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!

Pine Tree 50 endurance, Waterford, ME June 2010

This was a ride I didn't think I'd be doing this year. My little mule had a set back with lameness issues early in the year so I knew I would not be competing him. Then at a competitive trail ride in late may, my horse sustained a suspensory injury in her left front leg. So, she was also out for the season and I was now basically horseless/muleless. A good friend of mine, Ival, from NJ was planning to come to the ride and I had talked her into entering the 50 mile distance so we could possibly ride together. About a month before the ride, Ival fell off her horse and broke her wrist. That put a crimp in our plans and she was not sure she would be able to ride so likely would not come. Ival then asked me if I would like to ride her horse Shorty in the ride. I was thrilled for this opportunity and quickly agreed. Then, just 2 1/2 weeks before the ride, I fell off my mule, bruised my hip and busted some ribs. I was sure I would not be able to ride. I held off on making any decision though in the vague hopes that somehow it would work out. The bruised hip started feeling much better within a week. Not great but it seemed to work fine though was a bit painful. The ribs were miserable. Sleeping was nearly impossible as there was no position that did not cause pain in some part of my body. Sleeping in my recliner worked best though my ridiculously long legs hung over the end and my feet would go numb. But, day by day I got a little better and a little more mobile. The week before the ride I started to think I might be able to do it and I had to make a decision so Ival could know in time to decide what she wanted to do. So, I called my good friend Susie and asked if she would let me ride her horse, Spark. He is a good horse but just forward enough to put me to the test without being too much. Susie quickly agreed and said she would pick me up to go riding on Tuesday.

Tuesday came and Susie and I headed out. Susie was wonderful and helped me tack Spark up and made sure he stood still while I mounted. Soon we were off. While riding wasn't painless, it sure wasn't nearly as bad as a lot of other things LIKE SLEEPING! The worst was bending to duck branches but the riding itself wasn't too bad. So, I decided to give the Pine Tree a try though I'd have to think about possibly dropping to the 30 mile limited distance. But I could wait to make that decision once I got to the ride. I emailed Ival and told her I was up for giving it a try and was excited to see her and ride her wonderful horse.

I took Thursday night off before the ride in hopes of possibly getting a good nights sleep. That didn't really happen but I did get some sleep. Not bringing a horse, I didn't have much to do to get ready except pack clothes and some grocery items. I did take my horse trailer as I needed a place to sleep anyway. I headed up to Waterford a little after 6:00 AM and got there just before 7:30 AM. Ival spotted me as soon as I pulled in. After a joyful greeting, I parked my trailer. I didn't park near Ival as she was with her friend Wendy who had a LQ trailer where the electric and water hook ups were. I couldn't take a space there so parked up behind the back barn next to Irving McNaughton. He and I chatted for a while then I set up camp. I saw that Wendy was tacking up her horse Jimmy so I quickly changed into riding clothes. It was a lovely, warm sunny day. Ival was going to take a quick spin on Shorty first. She had not ridden since she broke her wrist and wanted to see if she could. Wendy and I helped her get on and the two of them headed out for a short spin. They were soon back and Ival was all smiles. It had gone well and she knew that she would be back in the saddle once she was back home. I then mounted up and Wendy and I headed out to ride the last loop of the 50 mile course. This was a 6 1/2 mile loop. I liked Shorty right away. She was forward but didn't pull. And she was very steady on the trail. Shorty trots much faster then Wendy's horse so Wendy told us to just go ahead and just get to know each other. So, I put Shorty into a trot and off we went. She eyeballed a few things at first but just a little leg pressure kept her moving forward without missing a beat. I soon caught up with Kyle Nielson and a few others. I rode with them for a bit, then fell back and waited for Wendy. The last few miles Wendy and I stayed together. There was a logging operation going on that we passed with chain saws going and lots of big machinery and semi's hauling logs. Shorty looked but didn't do a thing and walked right past. GOOD GIRL! It was a fun ride and I was now sure I could do the 50 mile distance. Shorty's trot was so smooth and steady.

Cindy Ross riding Short's Flame



When we got back, we settled the horses into their pens. Jimmy rolled and got caught in the electric tape. It was not electrified and he spooked and tore down some wire and broke a pole but then stopped and stood still while Wendy got him out of the wire. We packed up the majority of what we'd need at the hold and drove over to drop the stuff off. That way Ival would know where it was and we could save a good spot. On the way back, we stopped at Melby's store/restaurant to get some ice then went back and had some lunch and relaxed at Wendy's trailer. While we were gone, Shorty had put both of her front feet over the bottom wire between her and Jimmy. She was just calmly standing there waiting for someone to get her out. Ival raised the wire so she would not be able to do that again. Vetting started at 2:00. We got in line for vetting and it didn't take long to get through. Art King and Nick Kohut were the vets. Shorty vetted in fine though her trot is hard to keep up with during the trot out! I'm used to my slow, poky horse. After we vetted in, we once again settled the horses in then went down to Melby's for supper. Amy Beem and her daughter Sierra went with us and Sondra Day joined us also.

The ride meeting was at 7:30 PM. We did not stay up long after the meeting as we had to get up early. The 100 mile riders would be starting at 5:00 AM. We would start at 6:00 AM and the 30's would go at 7:00 AM. I managed to actually get a fairly comfortable position to sleep. I had brought the foam wedge that Nancy had loaned me. I also had an extra sleeping bag that was in a large carry bag so was loose and fluffy. With the wedge under my head and back, the sleeping bag under my legs to prop them up a bit at the knees and some back packer pillows I had in the trailer wedged under one side of me, I was pretty good. Then some Advil PM to finish the job and I actually got some sleep. Not perfect but the best I'd had in a while.

I'd set my alarm for 4:30 AM. I didn't hurry and warmed some water for oatmeal. As I was getting dressed, Ival came to see if I was up. I went down the the ride office in hopes of getting a cup of coffee but all that was left was about 3/4 cup from the bottom of the pot. I drank it and am sure it caused me to grow some hair on my chest. I put my drinks and food in Wendy's cooler in the back of her truck for the hold. At 5:30 AM Ival and I tacked Shorty up. Ival told me that Shorty had gotten loose during the night. She hadn't gone anywhere and was found grazing close by. Wendy and I mounted up and rode around the fairgrounds to warm the horses up. Shorty was a bit excited and did a little bit of bucking. But, as soon as we hit the trail Shorty was all business. The first loop was 13 miles. We rode with a number of people along the way but didn't stay with anyone for long. Shorty has such a fast trot that we passed a number of people. We made it to the 1st hold in good time. Wendy was right behind me. Ival was a crew person extraordinaire and had everything ready for us. Wendy went right up for her pulse. Ival and I stripped Shorty's tack and sponged her off a bit first. Shorty does not pulse down all that easily. Ival had a hand held heart rate monitor and as soon as Shorty's pulse came down enough we headed to the pulse gate. All went well with the vetting. The hold was 40 minutes so there was plenty of time to relax and take care of Shorty. She ate well and drank a little. Soon, it was time to tack up and head out again. The second hold was in the same place. The second loop was nine miles. I mounted up and headed off again. Shorty threw in one buck to let me know she was still feeling pretty good. We did this loop in pretty good time also. But, Shorty was starting to get tender on the rocks. Ival doesn't have a lot of rocky trails where she rides so Shorty's feet aren't conditioned to it. Had Ival known how rocky the trail would be in places, she would have had her shod with pads. Nothing we could do at this point but ride carefully. There was quite a bit of rocky trail on this loop and I slowed right down. I rode with Amy and Tracy for a while but they went ahead of me on one of the rocky sections of trail. Wendy passed me just before getting into the second hold. In a field just before the hold, Shorty suddenly went into the field and dropped her head and told me she was HUNGRY! I pulled her head up and told her the hold was just a few feet down the road and she could have all the food there she wanted. Once again, Ival and I stripped Shorty's tack but because I had ridden into the hold quite slowly, Shorty's was ready to go to the pulse gate right away. At this point Ival and I both had a brain cramp and I got in line for pulse but neither of us thought to call for a pulse time. There was a line so by the time we got to the vet and realized we had not called for a pulse time as soon as we got in line, we'd lost a good 20 minutes. Drats! Shorty did pulse in fine. Art King watched her trot out and was a bit concerned that she might look a bit lame. He had me trot her a second time with Nick Kohut watching. Nick thought Shorty looked fine and we were passed to continue the ride. Yippee!!!! This hold was also 40 minutes. Wendy was out of the hold nearly 30 minutes ahead of me thanks to Ival and I forgetting to call for our pulse time. Oh well, that's life. We weren't running for top 10 anyway so it didn't really matter. The 3rd loop was a long one of 23 miles and the 3rd hold would be back at the fairground. At this point, Shorty was drinking, eating, pooping and peeing like a ...... race horse....oh yeah, she WAS a race horse..... Anyway, I was very glad to see her taking such good care of herself.



We were off again on the long loop. The day was overcast and looked like it might rain. That's what the forecast had called for as well as some severe thunder storms. I was praying I'd get this loop done before this happened. We made great time on some of this loop, but on others, we had to go real slow. Shorty was quite tender on the rocks now and I didn't not want to risk a stone bruise. We also had one hill to climb that was a killer. It was extremely steep. Shorty was struggling a bit with the hills and I just could not maker her lug my fat butt up the hill. So, I dismounted and led her up. There was some grass along the side of the road up and we took plenty of breaks for me to catch my breath and Shorty enjoyed the grass. The last 5 miles or so to the last hold was good footing and we moved right along. We caught up with Stephanie Buckley and her daughter. They ride Welsh ponies that are just wonderful. Despite their diminutive size, they actually were keeping up a fast enough pace for Shorty to be comfortable with. She even cantered up one sandy hill behind the ponies. Shorty doesn't often canter. There were quite a few place to water the horses on this loop and Shorty drank everyplace there was water. And someones crew was sharing water with everyone at all the pit crew stops which was so nice and very much appreciated. Shorty drank at every opportunity. I rode with Stephanie and her daughter into the last hold. We all dismounted and led our horses in the last 1/2 mile. So, when I got in, Shorty was ready to go to the pulse gate right away. We didn't strip her tack as it was only a 20 minute hold. And this time we called for our pulse time right away! Shorty vetted fine. Wendy was a little over 30 min. ahead of me. Shorty continued to drink, eat, poop and pee just like she should. The last loop was 6.3 miles and I know was mostly all good footing. Just one short rocky section. Now that we were back at camp, I though Shorty would be reluctant to leave. Boy was I wrong. When I was time to head out, I mounted up, told Ival that I would likely be taking it real easy on this loop. But, when I turned onto the trail Shorty was off like a shot. It seemed she had gotten a second wind and she was full of energy. It was one of the fasted 6 1/2 miles I've ever ridden I think. Shorty was a trotting machine and we passed a number of people on this loop. Once again, I got off and led her in the last 3/4 mile into the hold and we still did the loop in under 30 minutes. It was quite an exhilarating ride! Ival was shocked to see me come in soo soon. I thought that it would take a while for Shorty's pulse to come down. We stripped her tack and checked her pulse and she was ready. Walking in the last 3/4 mile had done the trick. Shorty vetted fine for her final vetting and we had a completion!!! I was thrilled. Shorty had been such a good girl and was a fun to ride. The rain and thunder storms never did happen so we'd had a great day. Once we got Shorty taken care of, I cleaned up a bit and we sat down for dinner. The awards were held shortly after we'd eaten. I had a ride time of 7 hrs. 48 min. (I think) Not bad. And we'd have done very well if we hadn't messed up the one pulse gate and if Shorty had pads on her feet. At least Ival will know for next time she comes up this way. I stayed a for a while to visite with Ival and Wendy as I don't get to see them often. Although Ival and I have been having a few adventures together this year. Kind of getting to be a fun habit. It was a great ride and I am so grateful to Ival for letting me ride her wonderful horse.

Pine Tree 30 Endurance Waterford, ME June 2005

Cindy Ross with Koram



Well, I had quite and adventure at this past ride. And for once, Susie was not involved! hahahaha. It started out as an easy ride for me. I was borrowing Koram again. But, this time Terry, the woman I was borrowing him from, was bringing up her daughters horse so would bring Koram also. Terry and Kara were going up on Thursday so they could attend the big cookout. So, they would set up a pen for Koram and I wouldn’t have to worry about that. All Terry wanted me to do was bring some hay. This years Pine Tree 100 mile ride was a “qualifier” for the US Endurance team so there were over 100 riders from all over the country in all the distances combined. 20+ riders were in the 30 mile ride. The 30 mile ride was only being held as a clinic. We would not receive any awards or get any mileage credit. But, Koram was not conditioned well enough for the 50 mile ride.

Bill Rice vetting in. Larry Buggia vet

I arrived in Waterford at about noon time on Friday. I stopped to have lunch at Melby’s before going to the fairgrounds. While I was there Terry and Cara came in. We all ate and then went up to the fairgrounds. The Waterford fairground is not that large and with that many riders, the trailers were packed in like sardines. I was glad I didn’t have to worry about parking a trailer or setting up a pen. Irving McNaughton was riding the 100. Terry was crewing for him. This didn’t really make Cara very happy since she really wanted her mother crewing for her. When we heard how hot they were predicting it was going to be on ride day, Terry and I tried to talk Irving into dropping to the 50 but he wouldn’t hear of it. Stubborn man! Susie and Barbara arrived shortly after we got back from lunch. Barbara McGovern was with Susie. She was riding Susie’s new horse, Monty, in the 30 mile clinic. It would be her and Monty’s first competitive ride. Once they got settled in, we all went out for a short ride just to let the horses stretch their muscles after the trailer ride and before the vetting. Cara and I braided our horse’s manes. Getting the hair off their necks would help keep them cooler. Vetting went quickly and Cara, Susie, Barbara and I were all cleared to ride. Bill Rice wasn’t so fortunate. His horse failed the vet check due to lameness (I think) So, he loaded his horse up and headed home to pick up one of his other horses. The second horse passed and was cleared to ride.

The riders meeting was held that evening at 7:00. It was announced that the 100 mile ride was going to start at 4:30 AM instead of 5:00 AM. This was due to the predicted heat and to space the 100’s, 50’s and 30’s further apart in case the vets got very busy treating horses that might have trouble handling the heat.

Riders meeting. Left-Susie Reinheimer. Front-Terry York. Behind-Barbara McGovern



Sue Greenall did the yearly “Boiled Owl” presentation. Kathy Brunjes got the award this year much to her dismay. The “Boiled Owl” award is a funny little tradition that was started some years ago and is awarded to the person considered the “toughest” rider. The 30’s would still be starting at 6:30 AM. We all hung around Terry’s camp for a while. Heather and Margaret joined us. We didn’t stay up too long though since we all had to be up early. I had decided to just sleep in my truck since it was jut one night and I didn’t want to bother with setting up a tent. That was ok except for a spot light that was shining right into my window. I finally managed to get a shirt hung up in the window enough to block the light so I could sleep!

Kathy Brunjes being presented the 'Boiled owl' award by Sue Greenall and Irving McNaughton.

Kathy Brunjes displaying her Boiled Owl award t-shirt


I was up by 3:30. Coffee and donuts were available. I wanted to be up to see the 100 milers start. At 5:30, the 50 milers started. We 30 mile riders were not feeling bad about doing the shorter distance when we heard what the temperature was going to be. It was supposed to be record high heat with high humidity. The humidity is what will cause problems for the horses. After the 50’s were gone, I tacked up Koram. We started at 6:30 am. At that time it was still comfortably cool. An Endurance ride has a mass start and there was some concerns about who was going to ride with who and how it was going to effect the horses. Susie and Barbara were going to go slowly since it was Barbara and Monty's first ride. Cara, had arranged to ride with Stephanie Rice. This was a first ride for Cara's horse also so she and Stephanie planned to go slow. We knew that separating Koram and Laureado (my horse and Cara's horse) would upset them but Stephanie didn't seem to want me riding with them for some reason. They wanted me to go in front of them and stay way in front so Lauredo never got to see Koram for the entire ride. Well, I could make no promises on that. I wanted to ride with Susie and Barbara and if they went slow, we would run into each other. And with the heat, I couldn't promise to ride fast anyway.

Cara York with Laureado and Stephanie Rice with Micky



Before the start, Cara and Stephanie separated from us by going back up into camp to wait for the start. That got Koram very upset so I just walked him up and down the road and didn't mount up until the call of "The Trail is Open". Then, I quickly mounted and off we went. Susie, Barbara, Margaret and me started together. Quite soon, Margaret and I pulled ahead of Susie and Barbara and we didn't see them again until the ride was over. We decided to go ahead and make some time while it was still cool. Everything was going great. The horses were traveling perfectly together. We were in the front of the pack. Koram is a nervous horse and can be a challenge to ride. But, he was behaving perfectly and was not getting too upset when other riders passed us. I was having the best ride ever on him. Not far from the hold, which is the halfway point for the 30's, we came to the Crooked River. There is a nice spot right off the trail to take the horses into the water. There were a couple of horses in there already but plenty of room for Margaret and me. Now, I had been told that Koram doesn't like being sponged from the saddle but I had done it a couple of time without problems on previous rides before I got that warning. And I had done it a ton of times at the Acadia ride without problem. I went right out into the water and as it got over his knees he got a little nervous. Then, I tossed out the sponge and he eyed it and sidled away from it into deeper water. When the water got belly deep he exploded. (I think it was the belly deep water that set him off especially since I later found out that he bucked his owner off in the Saco River at the Fryeburg ride when he got to belly deep water.) Koram bucked hard and kept getting into deeper water. Which, believe me didn't slow down the bucking. Eventually, I flew off and took a head first dive into the river. Well, it certainly was a nice soft landing and felt rather nice on such a hot day so I was completely unharmed. The water was chin deep to me and with the current it took me a minute to get my feet under me. When I finally cleared the water from my eyes (thankfully, my glasses were still on my face) I looked around and…… no Koram! "Where is my horse?!" I frantically asked as I noticed that everyone was staring upstream. I was told that he had gone up the river around a corner and out of sight. My heart sank. I had just lost someone elses horse! One rider tried to follow Koram but soon her horse had to swim so she turned back. I told every one else to just continue on. There was nothing they could do for me and it would be better if they went on to the hold and alerted ride managment that there was a horse missing. I tried walking up the river but it was too deep to walk with steep banks on one side (sometimes both sides) and swamp on the other. Farther up river there was a ridge of dry ground between the river and the swamp. So, I walked up the powerline until I found a narrow spot in the swamp and I could get out to dry ridge running along side the river. Then, I went up stream hoping that Koram would come out on my side of the river. Eventually, I did find his tracks where he had come out of the river on my side. The brush was very thick but I was able to follow his tracks. He was caught between the river and the swamp so it wasn't hard to follow the tracks. Eventually, I saw where he decided to reenter the river rather then brave the swamp. I looked across the river and there he was, chest deep on the far bank with his bridle caught in a tree. WITHOUT MY SADDLE!!!!! He had tried to climb out on the other side where there was an extremely steep and high sandy bank and had fallen back into the river. There really weren't many good places on either side of the river to get out. It was mostly steep banks. of 3' to maybe 20' or more. I swam across to Koram. He seemed to be unhurt but he was on a bend in the river and there were lots of downed trees in the water on that side. I didn't know how I'd get him out through all the trees in the water without help. And he had no plans on going anywhere. Great! now what? I called a few time and a couple guys in kayaks heard me. They didn't know anything about horses but offered to make a call for help. I told them to call Melby's restaurant. No one's cell phones were working in the area so we were told to call the restaurant if we had any problems and that ride management would be checking in there every hour or so. So, off they went to make the call. I was stuck standing in the water with Koram since the bank was too steep for me to get out and stay with him. I knew I was not far from the road since I could hear cars passing by. About 20 minutes after the kayakers went for help, I heard a car stop and then heard Tom Hutchinson, the ride manager, call out. Tom and I have a history of finding lost horses and boy was I glad to hear his voice!! I called back and he heard me. "Is that you Cindy?" "Yes." "Are you hurt?" "No." "Do you have your horse?" "Yes." "Is he hurt?" "No." "Do you need help?" "yes." "Ok, I'm coming down." Tom came down and assessed the situation. The steep banks were a major problem. The only place to get Koram out was downstream a short way but it was through and around a particularily snarly knot of downed trees. And it was chest deep or more so you couldn't see much of the snarl of branches. But, it was the only way to go. Tom had me lead Koram since I am a bit taller then he is and we figured I had a better chance of keeping my head above water. Tom got behind Koram and made him move. It was not fun. We all stumbled, fell, swam and floundered our way through. But, we got Koram out. Except for a few minor scrapes on all four legs, Koram seems unharmed. Phew! Now, I just had to walk him into the hold and get him checked out by the vet. We hadn't been far from the hold when Koram and I parted company but he had traveled quite a way in the opposite direction during his flight. Tom told me it was only a "couple" of miles to the hold. But, I’m pretty sure it was more like 4 miles! When we got to the hold the vet's checked him and he was fine and got all A's on his vet card. The scrapes on his legs were all very minor. We could have continued the ride except that I had no saddle!!!! There were a lot of horses being pulled at the hold due to the heat so we had to wait for a while for our turn to be trailered back to camp. Once I got him there, he was not happy about being in his pen without his pasture mate. So, I didn't dare leave him until Terry got back and could keep an eye on him.

Cindy Ross with Koram and Margaret Farnum with Promise



So, about 3 hours after I had come off Koram, I headed back out to the scene of the crime to find my saddle. All I could think about was $800 for the saddle, $150 for the Deluxe sheep skin cover, $50 for the packs, $50 for the woolback pad $40 for the girth, $75 for the endurance stirrups.....$$$$$ AAAAGGGGHHHHH. And I knew the saddle must be in the river since I had tracked Koram from where he had come out of the river until I found him. I went back into the woods where I originally had but followed the bank downstream this time. I didn't go far when I looked over the bank and there was my saddle floating in the river!!! Yippppeeeeeee. Now I only had two problems. I had dressed in jeans because the woods were so thick and brambly along the bank. And they were the only dry pants I had. That problem was quickly solved. A quick peek up and down the river to determine that I was alone at the moment and off came the pants. Now I had at least a 3 foot drop into the river. It didn't look all that deep and the bottom was sandy. So, in I went. I had really done all the swimming I wanted to but what are you going to do! hahaha. The water was about waist deep making the bank about eye level to me. I grabbed the saddle, gave a heave, and thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head!!!! After 3 hours of soaking in the river, that nice big western style LEATHER endurance saddle felt like it weighted 800 LBS!!! I couldn't believe that it had been floating! And I had to lift it to the height of my head up a straight bank to get it out. Now, I know I can normally do this. After all, I've put this saddle on Bailey, a friends 16.3H horse!! hahahahahaha. I nearly killed my self getting it out. I truly thought I was going to have to get help. I finally got enough of it out to sit on the edge of the bank, then, I had to find a place where I could heave myself out. All the while I was expecting a hoard of kayaks or canoes to come down the river and catch me in my skivies. Once I was out, and quickly dressed, I examined the saddle for damage. There was none. As a matter of fact it was still cinched up! somehow, Koram had slipped right out of it. I then stripped everything off the saddle and wrung out all the water that I could from the sheepskin cover, girth and packs. Now I had it down to only 750 lbs! It took me a while to get the saddle out of the woods and back to the truck. It was truly so heavy that I could only carry it so far then I would have to put it down and take a rest. And the oppressive heat didn't help. But I eventually got it back to the truck. Minus the saddle pad and sponge which I didn't find. That was all right, I could live with those loses. I drove back to camp and put everything out to dry. Then I waited for Susie and Barbara to finish. Irving was back at the camp by then and had decided to pull from the ride. The heat was just too much for him and he wasn’t feeling well. Terry wasn’t feeling well either so I vetted Irving’s horse out for him. Cara finished the ride but didn’t get a completion. Her horse was 2 min. late getting his pulse down. Margaret also finished the ride but didn’t get a completion. Promise was having some metabolic trouble due to the heat also. He was put on an IV. He was fine after that. Susie and Barbara both got completions. There were many horses and/or riders that didn’t complete their rides due to the heat.
So, all in all it wasn't really a bad day. I was fine, the horse was fine, and I recovered most of my equipment undamaged. I got to take several nice swims on a horribly hot day and I got 15 miles of wonderful riding in before the "incident".

Pine Tree 100 Endurance, Waterford, ME June 2002

Another great adventure. Although, when I headed off on this ride I didn't know how much of an adventure it was going to be. With much arm twisting, I got Fred to come along on this ride to pit crew for me. I didn't want poor Bonnie stuck crewing alone again. Susie was also coming to this ride. We planned to ride together and she also needed crew. For once there is no pre-ride repair story for our sorry old truck, it has actually been running great. The Pine Tree is a one day 30/50/100 mile endurance ride. Susie and I were entered in the 50 mile distance. I had originally hoped to do the 100 mile distance and had conditioned Marie with this in mind. I just didn't have the money for the 100 mile entry fee. Fred and I headed for Waterford around 8:00 AM Friday morning. We had both worked all night. Fred had actually worked 2 jobs. We had an uneventful drive up. A lot of people had already arrived. Even Susie beat me there, a first I think! Heather spotted us as soon as we arrived. The fairground isn't all that large and there are 75 riders between all the distances. Susie had saved us stalls in the back barn. They were really great stalls since they were fully enclosed. the other stalls are all open air cattle stalls without full walls. It was very hot and humid and it was so nice and cool in the barn. No bugs either and the stalls were big. There were no doors on the stalls though. We strung lead ropes across the doors. That was fine for Cody but we ended up tying a board across the front of Marie's stall as she kept leaning on the lead ropes. Susie had left her bale of hay in reach of Marie and she was taking advantage of that. Fred went into the trailer and fell asleep as soon as we got there. Susie and I got the horses settled in. There were two other horses in the barn and one was a stallion. Marie was in heat, as she is every time she is with Cody. She was not interested in the stallion at all, only Cody. But, the stallion was getting very agitated about her. The stallion owner weren't very friendly either. Susie and I went to the office and signed in. We decided to take the horses out for a little ride so they could stretch their legs. We rode for about 1 hour. Marie felt great. Cody stumbled four or five times which worried Susie a bit. She didn't think Cody felt quite like himself. When we got back from our ride, we got out our chairs and settled down for a while by our trailers. Shade was hard to come by so we were huddled in what little shade there was under the gooseneck of Susie's trailer. I had planned to wait for Bonnie before going to Tut's to get lunch. Hunger got the best of me about 1:00 PM and I went down to get a sandwich. Bonnie went by me as I was walking back to the trailer. I got a chicken salad sandwich and it was HUGE and delicious. I got Fred an Italian and woke him up to eat it. Bonnie got out her chair and we all tried to squeeze into the shade together. We finally ended up moving behind my trailer. Fred eventually came out of the trailer and sat on the back of our truck under our gooseneck to eat his sandwich. He wasn't interested in socializing with us girls so he got out his chair and settle back under the gooseneck and fell asleep.

We didn't hurry too much to get in line for vetting. It was so hot and there was no shade so we waited until the line went down a bit. They had P&R people taking the horses temperatures while we were waiting in line. The man that came to take Marie's temperature asked if she had any issue about having her temperature taken. She's never had it taken often but has never fussed when it was so I said no. Well, HA! Marie had a fit jumping and kicking like a fool. Marie never kicks at anything. He finally gave up and told me to tell the vet that she did have an issue with having her temperature taken and it wasn't worth getting hurt over. the man stalked off muttering about knowing how 'mares' are. I was appalled. And being a mare is no excuse for bad behavior. A few minutes later another P&R person came over and asked if I'd had Marie's temperature taken. I said I hadn't and explained why. He said he was willing to give it a try. Marie didn't fuss for him at all. It's funny how horses react to different people. Marie and Cody both vetted in fine. We got them both settled back in their stalls. We woke Fred up and went down to Tut's for supper. while we were waiting for our meal, one of the other riders came by our table to say hi and told us that there were only eight horses in the 100 mile ride. so, Fred pipes up and says, "I think you should change your entry to the 100." There was dead silence at the table for a minute and finally I said I just didn't have the money to change my entry. Silence for a minute again, then Bonnie says, "I'll pay for it if you want to try it." At this point Susie is getting excited and in her usual infinite enthusiasm is saying, "Cindy, you should go for it, I'll help crew when I'm done with my ride, you should do it, you should really do it..." and so on. I told them I would talk to a few of the really experienced people there and see what they thought of me entering Marie in a 100 with only one 50 mile endurance ride under her belt. I didn't want to push her too hard and hurt her. I felt she was physically in good enough condition, it was mentally I was worried about. Just the thought of entering the 100 got me so flustered I completely lost my appetite and couldn't eat my supper. And it takes a lot to put me off my feed! When we got back to camp, I tracked down Sue Greenall. She is a very experienced endurance rider. She asked me how Marie did on her 50 mile ride. I told her Marie breezed through it. Sue asked if she was bright, alert and active right after the ride. I told her yes, she was. Sue told me to go for it. She gave me some advise on how to ride a 100 which was a lot of help. She told me how to get through the inevitable tired times we would have. I went out and found one of the ride secretaries and told her I wanted to change my entry from the 50 to the 100. She just stared at me for a minute, then said she would have to track down Tom, the ride manager to see how to change an entry up in miles as she'd never had to do that before. Usually, people go down to the shorter distances if they change at all. It turned out to be no problem. She gave me a new riders packet with crew instructions for the 100. Louise Lester asked me if I was crazy and told Bonnie she was even crazier for agreeing to crew for me. I kept getting comments from people in the line of, "you got guts girl" or "are you sure you want to do this". That was just so encouraging. I kept telling people that since I'd never done a 100 before, I was to stupid to know better. The riders meeting was at 7:30 PM. At the meeting they announced that two people at this ride had just qualified for the U.S. Team and would be riding at the World Championships in Spain this fall. Gee, I wasn't feeling too out of my league. Both of the U.S. team qualifiers, Kathy Brunjes and Steve Rojek, came and congratulated me on being willing to try the 100 and were very encouraging. It is one of the things I love about this sport, everyone is so encouraging and helpful. We walked the horses one last time then went to bed. It was nearly 10:00 PM and we would have to be up by 3:30 AM to feed the horses. The ride started at 5:00 AM. Despite the fact that I had been up for over 36 hours and was exhausted, I had trouble getting to sleep. I usually sleep like a log and it's usually Susie who can't get any sleep before a ride. We were making fun of Bonnie the next day because Bonnie usually sleeps in my trailer and I usually sleep well. This time she slept in Susie's trailer an Susie slept well. We told Bonnie she bored us to sleep with her chatter.

Bonnie and Susie had already fed the horses by the time I got up. I had my usual breakfast of oatmeal. I was so wound up I never even went to the office for the donuts and coffee that were provided for everyone. We tacked up the horses in the barn. Susie was worried about how Cody would behave in a pack of over 70 horses starting at the same time. We decided to get out of the way and let the pack leave ahead of us. We found Liz Szeliga in back out of sight hiding for the same reason. Her horse also gets too excited in a large pack. She asked if she could ride with us for a while. We were glad to have her. We'd ridden with her for a while at the Maine 80 last year and enjoyed her company. We headed out as soon as the biggest part of the pack was gone. We passed Heather less then a 1/4 mile up the road. She was off her horse trying to get her under control. She quit the ride right then deciding her horse was too stupid to ride. Poor Heather. This is the same horse that dumped her at Fryeburg last year and got lost in the swamp. Susie, Liz and I moved along quite fast and made good time to the first hold. The first loop was 15 miles and the first and second holds were at the pumping station. The rest of the holds would be back at the fairgrounds. Marie lost a shoe several miles before we got to the hold. Her shoes were quite new so I hadn't been worried about her losing one. Her hoof was really torn up. A farrier was supposed to be at the hold but no one knew where he was. I was just sick, I figured my ride was going to be over before it had barely started. I did have my easyboot with me. I put it on and just prayed that it would stay on for the second loop which was another 15 miles. Marie passed the vet check. I told Bonnie and Fred to keep an eye out for the farrier and ask him to be ready to replace Marie's shoe when I got in for the second hold. The boot stayed on and we made it to the second hold with no trouble. Thankfully, the farrier was there because Marie's hoof was very torn up. The farrier had to build the hoof up with filler so he's have something to nail to. I took Marie through the vetting before having her shoe replace so I could get my "out" time. Your hold time doesn't officially start until you go through the pulse gate and your horses pulse is under 64 bpm. They are also checked for hydration, a quick check for soreness or tack problems and a trot out is done. The vet I got was my regular vet, Larry Buggia. Marie looked a bit off on the foot she'd lost the shoe from but Larry thought it was just from having a boot on one foot. He passed Marie but asked me to come back for a quick check after I got her shoe replaced. It took a while to get the shoe on because of the filler so Susie headed out on the third loop without me. Marie did fine at her recheck once the shoe was replaced. I was so relieved and headed out on the third loop alone. I soon caught up with a woman named April from Canada. We rode together for a while, she was very nice. Bonnie and Fred missed one of the pit stops for some reason I can't remember but April's husband was there and gave me and Marie water. I ended up leaving April at that point as she was going to walk the rest of the way to the next hold. April was doing the 50 mile ride. Since I was doing the 100 mile ride, I just couldn't ride that slow with so many miles to go. I was already behind all the other 100 mile riders. April was really hoping I completed the ride so she could tell the people in her barn at home that owned QH's that a QH really could do a one day 100 mile ride. You don't see many QH's in 100 mile rides. Marie passed her check at the third hold. Her pulse was a bit high but mostly from worrying about where Cody was. Abby was now helping to crew me. Liz put her heart monitor on Marie for me to use. I now had 45 miles done and I felt great. I was drinking plenty but still couldn't work up an appetite. Fred and Bonnie had bought me a sandwich and some energy bars. The third hold was 1 hour long so I had a chance to rest for a while. Bonnie walked Marie around letting her graze. I also gave Marie some grain and carrots as well as a light dose of electrolytes. Loop 4 was going to be the long one at 23 miles. And it was the hottest part of the day. I started out with another woman but she was only doing the 50 and we soon had to part ways since her loop was different then mine. I would now be alone for the rest of the ride. All the other 100 mile riders were ahead of me. Marie had a bit of a slump between 3:00 and 5:00 PM. She was great though and didn't quite on me. She did everything I asked, just without much enthusiasm for a while. She got on a slow jogging trot and kept this up pretty steady. I knew we were losing time but I didn't dare push her any harder. The mosquito's were really starting to come out adding to the deer fly that were already plaguing us. The deer fly I could swish off with a leafy branch I'd picked up as the congregate around the horses head. By 6:00 PM the mosquitoes were awful and those I could not swish off as they were all over Marie. She was going crazy with them. She has no tolerance for mosquitoes or black flies. My vet says she has a slight allergic reaction to them. Poor Marie! We kept spraying her at every hold but it didn't seem to help much. I made it through loop 4 to the hold. Marie once again passed the vet check with flying colors. We now had done 68 miles and I was still feeling pretty good. Fred urged me to eat another sandwich and I did manage to eat most of it. Susie was now done with her ride and was now part of my pit crew. One of the ride volunteers came to ask me if I thought I was going to be able to complete loop five before dark. Loop five was 14 miles long and I knew I wouldn't be able to make it. They hang glow sticks to mark the trails after dark. The ride manager, Tom, said that they were going out to mark loops six and seven, the last two loops, which is just one 10 mile loop ridden twice. Then, they would back track down loop five marking the trail until they found me. That seemed fine so, off I went on loop five. It was getting cooler now but the bugs were nearly unbearable. There was a lot of riding along a tar road on this loop. Eventually, the trail went up through a horse farm, down a mown path through a field and into the woods. It was 9:00 PM when I got to this point and the trail through the woods here was just a rough, newly cut trail and it was very dark in the woods. I couldn't really see the trail and Marie couldn't follow it either. Now, I was starting to get nervous. There were a lot of orange markers as it was a new and unclear trail, but nearly too dark to see them. I carefully and slowly worked my way from ribbon to ribbon. When I went from one ribbon and didn't quickly see another, I'd go back and start again at the last ribbon I'd seen. As long as I didn't get off trail, the ride manager would eventually find me while marking the trail with the glow sticks. I was so relieved when I made it through the woods and out onto a dirt road. And I was even more relieved when I heard the sound of Tom's motorcycle coming down the trail. it was sure good to see him. And he did a great job of marking the trail with the glow sticks, I had no trouble following them. And that was important because there was no moon and it was SO dark I literally could not see my horses head. The only trouble I was having with Marie at this point was that she was so hungry, she wanted to stop and eat at every patch of grass we passed. When I got out to the main road and to the next pit stop, Tom hung a glow stick off each of my stirrups so people could see me. I had no reflectors nor any kind of flashlight. By the time I finished loop five I have to admit I was getting a bit spooked about being out in the woods all alone. I had now done 80 miles and the rest of the rides were one loop ahead of me. My amazing mare once again passed the vet check with flying colors so I had to push on even though I had finally hit the wall and I neither mentally or physically wanted to go back out. Marie was awesome. Despite how dark it was, she knew where she could trot and where she couldn't. I just let her take care of things and just kept her going from one glow stick to another. At just about midnight, half way out on loop six, a moose stepped out on the trail in front of us. Marie spun and bolted down the trail the way we'd come. I got her stopped fairly quickly but I was so scared and tired at this point that I didn't have the courage to try to get her past the spot where the moose was. And it was too dark to tell if the moose was still there or not. I was really fighting panic so I just kept going on back the way we'd come back towards camp. When I got back to the dirt road that leads back to the fairground, I nearly got hit by a car that was flying up the road and didn't see me until the last minute. He came to a screeching halt and stopping to apologize profusely. That was nice but I didn't want any strangers stopping to talk to me at this time of the night on a dark back road with no houses around. When I arrived back at the fairground, I was relieved, disappointed, angry, exhausted and crying. I lead Marie into camp and poor Susie and Bonnie thought I'd fallen off Marie and might be hurt. I finally managed to blubber out that I was fine but just too freaked out to complete the ride. Marie still had to go through the vet check. Marie was in great condition so they gave me the option to go back out and complete loop six. But then I would still have to do loop seven. Though Marie was fine, I was not. And I would have been hard pressed to make the time at this point anyway. So, I pulled from the ride at 90 miles. I am so angry with myself for not being able to over come my fears, but I am amazed and proud of Marie. She just kept going and going without protest. Bonnie and Susie took care of Marie putting in her stall with lots of food and water. I crawled to my trailer, quickly washed up and went straight to bed.

Susie was gone when I got up. Bonnie left soon after. Bonnie told Fred when she got up, she had found a strange man sleeping in the cab of our truck. She was brave enough to wake him up and tell him to move on. There had been a dance at the hall that night and it was probably a drunk sleeping it off. Strange our truck should be picked. Probably because it was so old and had a bench seat, better to sleep on then bucket seats. Bonnie and Susie had taken care of Marie before leaving. I went to check on her and she looked great. Fred and I had breakfast and then left. It was a quiet ride home. Lady bug was sure happy to see Marie when we got home.

Pine Tree 100 ME 6/29/02 9/S-6/F2 Misu Nikki / S Rojek
3 ? / L Wright
4 Hawks Neopolitan / M Coleman
6 Indian Tom Tom / J Brucker

Pine Tree 50 endurance Waterford, ME 2001

I left for the Pine Tree ride Friday morning about 8:30 AM. I had a great drive there since I fairly sailed through Lewiston/Auburn barely hitting any red lights which is unusual. The Pine Tree 100 this year is the last of a series of qualifying rides for the US endurance team. I knew the fairgrounds would be packed very early since many of the riders trying to qualify were from all over the country and had arrived earlier in the week. I arrived about 10:30 AM. As I suspected, it was quite crowded already. Heather spotted me as soon as I arrived. She was nice enough to take Marie up the barn she was in and put her in a stall next to her horse. I had to turn my trailer around and park it in at the bottom of the fairground. I was quite proud of myself, I'm getting much better at backing the 'big rig' now.

All the horses in the qualifying ride have to be stabled in the same way. Since there were not enough stalls in the barn for them, they all had to be kept in portable corrals. That left the barns to us 50 and 30 mile riders. I ended up with a small stall but Marie didn't seem to care. As a matter of fact, she seemed quite content from the time we arrived. If she only knew that I was going to ride her 50 miles tomorrow....ignorance is bliss I guess. I didn't even have to put up electric wire across the end of her stall. I usually have a hard time keeping her in these cattle stalls, but she was very happy next to Mariah. Marie kept reaching under the stall divider and stealing Mariah's hay. It was fresh cut and therefore much better then her own. I put the stuff that I would be needing at the barn into the truck and drove it up to drop it off. My camping spot was just too far from the barn to lug it all up. Heather's father showed up just after I got camp all set up. Heather, her father, Abby and I went down to Tut's for lunch. After we got back we sat by Heather's trailer and just hung out until it was time to vet in. Endurance riding is quite different from CTR's. There were 5 vets as opposed to the one vet at a CTR. They don't go over the horses like they do at a CTR. Just a quick check and a quick trot with no circle. So, all the horses were vetted in quite quickly which was nice. Just as I got done vetting in, Bonnie showed up, she was my crew person. There were a couple of vendors at the ride. Bonnie and I shopped for a bit. I bought a trailer door organizer. Then Bonnie couldn't stand it any more and just had to go to Tut's. I was still full from lunch so I just had a 'premie' ice cream. I was starting to feel like I was coming down with a cold or some other such nasty thing. Sore throat, headache, stuffy nose and all. I got some Nyquil at Tut's to hopefully help me sleep. When we got back, we searched around for Mary Batt. I was going to be riding with her. I had seen her truck and trailer so knew she was around. We finally found her. Her husband, daughter, daughter's boyfriend and another friend had come with her to pit crew for her. Apparently I was understaffed..... Bonnie would get the privilege of driving my special old truck. It has many quirks that are fun for someone that has never driven it such as not being in the gear it says it's in, the speedometer being 15 mph off, the heater blower having to be hooked up with two wires, having to use a spray bottle and your arm out the window for windshield wiper fluid and so on. Hey, it runs good!

In the ride package, there is a list of all the riders and their horses. I quickly noticed that Marie was the only QH in the ride. It was mostly Arabs and a few Morgans. AAAGGHHH, the pressure was on! Mary and I had already decided we were not going to try for the top 10. Since this was my first endurance ride, I just wanted to get a completion. I am trying to earn the versatility award this year with Marie. for this you have to do one each of a 1 day ride, 2 day ride, 3 day ride and an endurance ride in a season. I already had a completion in a 1 day and a 3 day ride and I didn't want to ruin my chance for the award. The pre-ride meeting was at 6:30 PM We went back down to Tut's for supper after the meeting. We all went to bed soon after we got back to camp as we had to be up by 3:00 AM. The 100 mile riders were starting at 5:00 AM and they had 24 hours to complete the ride. The 50 mile rider were going out at 5:30 AM and we had 12 hours to complete our ride. The 30 mile riders would go out at 6:30 AM. I was feeling pretty lousy by the time we went to bed but the Nyquil did help me to sleep.

I woke up just a little before 3:00 AM. I was feeling a little better. I heated up some water for coffee and oatmeal. After I ate I headed to the barn to feed Marie. She had a quite night it seemed and she actually stayed in her stall all night! A woman who had a horse across the aisle asked Bonnie what breed of horse Marie was. Bonnie told her a QH. The woman was horrified. "You can't use a QH for endurance riding!" Bonnie really didn't say anything to that, but I got a laugh out of it when she told me. In an endurance race, there is a 'shot gun' start. The 100 mile riders went out right on time. It was fun watching 30 horses race out of the fairgrounds all at the same time in the pre-dawn light. That sure makes some of the horse crazy. I saddled up as soon as the 100 milers left and warmed Marie up. We were out right on time at 5:30 AM. Marie was a bit mystified at so many horses racing across the fairgrounds and up the road. we were in the lead for a whole minute! My 60 second of glory!! There is a lot of up hill climbing on the first 14 mile loop. There were several pit crew stops before the first hold. Bonnie was right there at every one sponging Marie down and getting her cooled off. The first hold was at the pumping station. It was a 30 minute hold. Your hold time doesn't start until your horse pulses down to 64 or less. So, you don't want to come racing into the hold too fast or you just end up waiting around for the pulse to come down. Especially with a QH. Marie was a little hot when I first came in so we pulled her saddle right off and sponged her down good. Then her pulsed dropped nicely. Bonnie took Marie through the pulse gate and then for her trot out. Bonnie forgot that when you trot Marie, you can't get up in front of her. She knows you can't make her trot from that position and will play games with you. After much pulling and tugging, I finally yelled over to Bonnie to get beside Marie and tap her with the lead rope. Then Bonnie was able to get Marie to trot. So, Marie got a few B's on her card for impulsion, attitude, and overall impression with a comment of 'real lazy on trot out' with the word lazy crossed out and 'distracted written' in it's place. Otherwise, Marie got all A's. We got out of the hold right on time. The second hold was at the pumping station also after a 16 mile loop. So, at the second we had completed 30 miles. That's as many miles as Marie has ever done in one day. The terrain wasn't too hard on the second loop and Marie's pulse came right down. I did the trot out with her. Bonnie took care of everything else, stripping Marie's tack, sponging her and feeding her while I rested and got something to eat. Mary brought water but no bucket her horse could drink out of. I was glad I brought lots of buckets because Mary ended up using mine. We got out of the hold on time. The next loop was 15 miles with the last hold back at the fairground. We had the mountain to go over in this loop. I got off Marie and tailed up it all the way. Mary and Margaret tried this also but their horses wouldn't cooperate. Tailing is when you dismount, and walk behind your horse holding their tail so they can pull you up the hill. It is easier for a horse to pull you then carry you. You cannot get off your horse in a CTR, but you can in an endurance ride. Marie has been up this hill enough times now to know it is a long one. I think she was just so glad to have me off her back and walking that she was going to go along with anything that kept me off her and we tailed up that mountain like old pros. the other two horses were puffing quite hard when we reached the top but Marie wasn't at all. I'm glad I gave her the break. At about 40 miles out, Marie started acting like she was finally getting a little tired. I wondered how things would go at the last hold with it being at the fairground. The poor horses would think we were done and then we would be making them go back out for a last 5 mile loop.


The last hold was just a 20 minute hold so I didn't pull Marie's saddle. Bonnie did sponge her off thoroughly though. Marie's pulse came down fine and she vetted in well. Once again some B's under impulsion and attitude as her trot out was a bit sluggish but all A's otherwise. When we headed back out, Marie didn't seem to mind at all and even seemed to get a second wind. She moved right along like we had just started the ride and we finished the last 5 miles in good time. At the final vetting she did great and ended up with straight A's on her card. I was so proud of my little mare. Who says you can't do endurance with a QH. The vet told me her recovery's were so good that I could have safely ridden her a bit faster. I had a ride time of right around 8 hours.

At this point I knew I had a nasty sinus infection and I was feeling seriously lousy. Supper was served soon after I finished with awards quickly following that. I placed 20th out of 29 horses that started. The woman with the horse across the aisle from Marie had to ask me if Marie really was a QH. I told her yes. She expressed disbelief and walked off muttering. Bonnie and I decided to stay over until Sunday morning. I just didn't feel well enough to drive home that night. Mary stayed also. We went down to Tut's for coffee and desert that evening. Mary went to bed as soon as we got back. Bonnie and I sat in the barn and watched the 100 milers coming and going until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore.

I slept until 7:00 AM. By then I really wanted to check on Marie to make sure she was doing ok and of course get her fed. Marie was in great shape. Very content. The woman across the aisle informed us that she's had to feed our horses, Marie and Midori, some hay because they were acting like "dorks". Whatever...... We threw all the stuff we had in the barn into Bonnie's car, stripped Marie's and Midori's stall and headed out.

Pine Tree 50 ME 7/14/01 29/S-27/F
1 Country Major / D Grillo
3 Bie-Kin / W Bejarano
4 Shyrocco Troilus / D Augustine
5 Hydaway SSJ Sox
9 KA Shiloh / S Niedoroda
12 Especial Edition / L Prentice
14 Sir William Naczar / V Stanislawski
15 Izusu / B Lester
16 Harbor Flyte / H Stacy
17 Briwds Mardi Gras / S Corr
18 ? / L. Snook
Completions:
FR Midori / M Batt
Marie / C Ross
LWF Paljoe Promise / M Farnum
Boomerang / J Sapira
Batals Gypsy Rose / B Horstmeier
Baskin Serafix / S Ackerstron
Alert's Shadow / K Robbins
Silvea / J Brunjes
DLA Cassidy / J Hatch