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The weekend of the Fryeburg 50 and Ruby’s first CTR had finally arrived. Fryeburg is my absolute favorite ride. It is held at the Fryeburg fairgrounds, which are lovely. The shed row barns are wonderful and well maintained. Water is piped in between every 4 stalls and you get to camp right in front of the stalls. There are also nice bathrooms and … SHOWERS! And the meals served at this ride are worth coming for alone!!!!
I had to work the night before the ride. I got home at 6:15 AM, fed Ruby and Marie and cleaned stalls then had a quick breakfast and finished packing up. Barbara got to my house around 9:15AM. I was going to take Marie’s saddle out of my trailer to make room for Barbara’s saddle but decided to just crowd things in. You never know when you might need some spare saddle parts. Ruby was a bit more reluctant to load then usual but still didn’t take too long. Soon we were on our way. We took a bit of a round about trip to Fryeburg. I wanted to stop in at Adams Horse Supply to pick up some girth ring protectors. Barbara wanted to buy a real sheep skin girth cover. I had been using my mohair girth on Ruby but didn’t like where the metal rings sat against her. So had switched a few weeks back to my felt girth. That seemed to be working ok, but I didn’t like the way that was bunching up where her leg were hitting it though it didn’t seem to be bothering her and was not causing any rubs. I wanted to switch back to my mohair girth. I was able to find the girth ring protectors but all the girth covers were too wide for Barbara’s girth. Because of going to Adams supply, I headed to Fryeburg down Rt. 202 to Turner. Then out Rt. 117 to Waterford. There was major construction along a long stretch of Rt. 117. The pavement was torn up and one lane traffic. Stop and go for MILES. It was hot so I had Barbara jump out at one point and drop down the windows for the horse and mule. There are grills so they can’t stick their heads out and I wanted them to get as much air though the trailer as possible. It took about 3 hrs. getting to Fryeburg when it normally takes no longer then 2. But, I had Barbara’s good company and it was still a pleasant trip.
When we got to the fairgrounds, our favorite spot was available. I pulled up and situated myself to back up in front of the stalls, which are numbered. I called out to Barbara I was going to put my trailer in front of stall #14. I back around and expertly put the trailer squarely in front of stall #15. Hahahaha. Good enough! Hahahahaha.
Zephyr
I brought my dog, Zephyr, with me. Shavings were already in the stalls, so we quickly got Ruby and Marie off the trailer and into the stalls with water and hay. Both were very thirsty! It was sooooooo hot and muggy! Then I got Zephyr hooked were he could get some shade. Barbara and I had planned to go for a short ride before we vetted in to stretch the girls legs. It was just too hot and we decided against riding! We didn’t see anyone else going out for pre-vetting rides either. As soon as we got camp set up and the animals all settled in, we went to the ride office to check in and get our riders packets and numbers. I was #66. Barbara, who originally only entered one day of the ride, was #6. Hummm, #66 and #6, this was a little disconcerting. Then, when the ride secretary realized Barbara had “upped” to the 2 day 50 mile ride, her number was changed to #70. Much better! After putting the numbers on the girl’s butts, we collapsed in front of the stalls. We were drenched in sweat! Barbara brought something very yummy tabouli for our lunch. It was cold and and really hit the spot. She also brought home made blueberry muffins made with blueberries I had picked in my yard. Marie’s right eye had been “boogering” up for a few days. I was not sure what was causing it and had just kept wiping it clean. It was getting a bit worse so Barbara was diligently keeping it clean.
Someone called out that the vetting was starting so Barbara and I brushed and cleaned Ruby and Marie and headed up to get in line. Susie and Joanie arrived just as we were heading to vet in. Susie and Joanie brought their dogs also. Joanie’s dog, Olie, is a very nice Black Lab. Susie’s dog, Callie, is a Lab cross that is a bit neurotic and barks a lot.
I went up ahead of Barbara for vetting. Ruby squirmed just a bit when the vet approached her. Dr. Perkins is a real nice vet and was great with Ruby. Dr. Perkins did the “skin pinch” first and I think Ruby thought she was getting a shot. And you know all animals seem to know a vet when they see one. Ruby settled quickly though and was very good. The vet judge checks pulse, respiration, gut sounds, legs, muscles tone, and hydration by skin pinch and pressing the gums. Ruby still thinks she is supposed to pick up her feet every time you touch her lower legs so it took the vet a minute to check her leg thoroughly. And all my work getting Ruby used to the stethoscope paid off. She was fine all weekend about this. Then we went to the lay judge. She checks their entire body for cuts, scrapes, bumps and any signs of tack problems. Ruby didn’t even wiggle for this. Then came the trot out. I am so ashamed to admit that I was very ill prepared for this part of the vetting process. I had concentrated on getting Ruby to trot in hand in a straight line for the Pine Tree endurance ride. You only have to trot a straight line for endurance vetting. And Ruby is fine with this. But lounging in circles I have not practiced much at all. We trotted down fine. I stopped, set her up for her first circle and Ruby was immediately confused about what I wanted. About half way through the first circle, Ruby decided she would rather be with Marie standing back with the vet then with this woman asking her to do something she didn’t understand. I felt Ruby stiffen up to head back so I had to yank her around to avoid getting dragged off. Consequently, Ruby spun around and just stared at me like I had two heads or something. Now I was in front of her and in the totally wrong position and scrambling to get behind her shoulder to start her again. After another failed attempt to circle Ruby, I just reeled her in and paused to reconsider the situation. It was not at all Rubies’ fault, she just didn’t know what I wanted and did know where her pasture mate was. I did not want to confuse her any more then I already had. I decided to just trot the circles “in hand”. Ruby was not real happy with me at this point and didn’t really want to trot with me at all, but grudgingly did and we got the job done. Poor Ruby. I promised her (and the vets) I would make sure to work on this. Ruby got over it immediately. Thankfully, she does not seem to be the grudge holding type of mule! I was really embarrassed. I usually make a point of never showing up at a ride unprepared to do the things we have to do. Marie vetted in fine and did a great trot out. Marie is an old pro at this having been in competition for the past 8 years.
After everyone was vetted in, Susie and Joanie set up Joanie’s screen house. They were going to sleep in there rather then the trailer because of the heat. We then settled in by the stalls with some beer and had supper. Barbara had brought some delicious sausage pasta soup I heated up. Later we walked the horses, mule and dogs before settling in for the night. The black flies were horrible and limited the amount of time we could let them graze.
It was very hot still when we went to bed. It cooled off to a comfortable temperature quickly though. Someone turned on the barn lights during the night and they were shining right into the trailer and woke me up. Apparently the lights woke others also because Susie eventually got up and turned them off. I woke up again at 3:30 AM to the smell of bacon. Nice way to wake up! The owners of the horses stalled next to us drove in about 4:30 AM. Ruby started grunting when she heard them so I got up and fed her and Marie. Breakfast was being served by then. I had a breakfast sandwich and fruit salad. Did I mention I love the food at this ride? Hahahaha.
The riders meeting was at 5:30 AM and first riders were out at 6:00 AM. We were having an early start due to the hot weather predicted. It was already getting quite muggy. We were all thrilled to find out we would be crossing the Saco river twice each day. Yippee. The past two years the ride had not been able to cross the river due to high water. Riders are sent out in pairs 2 minutes apart. Barbara and I were going out near the end so had plenty of time to saddle up and warm up our girls. Susie and Joanie were starting well ahead of us. Ruby was very calm and relaxed. Seems she is already starting to figure this all out. Soon, we were called and off we went. Ruby headed out very strong, but still calm and relaxed. I let her go on a lose rein and she settled in to her strong trot and was wonderful!!! We caught and passed a few other riders and got to the river, which was 4 miles out. There were a lot of ride volunteers there. The Saco River is lined with deep sandy beaches in is a VERY popular camping and canoeing spot. The volunteers directed us though the city of tents on the beach and pointed us to the crossing. Ruby led the way and didn’t bat an eye at all the tents, camping equipment and canoes. It was fairly quite since most people were still in their tents sleeping. (or passed out in alcohol induced comas...) She marched right into the water and crossed like a pro! Good mule!!!!! We were then directed though the city of tent on the other side and soon were back on the trail. We came out of the woods and had miles of agricultural road though HUGE corn and potato fields. Ruby must have thought she was home to see the acres and acres of agricultural fields! Except we were in a big valley with mountains all around us. Soooooo beautiful! I just let Ruby choose her pace around the fields and we did the most relaxed wonderful canter for several miles!!! Yeehaaaa!!! We went though one field where there was no road on the edge of the field. We had to ride between rows of corn that were waist to shoulder high. We were told to NOT let the horses eat in or around the fields because of the pesticides sprayed on the crops. So, we had to keep them trotting along to distract them from wanting to eat. The cornrows were not quite as wide as we were and it was really funny trotting down the row with the corn hitting our legs. We passed a few more riders and about 9 or 10 miles out, caught up to Susie and Joanie. The equines were all as happy to see each other as we were. We traveled together into the hold. Ruby was still traveling strong but calm. I didn’t know how Ruby would pulse down in this heat. They extended the hold time from 20 to 30 min. and raised the pulse parameter from 60 to 64 due to the heat. So, we had to pulse down to 64 or less within 10 min. Barbara and I sponged Ruby and Marie a ton. At 10 min. we called for our P& R. Marie just made it at 64. Ruby pulsed at 47!!!! Respiration was 36. That is super for such a hot day. The vet check and trot out went great. While waiting in line for the vetting, one of the other riders little girls was there with her dad. The little girl was maybe 4 yrs. old and kept insisting Ruby was a donkey and not a mule. After the vetting, we fed the girls some grain mixed with water to make it wet and soupy with carrots in it. They both gobbled that right down. The girth ring protectors were sliding down the girth and not doing much good. I wasn’t too happy with that. Ruby seemed fine though. We left the hold 3 min. late. Leaving the hold late is no problem. You just have to make up any time you lose at the hold on the trail. But, thanks to Ruby’s pacing, we had plenty of time. Susie and Joanie were just getting in line for the vetting so we could not wait for them. Ruby was still going very strong yet relaxed so I let her choose her pace. When we came back out on the fields, it was VERY hot, with the sun blazing and not a breath of a breeze. Ruby didn’t seem to care at all and I let her pick her pace once again. She alternated between cantering and a strong trot. I was a little worried it might be too much for Marie being a heavy muscled QH. She was panting a bit but seemed to be traveling comfortable so I let Ruby go. When we got back to the river crossing and beach, it was quite different. Everyone was up. There was lots of noise and activity. People were swimming and canoes in the river. Ruby still didn’t bat and eye and once again led the way though and crossed the river with no trouble at all. SUPER GOOD MULE!!
We got back to camp and the finish too soon. The ride time was 4 hrs. and 20 min. to 4 hrs. 50 min. You have to cross the finish line in that 30 min. time window or take time penalties. So, we had to stop and let Ruby and Marie graze some grass in the field before the finish line to kill some time. When our 4 hrs. and 20 min. were up, we wandered across the finish line. Ruby was already developing a fan club and she was cheered across the line! We now had 20 min. to get them pulsed down. P&R’s were to be taken at the stalls. It had gotten cloudy so we tied them to the trailer in front of the stall. It was very stuffy in the stall and better outside. We sponged them down like crazy, and let them drink. Ruby did not drink much on the trail but I am finding this is normal for her and did not worry too much. Marie almost always drinks like a fish all the time. At 20 min. we called for P&R’s. At the end you have to pulse down to 44 or less. Rosemarie pulsed at 48 and Ruby pulsed at 32!!!! With respiration of 20. My horse could be dead and not pulse that low!! WOW!!!! Those of us riding both days only had to do a quick trot out (no circles) to pass for the next day. That went fine for both Ruby and Marie. We were good to go for the second day. Yippeeee. Marie’s eye had continue to keep “boogering” up so we asked the vet if she would take a look at it after she was done with the vetting. We put the girls in their stalls with lots of water and hay. They were both drinking a lot at this point. They ate a little bit of hay then all took a long snooze. Marie lay down for a while. We humans felt about the same. Tired, hot, sweaty. We were served a wonderful lunch of several different salads and make your own BLT’s or Italian sandwiches. And deserts to die for! After lunch, Susie and I headed down to take showers. There are only two so we just hoped they were empty. They were. They are single small shower stalls with separate outside doors. I remembered from previous years here that they were small and quite airless. You want to dress quickly once out of the shower and get out or you end up as sweaty and hot as before you went in. I had threatened to run out naked and dress outside! They made me promise not to do that. I brought clothes that I knew I could get on quickly. I went into one stall, closed the door, went to lock it with the hook and eye ….. and realized it had latched on the outside and I was locked in. I immediately pictured swooning from the heat and dying in there. I started banging on the wall between the stalls and yelling for Susie! I had to do this quite a few times but she finally heard me. “Help, Susie, I am locked in this airless cell and can’t get out…” She, of course, thought it was quite funny but released me from my prison! Once unlatched from the outside, I was able to carefully latch it with the hook and eye, which was long enough to keep the door from latching from the outside! PHEW! I then had a lovely shower. We all took naps after showering. We all went to the awards for the one-day 25-mile riders. Then went back and snoozed some more. While snoozing in my chair, Louise Townsend called out to me that she needed help. And by the tone, I could tell something was wrong. I followed Louise around to the other side of the barn. A horse had gotten cast in its stall. The owners were not staying on the grounds and were not answering their cell phone. So a couple of us carefully went in and got some ropes on the horse’s legs. We managed to roll the horses over and get it up. The horse seemed fine so one of the other riders took the horse out and walked it for a while to make sure the horse was ok. We were mostly worried since we didn’t know how long the horse was cast before being found. The horse was fine. Just a few minor scrapes.
After that excitement, we snoozed some more. The vet did come look at Marie’s eye and said she didn’t see any real problems and said if any of us had contact lens solution, to keep it rinsed out with that. We did so Barbara rinsed her eye out good with that several times that evening. The weather forecast called for strong thunderstorms. And in the many years I’ve competed this ride, I’ve seen a lot of very strong thunders storms here. They really circle the valley and can get quite nasty. So, we took down the screen house. It had started to cool down a bit since noontime and was getting much more comfortable. After napping, Barbara and I tied Ruby and Marie to the trailer so we could clean their stalls. Ruby was all rested up and quite perky at this point. She was even a bit bored and looking for something to do. Our riding shoes had gotten very wet in the river crossing so were sitting on the wheel well of the trailer to dry. Ruby kept picking up one of my sneakers and shaking it like a dog and then tossing it! It was very funny and I ran to get my camera. Of course, she had tired of that game by the time I got the camera and had decided she wanted a booty scratch. Barbara was standing between Ruby and Marie reapplying the rider number on Marie's butt. Ruby started edging over step by step until he bumped Barbara with her butt. Barbara started giggling because she knew what Ruby wanted. Ruby squeezed Barbara out from between her and Marie and got her booty scratch! Silly mule! We walked and grazed the horses and mule again before supper. And supper was another wonderful meal. Taco bar, more nice salads and more deserts to die for!! At this rate, Ruby was going to collapse when I mounted her the next time!!!! We walked and grazed the horses and mule one more time before we went to bed. We also took the dogs out to run in the field. My dog Zephyr was having such a good time running with the big dogs. He is a 20 lb. short legged dog but thinks he is a big guy. There were no thundershowers but it had cooled just enough for comfortable sleeping.
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I woke up to the sound of hoof steps on concrete. Hummmmm….. not something I should be hearing. I looked out my window and there was Frannie out of her stall grazing between the trailers. I jumped out of bed to get her. She let me walk right up the her and I tried to see if she would let me lead her back to the stall with just my hand on her head. Nope, and I could not quite reach her halter that was hanging nearby on a post. I had to let her go to get the halter, when I went to put the halter on; she took off, but not too far. I was hoping to catch her without alarming the whole camp. At this point Susie and the dogs comes stumbling out of the trailer. “What’s wrong, what’s going on?” and then she starts urgently calling for the dogs that are running everywhere all excited. I tell her Frannie is loose, I think I can get her, please get the dogs…… Frannie did let me catch her and put her back in. Just as I got her back in the stall, Joanie stumbled out to see what the commotion was all about. Frannie had busted the latch on her stall door. The latches are just blocks of wood with a nail in the center to swivel over the closed door. There are second metal latches on all the doors also that you put a clip on to hold the doors shut. I did this on Ruby and Marie’s doors not trusting the wooden latch. So, I was able to use the second latch to secure Frannie’s door. And we were all soon back in bed.
We got up at 4:30 AM to feed since we were to have an early start again due to predicted heat. Marie’s eye was definitely much better. Barbara gave it another good rinse that morning. Nancy Weeks, the woman serving breakfast had overslept and was not out yet. The ride manager woke her up and she came out all in a fluster! Poor woman. Coming out to a crowd of hungry riders. She did an amazing job of getting us coffee immediately. Before we knew it, the fruit salad was out as well as donuts and bagels. In record time we had breakfast sandwiches off the grill. We had the riders meeting at 5:30 AM. We were riding in reverse order from the first day so Barbara and I would be starting at the front of the ride today. This meant we didn’t have a lot of time to get ready after the riders meeting. As we were quickly saddling up, I hear a very worried Barbara exclaim that her saddle is torn! I walk around Ruby to look and sure enough, her fender had torn just above the stirrup about ¾ of the way through!!! There was no way she was going to be able to ride like that! Good thing I had decided to leave my saddle in the trailer. We didn’t need spare parts; we need a whole spare saddle! Now we were a panic to get ready on time. We grab out my saddle and throw it on Marie. We had to adjust the stirrup length since Barbara is a LOT shorter then me. All the rushing got both Marie and Ruby a bit excited and Ruby was prancing around a bit by the time I got on her. We made it and were ready to go on time. Ruby felt great and headed out strong. But, once again, calm and not pulling at all. The first 8 miles were the same as the first day’s trail with the river crossing 4 miles out. This time Susie and Joanie started well behind us and they never did catch us. Though Ruby was traveling strong, she was a bit reluctant to do her big “Arab” trot. She snaked her head a few times when I asked for the big trot so I felt there must be a good reason she didn’t want to extend and I stopped asking. In the short time I’ve had Ruby, I trust her so I let her chose what she wanted to do. She chose to do a lot more cantering and her trots where much shorter strided. She felt fine otherwise and not lame at all, so I just trusted her and let her choose her pace. We came into the hold in good time. The hold the second day was held in a lovely shady wooded area by the river next to an old covered bridge. It was hot the second day also but not quite as bad as the first day. So, we only had the normal 20 min. hold. Ruby pulsed at 40 with 20 respiration. That is fabulous!!! Marie pulsed in at 57. This is good for her. Trot out went fine. We fed the same grain “soup” and were on our way just a few minutes late. Marie had a sudden burst of energy after the hold and took the lead for 3 or 4 miles doing her big “Arab” trot that is amazing to see a QH doing! Ruby chose to canter once again rather then extend her trot. I let her. At one point we had to repeat a section of the trail to make a loop to get enough miles. I was in the lead and Ruby was very sure we were going the wrong way and let me know. She was easily convinced to go the way I wanted but you could tell she wasn’t sure I know what I was doing. We had to do a loop around a big cornfield and caught up with the front riders here. We ended up slowing down just a bit and letting them get ahead of us again because we were getting choked in a cloud of dust. But, we knew we weren’t going to have as much time to spare as the first day and had to keep moving right along at a good pace. After the ride we all agreed that the mileage on the 2nd day was off and that it was longer then 25 miles. The river crossing went great once again and we came in sight of the finish line with 15 min. to spare before our maximum time was up. So, we let Ruby and Marie relax and graze just a few minutes before crossing the line. That would help their pulse come down. The sun was out and very hot so we decided sponging them in their stall was the best option. Marie pulsed at 48. Ruby pulsed at 40. GREAT with a respiration of only 4!!! When the P&R person was trying to count her respiration, Ruby was requesting a booty scratch! The woman was a bit startled at first until I explained what Ruby was doing. Before I got a chance to correct Ruby, the woman reached out and started scratching Ruby’s butt with on hand, while watching her watch and Ruby’s breathing. I think that is why Ruby’s respiration was only 4. She was holding her breath in ecstasy. The trot out at the end went much better. I did not ask her to lounge in circles and confuse her again. I simply trotted her in hand the whole way and took the chance that I would pass out from running that far in the heat. Neither Susie nor Joanie made it in on time and both took a 9 minute time penalty.
Susie & Joanie at the hold
Cindy on Ruby at the hold
After the trot outs were done, we took a break for lunch. More wonderful salads, with chicken and green beans. More delicious deserts. We then did the “hands on”. Ruby was a perfect lady. The vet just loved her and told me: “You have grand champion material here.” Everyone was soooooo impressed with Ruby. Her looks, her good behavior, her athletic abilities. Ruby did absolutely wonderful for her first ride.
Ruby lost ½ point for scuffing the hair off an old interference mark. She lost 1 point for windpuffs. 3 points for “mechanical fatigue”. (not trotting as lively at the end as at the beginning). Not sure how they could decide that considering how bad the initial trot out went but…. And Ruby was indeed a bit tired. She only has 11 weeks of conditioning on her unlike my horse that has 8 years of conditioning and experience. Ruby also lost ¾ point for sore girth area. Right were those stupid cinch buckles were sitting against her. She did have wrinkled skin there and was sore to the touch. THAT was why she did not want to extend her trot!!!! Those cinch buckles were digging in to her there and bruised her a bit! ECK! Poor girl. I was so glad I had not pushed her to do her big trot and had just let her chose her own gaits. I knew there was a good reason she had shortened her stride.
Ruby had now successfully completed her first CTR! She was an absolute pleasure to ride and could not have been better! No one laughed at this mule I can tell you. Not even from the first sight of her. Ruby sure is the total package of looks, brains, ability and a huge heart!!
We packed up camp while waiting for awards. I was very proud that my little mutt of a QH got 1st place. Ruby got 6th out of 20 riders. It was a great weekend and I can’t wait for our next ride!!!!
Fryeburg 2-day 50 July 27/28, 2007 20/S-F
Judges: B. Perkins - S. Day
J1. AJ Morning Star Wakita / Wright, Caliegh
1. Sault / Rojek, Dinah
2. Beaujolais / Rojek, Steve
3. Marie / McGovern, Barbara (97 pts)
4. Omars Montana / Greenall, Sue
5. Trijas Confection / Butterfield, Patricia
6. Apollo / Tenggren, Traci
6. Thunder / Stygles, Amanda
8. Tappedanick / Lester, Louise
9. Rotan of Craggy Lea / Glock, Linda
9. SPD Carousel / O'Connor, Colleen
9. Robin's Nest Allegra / Stacy, John
12. McAllister's Ruby / Ross, Cindy (92.75pts)
13. Highcountry Piper+ / Deleware, Marcia
14. Rockin Rudy / Hall, Kathy
15. Frangelica of Foxden / Mitchell, Joanie
16. Xavier Sunnyacres / Reinheimer, Susan
17. Patenaude Vulcan Gazelle / Gardener, Jeffrey
18. Sebec / Been, Amy
c. Thisspotsforyou / Peloquin, Cate
