Acadia Pleasure Ride Sept 2002

Our much anticipated yearly trip to Acadia had arrived. This is just a pleasure trip with friends. I left my truck and trailer home this time since "Old Blue" needs work....again.... and it's a long haul to Acadia. So, Bonnie was taking Linda and her horse Mac, I was going with Halla
I was on vacation the week before we left. Fred and I have been fixing the horse barn. The sill down the middle of the barn rotted and had to be replaced. Because we had the barn torn apart, Bonnie and I were keeping our horses over at Carol Lenna's. She has a nice run-in shed and pasture that she isn't using. Bonnie was taking care of the horses. My garden also needed to be harvested that same week so I was going crazy trying to work on the barn and get my canning and pickling done. I canned 31 pints of pickled beets, 24 quarts of green beans and 12 pints of carrots. I didn't start packing for Acadia until Friday night. Much of what I needed was in my horse trailer which was over at Carol's. we planned to leave by 8:00 AM so I got over to Carol's at 6:30 AM so I would have time to pack what I needed from my trailer. Bonnie was already there when I arrived. She headed right over to Linda's to get her stuff so we could see if everything was going to fit in her truck. I fed the horses while Bonnie was gone. Bonnie has a taunno cover on her truck so is limited on how high she can stack things. My trunk with my saddle and all my horse gear was just a little too tall to go in. Nor could we get in any of the hay. We had to pile all that stiff into my truck to take to Halla's and she would have to haul it up. The hay was all in bags so she could put it in her trailer's dressing room. It was 8:30 AM by the time we got everything ready to go to Halla's. We loaded the horses and headed to Halla's. When we arrived there she said she had started to think we had forgotten about the trip! Somehow the plug on Bonnie's truck came unplugged and dragged on the road on the way to Halla's. It had worn the casing off the bottom but the contacts were still ok. We had to duct tape the plug into the receptacle and then tie it on to make sure it didn't come off. Bonnie was not very pleased about this. Tony helped Halla and me get the hay and my trunk packed into Halla's trailer. We unloaded Marie and put her in Halla's pasture while we were loading my stuff into Halla's trailer. Marie had a fit about being separated from Bonnie's horse Lady Bug. She ran and hollered something awful. We were going to meet Bonnie and Linda at the Quick Mart Right by the on ramp to the highway. When Halla and I got there, Bonnie and Linda were waiting for us. We went in to get coffee and ran into Al Penney. He is my farrier. I owed him for my horses last shoeing so I was able to pay him and save myself a stamp. Then in walks Dennis and Barbara, my brother and his wife. They were heading up to my other brother, Kevin's camp for the weekend. My parents were already at the camp.


We stopped at Dysart's on the way up. we had a great meal there as usual. There was a music festival going on in Bangor that weekend and the traffic was backed up on I-95. We got directions from someone to get around that and get onto I-395 past the traffic. That turned out great! We got to Acadia with no problems. We got checked in quickly. They have put in all new barns that are very nice. Everything is very convenient. We got the horses settled in and unpacked what we would need at the barn. There were only two other horses in the barn. There are three barns for people bringing their how horses to ride. Each barn has twelve stalls. The other two barns were empty. We were very surprised, we thought the place would be packed. We were told at the office that August is usually a slow month for stable, but that they were very booked up for September and October. We had two stalls on each side of the barn. We put Marie and Slick next to each other. Lady was put right across the aisle from Marie with Mac next to her. Once we got the horses settled in, we parked the trailers in the campsite. Halla brought her 'dining tarp' and we had quite a time setting that up. It's really quite simple but if anyone was watching us, they got a good laugh I'm sure. We finally managed to our satisfaction and dragged the picnic table under it. Bonnie and Linda cleaned out Bonnie's trailer and set up their cots in there. I was sleeping in Halla's trailer. She has a gooseneck like mine. I was teasing her on how privileged I felt being allowed to sleep in her palace! Halla introduced herself to the two men who owned the horses that were in our barn. One of the horses was a big Percheron/Standardbred cross gelding named Wallace. The other was an older polo pony named Tucker owned by a man named Jay. Jay is from Manchester, England but is now living in NH. After we got camp set up, we went out for a ride. We rode the Day Mountain loop. Linda was a little anxious about how Mac would react to the carriages. He has a history of being scared of them. We came across three or four of them and all the horses were good about it. They gawked a bit but that was about all. Marie seemed a bit out of sorts. She was a little excited and crabby with the other horses. She has been a bit out of sorts actually since being moved to Carol's place. She's never been away from home that long and I think it is confusing her. We had a good ride. The only problem was the dust on the trails. It hasn't rained in a while and it was very dusty.


We fed the horses when we got back from our ride then headed out to find a place to eat. We were all in Bonnie's truck since her truck has an extended cab with a back seat. Every time we would see a restaurant, Bonnie would slow down and ask if we wanted to try it. Halla kept telling her to keep going. Bonnie would grumble and keep going. Eventually we ended up in Bar Harbor. It was around 8:00 PM by then. We had gone through to the far side of town before Halla was content to let Bonnie find somewhere to park so we could walk around and find somewhere to eat. Finding a parking spot was not easy but Bonnie found a spot on a corner she was able to pull into. We stopped at the first restaurant we came to and agreed to give it a try. This was the West Street Cafe. There was a waiting line but we figured it would be the same everywhere. We didn't have long to wait. The place was quite nice and we all enjoyed our food. When we got back to camp, we checked on the horses, topped off their water and gave them plenty of hay before we headed to bed. Halla had brought a bunch of "smut" magazine to read such at the Enquirer, etc. We read them for quite a while getting a good laugh from them. Right after we'd settled into bed, we started hearing ka-band, ka-bang, ka-band and it was LOUD like someone was pounding nails over at the barns. But, it was way to late for someone to be doing any work over there. After a while Halla says to me, "Cindy, is that Marie?". I replied, "I don't think so, she's never kicked in a stall before." Ka-bang, ka-bang, ka-bang....... Suddenly Halla burst out, "That bastard! Slick has been doing this in his stall since early spring!" Ka-bang, ka-bang, ka-bang......"That bastard" Halla would mutter and roll over and try to sleep. Ka-bang, ka-bang, ka-bang..... "That bastard" she muttered and rolled over again. I don't know if Slick stopped banging or not or I just fell asleep. In any case, I wasn't awake for very long. I woke up several times during the night and it had started raining. When Halla and I woke up, it was still raining. Bonnie and Linda were already up and had fed the horses. Halla and I laid around until we smelled the coffee Linda was making. It was fresh perked and very good. We were glad we had set up Halla's tarp. We hung out under the tarp drinking coffee for a while then decided to go over to the Jordan Pond House for something to eat. The Jordan Pond House is quite the tourist spot and quite expensive. But, it is also quite a nice place to eat. The restaurant wasn't open when we got the gift shop was open so we browsed around in there waiting for the restaurant to open. I bought a stainless steel camp mug and a bucket hat. Bonnie picked up a rain coat and a stainless steel travel cup. Linda bought a pair of hiking boots, a bucket hat and a fleece pullover. Halla got a bucket hat and some stuffed toys. One was tit mouse and the others were little birds that make bird sounds when you squeeze them. Halla also purchased a balsa scented door stop which she later laid out between our beds in the trailer. I was kind of wondering if it was a hint that I smelled bad or something. Halla and I immediately donned our bucket hats for the rest of the weekend and referred to each other as bucket heads. We were seated in the restaurant right away as soon as they opened. It was 11:30 AM and the rain had finally stopped. I had curried chicken salad which was served with grapes, mandarin orange slices and crackers. It was absolutely delicious though outrageously priced. We all had Oregon Chi to drink. This is a spiced tea sweetened with cream and spiced with pumpkin. It was delicious! By the time we left the restaurant, the sun had come out and it was beautiful. As soon as we got back to camp, we headed out for a ride. The rain was actually good as it laid the dust down on the roads and the riding was much better then yesterday. John and Jay were just heading out when we got to the barn. Halla took a few pictures of them. They were camping in a tent and said they'd gotten a bit wet last night. Halla offered to let them sleep in the back of her horse trailer if it rained again tonight! AGH! They seemed nice but they WERE strangers! And they had their own horse trailer they could sleep in! They invited us to join them that evening at their campfire.






We rode down to Seal Harbor and rode the roads down by Long Pond where they don't allow bicycles. Then we went up by Jordan Pond and the rock slide. We were out for nearly four hours. Mac had been very excited when we started. He looked very impressive with his tail up in the air, his neck arched and prancing down the roads. I'm not sure that Linda was all that impressed but the rest of us enjoyed the sight. Marie was still being a bit crabby with the geldings. Lady Bug was an angel. Slick was jigging a bit when we were walking which was irritating Halla. After the ride, we decided that Mac got the "most impressive looking horse of the day" award and Lady Bug got the "best horse of the day" award. We got someone to take a picture of us all on one of the bridges. Bonnie and Linda got ahead of Halla and me at one point and Marie almost tied with Mac for "most impressive horse of the day". Marie doesn't like getting separated from Lady Bug. When we got back to camp, we lounged around snacking on all the goodies everyone had brought. I didn't bring much but everyone else brought too much so it all worked out. We decided we were too full to eat supper but thought we could still manage some desert. So, we went back to the Jordan Pond House. We had the sweetest little waitress that was from Mobil, Alabama. Halla just had to buy some more of the stuffed toy birds at the gift shop. Linda, Bonnie and I had blueberry cobbler and Chai. Halla just had Chi.

The nigth was very clear and it was going to be a full moon. I told Bonnie I wanted to do a moonlight ride. Bonnie seemed interested, Halla didn't. Linda never made any comment on it. When we got back, we checked the horses. Bonnie and Linda went to bed. Halla and I joined John and Jay at their campfire. We had a nice time chatting with them. By 10:30 PM the moon was coming up and it was very nice out. I once again tried to get Halla to go for a moonlight ride but she still wasn't interested. She tried to talk one of the guys into going with me and I wanted to slap her silly! I was NOT going on a moonlight ride with two men I did not know. Thankfully, they decided they were too drunk to do any riding. So, I woke Bonnie up and talked her into going with me. It was such a wonderful ride. We rode to the top of Day Mountain. It was a bit dark on the way up as the moon was still rising but it was gorgeous at the top of the mountain and perfect on the way back. We had such a good time and Marie and Lady Bug were wonderful. Halla had left a light on in the trailer for me. What a sweetie! She was still awake when I crawled into bed. We chatted a bit them settled in to sleep. Ka-bang, ka-bang, ka-bang, "That bastard!" and so it went for the second night.


I was the last one to get up Monday morning. Halla was up early trying to get Slick to stop banging the stall wall. I never heard her get up. She said I'd talked to her but I don't' remember it. Linda had coffee ready again. I'm taking her camping with me all the time from now on! We had enough snack food that we didn't bother going out for breakfast. The first thing Linda said to me when I came out of the trailer was, "I hear I missed a great ride last night." I guess she had wanted to go but since she hadn't said anything when I'd originally mentioned it, Bonnie and I had assumed she wasn't interested. Bonnie and I felt bad that we hadn't tried to wake her up. We checked in with the office to see if we had to have our horses out of their stalls by 10:00 AM which is the normal check out time. If so, we'd have to pack up before riding. It turned out there was no one coming in for those stalls so we could take our time so we decided to go riding first. We rode up to Eagle Lake. Then I took a wrong turn and ended up going by Aunt Betty Pond and up towards the Witch Hold Pond loop. Horses aren't allowed there so we had to back track by Aunt Betty Pond and head down to Jordan Pond. At one point, Slick went right up to a woman on a bicycle, reached into her fanny packed and carefully plucked a water bottle out of it by the cap. It as the funniest thing! Thankfully, the woman used to own horses so was not scared by Slick. She just calmly removed the bottle from between his teeth and put it back in her pack. Slick also stuck his nose into several bicycle carts and "smoozed" with the children. So, Slick got the "biggest smoozer of the day" award. Lady Bug was now in heat and glued herself to Slick. She kept nickering to him and gazing at him all moon eyed. Marie was quite jealous and kept giving Slick dirty looks. Marie got quite excited by Lady Bug being in heat and kept sticking her nose under Lady Bug's tail. Mac seemed to think they were all a bunch of pigs and wanted nothing to do with any of them. Mac definitely got the "best horse of the day" award today. We were almost back to camp when we again came upon the woman whose water bottle had been stolen by Slick. She had some apple cores and gave them to Slick. His smoozing had paid off. The horses really got along very well together. We kept switching places taking turns leading and it was great.

Once we got back to camp Bonnie and Linda were on a mission to get packed and head out. Halla would have liked to relax a while longer but Bonnie didn't want to drive home in the dark. It didn't take long to pack and head out. Halla and I stopped at Dysart's on the way home. Bonnie and Linda had gone straight home. It was a great trip.

Fryeburg 25 CTR Fryeburg, ME July 2002

Another great ride, another pre-ride story. At least this one doesn't involve my truck. I had sent my entry in only a week before the ride. The entry fee was $67. One morning just before the ride, I was sitting at the table eating breakfast and noticed a couple of tickets on the table. It suddenly dawned on me that Fred had gotten tickets for the Maine State Music Theatre and it was for the same night I would be in Fryeburg! AAGGGHHHHH. Fred had bought the tickets ages ago. He so rarely makes plans like this and I knew that somehow I had to figure out how to be in two places at once so.....

I got up at 4:30 PM Thursday afternoon and packed up the trailer, took care of the horses and headed to work. I had to be into work early at 8:00 PM instead of 9:00 PM. I worked until 5:30 AM, drove home, fed the horses, ate breakfast then got the horses ready to go. When Bonnie arrived at 7:30 AM, she followed me to Fryeburg in her car. She brought her car so I would be able to use it later that night to come home to go with Fred to the theatre and not have to drive my big truck. We made good time getting to Fryeburg taking us a little less the 1 hr. 45 min. We chose our usual stalls at the end of the first barn. There was already plenty of bedding in the stalls so we just put in hay and water and settled the horses in. We then went to the office to register. Once that was taken care of we headed into town for lunch as it was 11:00 AM. Much to our surprise, there were no restaurants open in Fryeburg. We stopped at a gas station to ask about some place to eat. The station attendant told us our best bet was to go into Laconia, NH. Only about a 10 minute drive so we went. We found a great place there and had a nice lunch. On the way back to the fairground, we got lost. Not too badly though and a nice woman out walking gave us directions back to the fairground. We got back in plenty of time for vetting in. We went right up for vetting so were only 3rd and 4th in line. The vet wasn't real happy with the way Marie trotted so I would have to go back in the morning to have her re-checked. I forgot to tell the vet that Marie just had pads taken off her front feet so they might be a bit tender right now. She's had pads on front for four years and I'm sure her feet will take a bit of time to toughen up again. After vetting in, I hung out in front of the stalls and visited with Jean and Elliot. We walked the horses, then at 3:30 PM I headed for home. The traffic was quite heavy but I still got home in only 1 hr. 45 min. I took a quick shower then Fred and I went out to supper. We went to the new Chinese place in Topsham and it was quite good. The musical we went to see was "Ragtime". I was very good though I admit I snoozed through some of it. The musical was over at 10:30 PM. By now I had been up over 30 hours and still had the drive back to the fairground. I arrived back there at 1:15 AM. When I drove in, Heather's trailer was parked so close to mine that I wondered if I would be able to open my trailer door. I had told Bonnie I would likely get some sleep at home before driving back to the ride, so I was sure hoping she hadn't given my bed away to anyone. I saw that Heather was sleeping in her truck so my bed was empty. I tried to be as quiet as I could but I still managed to wake Bonnie up. She and Zephyr were quite comfortable together. Zephyr got all spazzed out when I crawled up into bed. Thankfully he settled down fairly quickly. Bonnie told me I hadn't missed anything by missing the supper that was provided that night. She said she had one nearly raw cheeseburger and a small cup of cole slaw. I'm glad I'd had Chinese! It sure didn't take me long to get to sleep.

We got up at 5:00 AM. That was only about 3 hours of sleep for me but I didn't care. The weather was cool, dry and overcast all day. Great weather for the horses. I went to the office for some breakfast. They had hot and cold cereal, bagels, donuts, muffins, fruit, juice and Coffee. I had oatmeal (big surprise) and a muffin. I walked Marie before taking her for her re-check. She passed the re-check. The riders meeting was held at 6:30 AM. The ride started at 7:00 AM. Bonnie and I took our time tacking up our horses as we were in the back of the lineup to start. There were a lot of riders this year. Over 30 horses in the 25 mile ride and nearly as many in the 50 mile ride. We had a wonderful ride. Both horses were just perfect and the trails were lovely. Lots of wide sandy agricultural roads and we got to cross the river this year. It was Bonnie's first time crossing the river which was exciting for her though the water was very low. We paced ourselves perfectly. Bonnie even led us in a lot of nice long canters. We only had one spook when a teenager popped up over a bank and surprised us. We finished in perfect time. When we got back we were sad to hear there were several accidents out on trail. Irving's horse and reared up and fallen on him. He had to be taken to the hospital. He had several broken ribs but would be ok. Dinah Rojek's horse fall and Dinah landed hard on her hip. She too was taken to the hospital. Thankfully, nothing was broken, just badly bruised. One woman fell off in the river. Another woman fell off twice and bruised her shoulder. I've never know so many people to come off their horses in a single ride. We did our final trot out and I remembered to tell the vet about Marie recently having her pads removed. After the trot out we put the horses away and relaxed until it was nearly time for our hands on. We walked them for a bit before the hands on and everything went well when they were checked. We settled the horses into their stalls with plenty of hay and water. We then went to get supper. It was way better then the previous nights fare with grilled chicken, salad, potato, sauteed summer vegetables, bread, fruit and cake. It was delicious. We hung out at the picnic tables and visited with everyone while the scoring was done. Bonnie took Zephyr for a walk then brought him over to the picnic tables were I was. It took a long time for the scoring to be completed. Bonnie and I both had very good scores. She scored a 98 and I had a 97.75. We cleaned our stalls, packed up the trailer and headed home around 6:30 PM. It was a great ride.

Fryeburg 25 ME 33/S-31/F
Judges: F. Gorra - J Levelle
1. Manyone Praise Song Furka / L Alderdi
2. Sage / S MacDonald
2. MCF Bijou / M Bittersdorf
5. ? / S Niedoroda
6. Glad Gay's Cresundo / V Bentley
6. Lady Bug / B Hinz
8. Disco dusst Bunny / C Nelson
9. Codeman / C Metayer
10. FFC Gremlin /
10. The J Man / F Raymond
12. Tonka Kola Gold / S Akerstrom
12. Marie / C Ross (score 97.75)
12. Aziza / L LeVitre
16. Mercedes Magic / S Whitcomb
17 Reczaar / D DeShon
17. Prymtyn / T Hutchinson
Completions:
? / M Demison
? / J McKittrick
Indian Halo / J Brucker
Hebet Betal / M Russell
Moria NA / B Hurton
Mariah Gene / M Paltrow
A Royal Holiday / L Walsh

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

Waterford 30 CTR Waterford, ME May 2002

Another ride and once again my truck was in the garage on the day I was supposed to be leaving for the ride! It was making faint but strange noises when I was coming home from the last ride. So, I took it back to the garage right away. I needed them to fix the leaking gas tank anyway. The garage had had it for nearly two weeks and still didn't have it ready to go until this morning. The spider gears in the rear differential were stripped and that's what had been making the noise. The mechanic said he didn't know why the truck hadn't broken down completely. And there was an oil leak but that was only a cracked gasket that had to be replaced to fix that. The speedometer doesn't work and I was tired of never really knowing how fast I was going. The garage had the truck ready at 8:00 AM which was good. Fred took me over to pick it up at 8:30 AM. I was all packed and ready to go. I went straight home, hooked up the trailer, loaded Marie and headed for the ride. I also took my new dog with me. He is about the ugliest dog I've ever seen, but he is such a good dog and a real sweetheart. His name is Zephyr. He's 1 1/2 years old, black with long hair. A small dog being 1/2 Lhasa apso, 1/4 Pug and 1/4 Pekineses. He is very obedient and follows me around like a shadow. I decided to bring him along to this ride to see how he likes camping. Bonnie was coming to this ride without a horse so would be able to help me keep an eye on Zephyr. When I got him, he'd never had a collar on, or leash or been tied. So, I didn't know how this would go. He love to ride in the truck though. He just lays down quietly and sleeps, or stares at me. When I got to the fairground, I asked Janice Hatch, the ride manager, where to park and set up my fence. She told me to go up next to the open cattle pens. Heather saw me as soon as I pulled in. It took me a few tries to get the trailer backed into where I wanted it to my satisfaction. But, didn't take all that long. I am getting more comfortable with this trailer all the time. It was more getting into just the right spot where the trailer would be most level so I would not spend the night rolling out of my bed. I finally settled for a spot that would only have me rolling into Bonnie all night but not all the way out onto the floor. Heather gabbed to me while I set up my fence. I had just finished setting getting it set up and was about to put Marie into it when the ride manager's daughter, Kathie Brunjes came running up to tell me I can't park where I am. The spot was being saved for a friend of hers. "Didn't my mother tell you not to park here?" Kathy asked me. I told her that this was exactly where her mother had told me to park. Kathy thought it over a while then decided there was plenty of room for her friend to park in front of me. The problem was only that her friend has an enormous trailer and they wanted to make sure there was enough room for her to park it. Parking in front of me turned out better as the ground was more level. After getting Marie settled in, I decided to go down to Tut's for lunch and I invited Heather to go with me. I just got a sandwich to go and Heather got a brownie. That might not sound like a big deal but a Tut's bownie is a wondrous creation of chocolate, peanut butter and fudge topping. And all the food at Tut's is served in generous portions. We took our lunch back to Heather's trailer. Heather managed to drop her brownie on the ground before she even got the first bite. She had to scrape off some of the wondrous topping to avoid eating dirt but she did eat it. I would have too!!! Heather decided we should walk the horses and get them ready to vet in as soon as the vet judge arrived. I actually took my time getting Marie ready and Heather was done vetting by the time I wandered over to the vetting area and I didn't know where she had gone to. Things were a bit disorganized and there was some confusion over our ride numbers. The riders doing the 80 mile ride were using stalls and their numbers were on the stalls. Only those got mixed up somehow. So people had grease marked their horses with the wrong numbers. The vet was SOOOOOOO slow. He went over every inch of the horses, poking, prodding, flexing and bending their legs. It took forever! It did give me a chance to meet some new people while waiting in line though. Marie had been falling asleep while in line, then suddenly her head came up and she started calling. She recognized Susie's trailer when Susie pulled in and knew that the love of her life, Cody, was now on the grounds. Bonnie arrived soon after Susie. After vetting in, I settled Marie back in her pen. She was very unhappy about this since Cody was now in the waiting line to be vetted in. Heather had found me again at this point. Marie paced around her pen hollering like a fool until Susie got though the vetting with Cody and put him into a pen next to her. Zephy was being absolutely wonderful. He was quiet and would just lay down under the trailer when I had to leave him alone. We walked him around while we waited for Susie. We ran into Irving while walking. He had just bought a new truck, trailer, horse, and dog. He also told us he had two new cats and a new house! WOW! Nothing like a change. Susie, Bonnie, Heather and I went to Tut's for supper. While we were there, we saw Mary pull into the fairgrounds. We got back before she had set up and had her set up near us. Mary wasn't riding, her daughter was. Her daughter's boyfriend had also come with them. We all went back to the trailers to sit and relax for a while. By the time Mary's daughter got her horse, Prince, vetted in, it was after 7:00 PM. They decided to go down to Tut's for supper so Susie, Bonnie and I tagged along with them. Unfortunately, the grill had closed so they had to settle for sandwiches. The rest of us thoroughly enjoyed having some desert. By the time we got back to camp, it was getting very windy. It was still warm but supposed to get quite chilly overnight. I decided to put a rain sheet on Marie. Susie didn't have one so borrowed one from Bonnie. The sheet she borrowed is really too big for Bonnie's horse but fit Cody perfect. So, Susie bought it from Bonnie. It is a really nice rain sheet and Susie was all excited about it. We went to bed after getting the horses settled for the night. We brought Zephyr right up into the gooseneck to sleep with us which got him so excited. He jumped back and forth from Bonnie and I wiggling, squirming and whining in pure happiness. When he was finally quite, I looked to see where he was. He was IN Bonnie's sleeping bag laying on his back with his head on her pillow! He thought he'd died and gone to dog heaven. He has been such a good dog all day. I had to get up during the night to get our chairs we'd left out. The wind was so strong it was blowing them into the horse fencing. It was an uneventful night otherwise and I slept well.

I woke up around 4:30 AM. It had gotten cold and I was glad I'd put a blanket on Marie. I had used my lighter sleeping bag as it had been warm when we went to bed. I was almost wishing I'd used my heavier one. But, as I was a little chilly, it made it easier to get out of bed. I met Susie coming back from the bathroom and we fed the horses then headed right down to the building where they were having breakfast. Everything was ready and I had my usual oatmeal. They also had donuts, fruit and some very strong coffee. I'm glad they had oatmeal available as I'd forgetting to bring any of my own. I'm not sure I could have ridden without my oatmeal!! Susie and I walked our horses for a while. Bonnie walked Zephyr. We put the horses back in their fences and went to the riders meeting. Susie and I had plenty of time to get ready after the meeting since we were at the end of the starting order. When we checked to see where we were in the starting order, we had not been listed at all. Like I said, a bit disorganized. Poor Susie wrenched her back while saddling Cody and was in a lot of pain. For a while she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to ride. By the time it was time for us to go, she was feeling a little better. Cody was very excited and quite naughty for the first five miles. We got bunched up in a group of six right away and that got Cody even more excited. I was worried Susie's back would get worse with Cody jumping and pulling the way he was. He finally settled down after we got some space between us and the other horses. We rode at a pretty fast pace. The horse were both feeling great. We got to the hold about 20 minutes earlier then we really wanted to. Bonnie was waiting and had things ready for us. She was working the ride. The horses vetted fine at the hold. Marie pulsed right down to 44. That is very low for her at a hold. She is usually 54 to 58. I had to think the P&R person might have recorded it wrong. It was the usual rush at the hold trying to get everything done. Irving approached me and asked me what time Susie and I had to finish the ride. I told him and he asked Susie and I if we would let his friend, Kim, ride with us so she would make her time. Irving's new horse was giving him some trouble and he was going to slow right down. But, he didn't want to ruin Kim's ride. We were glad to have her along with us. We rode pretty fast until we saw the 5 miles to go marker. Susie and I had to slow way down at this point to not come in too early. We sent Kim on ahead of us so she would make her time. We had to walk most of the last 5 miles. The horses were cool and dry when we finished. We sponged them down anyway to get all the dried sweat and dirt off them. Marie's pulse was higher then I'd have liked. It was 48. This was not high enough to be any problem, but they take points for anything over 44. And once again I was wondering about the accuracy of the P&R. Marie's pulse should have been at resting rate with all the walking we'd done at the end. Hummmmmm, maybe I need a heart rate monitor. Vetting out at the end only went just a little faster then the vetting in had taken. Only 15 riders were in the 30 mile distance so it wasn't too bad. The 80 mile rides didn't have to do a full vetting, just a trot out. Maura showed up at the ride to day hello. She had her whole family, including her dogs with her. They were staying at a camp not too far from the fairground. One of Marua's dogs got very nasty with Zephyr, which didn't seem to phase Zephyr in the least. He seems to be oblivious to weather another dog is playing with him or trying to kill him. Bonnie and I sat around by the trailer relaxing while waiting for the vetting to be completed. Louise Lester came by and sat with us for a while. Susie, Bonnie and I had not bought tickets for the banquet supper for tonight. We figured we'd just go to Tut's again. Usually they have the award ceremony for the 30 mile riders before the banquet. Unfortunately, today they decided to have the banquet first. So we had to sit and wait for everyone to eat before getting the awards. Bonnie and I still went to Tut's for supper. I had to get after Marie big time when I loaded her on the trailer to go home. She saw Cody getting on his trailer and she wanted to be with him. She loaded right into my trailer but then started slamming and banging and thrashing her hay bag around in a fit of temper. She was quite in the trailer while Bonnie and I had supper so I won't complain. The ride home was uneventful.

Waterford 30 ME 5/25 15/S-14/F
Junior1. Midnight Goldenbey / S Lukins
2 Ali Darkness / C Walker
Adult
1. ? / C Lester
4. A Kinda Magic / P Mc Elliott
4. BAF Cubis Choice / L Pederson
6. Jackal / R Lendis
6. padrons Protege / ?
6. Willows Rahman / ?
9. ? / T Landis
10. Prince / M. Batt
11. Marie / C Ross (88.00 points)
12. Xavier Sunny Acres / S Reinheimer

Appleblossom 25 CTR Groton, MA May 2002

Ride story was lost.......

Apple Blossom 25 MA 5/4 35/S-31/F
Judges: Dr. Newell-J Lorimer
Junior
1. Midnight Goldenbey / S Lukins
2. FFC Gremlin / ?
3. Travelons Two Times Two / M Kohler
Adult
1. Sherrington / K Redente
1. RE Genesis H Vecchie
3. Kineo / P Snow
4. Rushcreek Equal / G Pawlowicz
4. BAF Cubis Choice / L Pederson
7. The J Man / F Raymond
7. Amilia Spunk / L. Kohler
9. Mariah Gene / M Paltrow
9. Lady Bug / J Johnson
11. FFC Brigadier / J Samuels
11. Rouk / C Burgess
13. Inde Khaldair / L Crowley
17. HFA Sliver Savana / M Deleware
17. Skip Go Solo / ?
Completions:
Jewel's Gem / C Beekstrom
NFL Villiant / C Largo
? / D Rice
Cherokee / R Carney
Onyx Moon Shadown / L Pierce
Marie / C Ross (93.00 points)
Lady Bug / B Hinz

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

Acadia Pleasure Ride Sept 2001

Another great adventure. This time it was just a pleasure trip. Bonnie, Halla and I went. We headed out about 8:30 AM Saturday morning. We met Halla at the gas station in Richmond that is by the highway. Halla led the way to Bangor where we stopped at Dysarts Truck Stop for something to eat. I had to gas up. Halla has a nice new diesel truck and gets much better mileage then I do. We dropped the windows in the horse trailers so the horses could stick their heads out and look around. They were quite fascinated by all the trucks. When one would go by they would quickly pull their heads back in like they feared losing them. It was funny to watch.

Halla wanted me to take the lead from Dysarts so I could show her the route I take to get to Wildwood Stables once you get on the island. It rained on and off all the way there, but it wasn't bad traveling. We had just crossed onto the island when suddenly my truck starts sputtering, spittering and coughing. I looked at the battery gauge and the battery was stone dead! I quickly turned my lights off and that gave me just enough power to keep going. I knew right away the alternator was bad so I just crossed my fingers and said a few prayers and kept driving. Every time I hit the breaks, the battery gauge would drop to nothing, then come back up. But, less and less each time. I thought about unplugging the trailer but the island is hilly with narrow winding roads, I didn't dare drive without trailer breaks. God was definitely watching over me because I actually made it all the way to Wildwood Stables. The truck died in the parking lot. we unloaded the horses and got them all settled into their stalls. Then, we used Halla's truck to jump mine so I could park the trailer in the campsite. I backed the trailer across the parking lot and into the campsite slick as can be. I was proud of myself. I went into the office and asked if anyone knew of a decent mechanic. No one did. So, I asked for a telephone book, turned to the yellow pages and picked the nearest garage listed. I could only hope it was a decent place. I called the garage and the owner said he couldn't do anything until Monday. That was the day we were supposed to leave. Since there was nothing else I could do, I said that would be fine and told him I'd drop the truck off sometime on Sunday. I called Fred to let him know what was going on and that I might not be home on Monday. Ed, the stable manager, said that Bonnie and my stalls were booked up the rest of the week but that he would find a place for our horses if we had to stay longer. Halla's stall was open and she said she would stay also. Having done all I could about the truck, we went ahead and set up camp.

We were parked in side by side campsites. We stretched a tarp between the two trailers and pulled a picnic table under it which made for a great little set up. We then headed out for a short ride. The weather had cleared off quite nicely. There was a little fog but not bad. We did the Day Mountain loop. We met the big carriages at the top. My horse has seen them before but Halla's horse, Slick, and Bonnie's horse, Lady, have not. They were just a little bit nervous about them but did walk by with a little encouragement. We headed back down the mountain and it wasn't long before we heard the carriages coming down. That made Slick and Lady quite nervous so we trotted on ahead to an intersection and waited for the carriages to pass. Lady and Slick were fine after that. When we got back to camp, we settled the horses into their stalls for the night and headed into Bar Harbor for supper. I can't remember the name of the place we ate but it was very good. When we got back, we checked on the horses making sure they had plenty of hay and water for the night then headed to bed ourselves. we did stop for a few minutes to visit with the people in the next campsite. They had a nice fire going. A couple of the carriage drives were there. And they, of course, had some good stories.

I got up about 6:00 AM on Sunday morning. Bonnie and I fed all three of the horses then heated up water for coffee. We knew Halla would be useless until she got her coffee. Her boyfriend serves her coffee in bed every morning. We told her we would make the coffee but she could forget about getting it served to her in bed! I had some oatmeal and fruit. We decided to drive over to the garage where I would be dropping my truck off to make sure we could find the place and that it wasn't too far as I didn't know how long I could keep my truck running when we jumped it again. We found the garage with no trouble. When we got back, we tacked up the horses and headed out for a ride. We did the Bubble Pond and Jorden Pond loops. Halla thought that slick was acting like he was a little sore a few times going down hills. So, we rode slow to make sure he was alright. The weather was outstanding. After we rode, we made sandwiches. After lunch we jumped my truck and dropped it off at the garage. After we got back, we took our chairs over by the barn and just hung out for a while. We decided to do the Day Mountain loop again. I rode Marie bareback. Marie is not well built for riding bareback. She is built like a 55 gallon drum and does not have a smooth trot. When we did trot, I got to bouncing so bad it's a wonder Marie didn't just buck me right off. We decided to stick to walking or cantering, I could sit to that. There were three of the carriages at the top of Day Mountain for the sunset drive. All the tourists were out of the carriages and all over the top of the mountain. Marie, as usual, was fine. Lady was good about it also. The stable manager was driving one of the carriages. When we rode by him, I noticed him watching me. I told him I'd had to sell my saddle so I'd have enough money to get my truck fixed. He got a good laugh out of that. We headed down the mountain before the carriages. They soon caught up to us so we stopped and let them pass. Lady danced around a bit then. Not out of fear of the carriages, she wanted to get back to camp, it was getting past feeding time! But, Bonnie handled her fine. We did some more trotting on the way back to camp and Marie figured out that if she rounded out and collected her trot, it was smoother and I didn't bounce on her back. Smart horse! I was a bit stiff when we got back to camp but not too bad. Lady was a little warm so we didn't give them their grain right away. We did give them lots of hay and water. Bonnie put a light blanket on Lady to make sure she didn't get chilled before she was dry. We went over to Northeast Harbor for supper. We'd seen a couple of likely places to eat when we'd dropped my truck off at the garage. It was getting a bit late so there wasn't much open. We ended up going to a restaurant lounge in a motel. It was nice and the food was very good. They had live entertainment, if that is what you'd want to call it. It was a man playing a keyboard and......singing.....at least that's what I think he was doing. he was a very bad singer. It really was quite funny. We went back to camp and fed by flashlight. Halla went straight to bed. Bonnie and I stayed up a while longer, then we gabbed for quite a while even after we went to bed.

Bonnie and I were up by 6:00 AM Monday morning. we headed right over to feed the horses. Halla came over to the barn while we were cleaning stalls. I was surprised to see her up so early. When we got done at the barn, we went back to the campsite and heated up some water for coffee. While having supper the night before, we noticed that the restaurant we were at was having a breakfast buffet this morning. Halla doesn't eat much in the morning but said she would be happy to take Bonnie and me over there if we wanted to go. Bonnie and I, being the pigs that we are, absolutely wanted to go. By the time we got there, Halla was hungry enough to enjoy the buffet also. After breakfast, we decided to stop over to the garage so I could talk to the mechanic. When we got there, the truck was still sitting right where I'd parked it. That didn't look hopeful. I went in and introduced myself to the mechanic. The mechanic told me the owner was over at the house across the street and that my truck was all set. I couldn't believe it was done so fast!! I went over to pay the bill and the owner said he just happened to have one alternator in stock and it happened to be the one needed for my truck! What's the chances of him having one for an old truck like mine. He was such a nice man. I was so thankful to have found a decent place and so close to where we were staying. Halla was jokingly trying to get me to ask the garage owner if I could leave the truck there one more night so Ed, the stable owner, would think we needed to stay at the stable one more night and get in another day of riding. We weren't going to do that but I told her I would ask Ed if we could possibly stay another night anyway. I went straight to the office and asked when we got back. Ed told us he would find room for us if we decided to stay another night. Bonnie and I would have to get our horses out of the stalls they were in. I hooked up the horse trailer and parked it over by the barns so we could tie the horses to it and clean out their stalls and put all of our stuff in the trailer. After we were done there we headed out for a ride. We didn't have any particular route in mind, just wandered around. We did go down to Seal Harbor, Northeast Harbor, by the amphitheater and Jordan Pond House. It was a lovely ride. We did quite a bit of trotting and some nice canters. Halla rode right up on Bonnie once, making Lady mad and causing her to buck a bit. I heard Bonnie, as calm as can be, saying, "Halla....Halla...what are you doing.." like she was reprimanding a child. I was having a good chuckle from behind them. We talked to a few people while we were out riding and were told that there was a big storm coming in that night and Tuesday was going to be a rotten day. We decided then to not stay another night. We met up with a man while riding that Halla knew who was riding a $30,000 horse. Jeesh, I'd be afraid to take a horse like that out of it's padded cell.... I mean stall! I'll stick to my free little rescue horse. I guess this man does upper level eventing. When we got back from our ride, we headed straight to the office to let them know were were leaving. We thanked them profusely for being willing to accommodate us another night at their inconvenience. Bonnie and I cleaned Halla's stall while she packed up her campsite. It didn't take us long to get loaded and headed out. I took the lead for the first part of the drive home. When we got into Ellsworth, I accidentaly took a wrong turn. I knew as soon as I did it but then had to find a place I could turn around. I pulled over to see if Halla had followed us. I knew she must be cussing us. She soon came along and pulled over behind us. Bonnie went back to let her know we'd made the wrong turn and were turning around. I could read Halla's lips in my rear view mirror saying to Bonnie, "Where are you two going?" We headed back into town and to where we'd made the wrong turn and got going in the right direction again. The turn was a very busy intersection and it took us a while to make our turn. We were driving down the road when I noticed a nice truck and trailer sitting in a parking lot up ahead. I pointed it out to Bonnie saying, "hey, look at that nice rig in the parking lot ahead." when I suddenly realized it was Halla! She had taken a shortcut around the bad intersection and gotten ahead of us. She was pretty proud of herself. She sometime works in Ellsworth so knows her way around. We stopped at Dysarts for supper. The food was great as usual. We made it home safe and sound.