah / M Deleware
7 Briwds Mardi Gras / S Corr
8 Willowbrook Precious / L Crowley
9 Marie / C Ross (score 93.75)
10 ? / T Hutchinson
10 Willow Rahmaan / I McNaughton
12 Xavier Sunny Acres / S Reinheimer
13 SA Lady Nevada / ?
14 EA ABadi Jasara / ?
14 Mighty Frankie / T York
14 Nerzans Lady Mariah / H Bonneau
17 Travelons Times Two / M Gamester
Comp Rolling Stone / H Moss
Comp ? / J Hatch

2000 ECTRA Year End Awards
YTD milage Marie-370 Cindy 370
Middle Distance - Adult (10 rides - 99 horses)
Bronze
Beau Socks Bette Laug MD
HFA Silver Savanah Marcia Deleward ME
Imperial 'O' Munif Joann Farman MD
JJ Sandra Hoffacker NJ
Junior Henry Smith VAonnie Snodgrass MD
Son Bob's Tony Reiner Sandra Draus NJ
VAnitys El Hadiya Jan Larson
Silver
HV Terdakis Bean Doran VT
I C Double Kathy Schiermeyer NJ
Indevincable Dinah Rojek VT
Little Hi Jinks Betty Bannerot PA
NLF Moonstruck Carl Lange NY
Narizar Renee McNamara NJ
SHS Shoo Fly Pie Susan Doucette NJ
SR Spirit Steve Rojek VT
Stoneybrook Lyric Stephanie Muncy VA
Stormy's Raini Day Drozan Mahon NJ
Gold
Aleser Sue Greenall Vt
Anchor Hill Alan Marcy Gamester MA
Briwds Mardi Gras Sue Corr RI
Crystal Mint Lee Alexander VT
Marie Cindy Ross ME
Otter Brook Sonata Lance Lochary MD
SR Zeppelin Steve Rojek VT
To The Moon Greg Senseney MD
WW Risky Business Barry & Louise Schimel MD