Crooked River 3 day 80 CTR Waterford, ME May 2010

I’ve decided to attempt the 3 day 80 mile ride with poor old Marie. She is in good condition. But, I’m quite sure she is developing some arthritis as any older hard working horse is likely to. So, I would just take it a day at a time and see how things went.
I headed off to the ride at about 8:45 AM and arrived at the fairground at 10. I brought Zephyr with me. Few people had arrived so I had a good choice of places to park. I decided to park where I could have an electrical hookup. I pulled into the best spot for me and realized I was going to have a hard time reaching the hookup with my cord unless I turned my truck around. I was just getting ready to turn around when Scott Hatch came over and thought I would make it with my cord if I just unloaded Marie, then backed up as far as I could. This worked and I could just reach with my cord. But, then I realized that I could not put Marie on the Spring Tie which I was planning to use as it would put her up against the side of a building and there was an exposed waterline pipe there that wasn’t safe. So, I just set up my electric pen for her. She’s probably happier with that anyway since we will be here for three days.



I got Marie settled in, set up camp then made myself a sandwich. Amy Beem had arrived and she asked me if I wanted to go for a quick ride. So we went out for about an hour at a quiet walk. Amy is riding Weezie her Appy mare (that I think is awewome). Allie Marie was riding Amy’s horse Washburn. Allie was not riding Washburn in the competition, she was just here to work the ride. Another friend of Amy’s, Rhonda, was coming to ride Washburn in the competition. Kyle Neilson had come and he was riding one of Kathy Brunje’s horses. It was nice to see so many familiar faces here at the ride. Marcia Deleware, Kathie Brunjes, Tom Hutchinson, Irving McNaughton, Jean and Elliot Bridges, Kyle Nielson, Steve Rojek, Sondra Day, Peg Dockham, Mindy Veinneau, Bill and Stephanie Rice, Kelly Jack, Jeff Gardner, Scott & Jan Hatch, Stephanie Buckley, Char Jewell, Janet Brunjes & Louise Lester who are running the ride and many others.



Marie was quite restless because she did not have a buddy near her. I tried to take a nap but Susie arrived and Marie started hollering and hollering non-stop wanting to be with Susie’s horse Spark. I finally got up and went over to visit with Susie while she set up camp. Marie continued to fuss over not being near Spark despite the fact that Steve Rojek had come and set up near me so Marie did have company. But, not to her satisfaction apparently. We all headed up to get vetted in. The Vet judge is Heather Hoyns and the lay judge is Sondra Day. Dr. Hoyns did not like the way Marie looked at the trot so asked me to bring her back again when everyone else was done vetting in. She was not happy with how Amy’s Washburn looked either. So, I waited and took Marie up again later and I was passed to start the ride though Dr. Hoyns was still not happy with how she looked. Washburn also passed. We all sat at Amy’s trailer for a while and visited then eventually went down to Melby’s for supper. I had the haddock dinner which was very good. Later I walked Marie and ran into Mindy Vinneau doing the same. I have not seen her in a while and it was good to talk to her. While we were chatting it was announced the riders meeting. There was strawberry short cake for everyone which was a pleasant surprise. After the meeting, I asked Char Jewell if she could put me in the starting line up near Marsha Deleware. I was hoping to ride with her as I knew her horse would set the same pace as Marie. I checked with Marsha to see if this would be ok. She didn’t mind but she was already riding with Cathy Demick and said we’d need to check with her as her horse could get a bit competitive. Cathy said we’d try it and see how it went. Then we all went back to Amy’s trailer to relax and visit some more. We did not stay up very late and I was very tired from having worked the previous night. It was a bit overcast so I put Marie’s rain sheet on her in case it rained during the night. It turned out the overcast was from smoke from very bad forest fires in Quebec in Canada and it hung over us all weekend. Zephyr was thrilled when I put him up in the goosneck with me for the night.

I was up early the next morning. I fed Marie then headed to the food shack for breakfast. They provided cooked breakfasts for this ride which was nice. Today was French toast and sausage. Then, it was time to tack up and get ready to ride. The ground was wet and it was a bit chilly so I put Zephyr in the trailer with is food and water. He was not happy about this. He does not like being shut in the trailer for some reason. Marsha, Cathy and I were sent out together. We were second out in the starting order. Cathy’s horse, Stetson, was quite excited but Cathy rode so well you couldn’t really tell. Marie hung back last in her favorite position. A few miles out, Stephanie Buckley and her daughter caught up with us. There was another woman riding with them who was new to the sport. Her horse was very worked up dancing and tossing his head continually. Stephanie’s ponies are quite spirited but well behaved. The larger group was getting Cathy’s horse Stetson agitated. Finally Cathy told the other the they needed to ride on ahead. The woman riding with them said no they didn’t. Stephanie immediately said “yes we do” as she understood what was going on a led the way ahead of us. Stetson was much happier once they were out of sight. A little further down the trail we came to a lake where we could water the horses. We walked them in and I looked down and saw something long and thin swimming around. At first I though it might be a small eel. Then I notice there are more. A LOT more, and that’s when I realized they were leaches! YUCK! None of the horses wanted to drink. Just as we were leaving the pond, Scott Hatch pulled up with his truck. We said hello and were on our way. Very soon we came up on the woman that had been riding with Stepanie and her daughter. She was walking and her horse was not with her. She seemed to be ok so we told her to go back to the pond and catch a ride with Scott Hatch.

Cathy Demick on Stetson, Marsha Deleware on Piper & Cindy Ross on Marie

We got to the hold in good time. Marie just pulsed down in the 10 minutes allowed. All else was well. Vet still wasn’t thrilled with how she looked but let me continue. We were a few minutes late getting out of the hold but not enough to be a problem. The second half of the trail was good and we made good time. We finished in perfect time. When we got back I took Marie right to the trailer to sponge her down and wait for my final P&R for the day. I debated keeping her with Marsha’s horse but decided to see if she would be ok on her own. She wasn’t thrilled but was ok. But, just as the P&R person was getting ready to take her pulse, Susie came into camp and Marie spotted Spark. Marie’s pulse shot right up to 60. ACK! The P&R person gave Marie a minute and her pulse came right back down so all was well. I went up for the trot out. We were passed to ride the 2nd day. Susie didn’t want to wait around for awards so she packed up as soon as she was done and headed out. After I took care of Marie I took a nap for a while.

Kate Rogers, Louise Townsend, Amy Beem, & Allie Marie

Zephyr and Chindi


Stuffed Ponies made by Amy Beem



When I got up, I went up to Amy’s trailer to hang out with her. Louise Townsend had stopped in to say hi to everyone. Zephyr was having a great time playing with Amy’s dog Chindi. Supper that night was very good. Barbecued chicken, green beans, corn bread, salad, and a wonderful selection of cakes for desert. After supper was the award ceremony. After supper I walked Marie, then settled her in to her pen for the night with lots of hay and water. I put a wool cooler on her as it was cool out. Then, Zephyr and I headed for bed.

I was up early again in the morning. I fed Marie and walked Zephyr. Then I went to the food shack for breakfast. This morning they were serving pancakes. I sat and talked with Lois Crowley and Alan Wells. After I ate I got Marie ready to go. The ground was dry this morning and it was warm so I left Zephyr tied out. He was much happier outside. Once again Cathy, Marsha and I were second out in the starting order. Today Stetson was much calmer and Cathy was very pleased with him. The ride when well to the hold. We were riding the same trail as yesterday but made better time. Marie pulsed down fine. When we went for our trot out, the vet was very unhappy with the way Marie looked and told me I could not continue. After further thought, she told me to come back in 10 minutes for a recheck. I told Cathy and Marsha not to wait for me, so they headed out when it was time. I took Marie for her recheck. She looked a bit better though the vet still wasn’t happy. She decided to let me finish the day.

Cindy Ross on Marie

I quickly got ready and headed out. Marie moved right along at a good clip and in a few miles I caught up with Cathy and Marsha. They were happy to see me. There were a few times on both day’s rides when we had come across horse boogers or ATV that had spooked Piper and Stetson and Marie had been the one to lead them safely by. We finished in good time. I actually had to wait at the end of the ride before I crossed the finish line as I’d had time added for the time I’d lost at the hold. P&R’s today were all done up by the vetting area. There were not enough P&R people to go to everyone’s trailers. Marie pulsed down fine. The vet was still unhappy with Marie’s trot out so told me I’d have to come back in the morning for a recheck. Sigh……..

After getting Marie settled in her pen, I took a nap for a few hours. When I got up, I headed down to Melby’s to get a sandwich. I got back to camp and walked Zephyr then walked Marie. Supper and awards for the 60 mile riders was at 6:00. Tonight we had spaghetti and meatballs, salad and bread as well as more delicious cake. Char Jewell won the 60 mile ride. I headed to be quite early. I was finally able to get an internet connection so checked my email then went to sleep.

Amy Beem's horses Washburn and Weezie



I was up at 5:00 AM, fed Marie, walked Zephyr then headed for breakfast. Today we had breakfast sandwiches. After the riders meeting, I took Marie up for her recheck. She failed the recheck so we were done. Marie definitely was a bit off and she had dsome mild swelling in her left front leg that was not normal. I quickly packed up camp and headed home wishing Cathy and Marsha the best of lunch.

Several days after the ride, I took Marie to the vet as the swelling just did not go down in her leg. She had a strained suspersory and will on rest for several months most likely.

Crooked River 80 CTR 5/29/2010 14/S-12/F
Judges:
1. Shyrocco Lyric / Kimberly, Jenny
2. Leland / Savino, Ann Marie
3. Sammy / Rojek, Steve
4. Langwoods Lorelei / Stratemeyer, Joan H
5. Winn Star / Gibbon, Kyle
6. Texas Sonset SSH / Demick, Catherine
7. Bedrocks Handsome Fello / Alexander Lee R.
8. Patenaude Vulcain Gazelle / Gardener, Jeffrey
9. Charlestown Raphael / Daniels, Steven (Rich)
10. Lazaarr (Luke), Nielsen, Kyle
MCO Highcountry Piper / Delaware, Marcia E
MCO Theatric / Brunjes, Kathy
DNF Hawks Nest Expedition / Welles, Allen
DNF Marie / Ross, Cindy

VERDA Brown Bag 25 CTR Cornish, NH May 2010

It was the first CTR of the season. My new mule Louie is still on the injured list. This was supposed to be his first ride but alas, I had to fall back on reliable, good ‘ole Marie. Bonnie and I headed out for NH at about 10:00AM. We’ve never been to this particular ride before but with the aid of Martha (the GPS) we had an easy drive to the Cornish Fairgrounds where the ride was being held. It took 3 hrs. 50 min. The ride was The Cornish Fairgrounds was a very nice place. The weather was forecast to be rainy Friday night and Saturday so we reserved stalls for River and Marie and they were lovely big stalls. We got them settled in right away when we arrived, then set up camp. There were 30 + riders, but Saturday morning vetting was allowed so half the riders were coming in the morning. So, it didn’t take too long to get through vetting. River vetted in fine. But, the ride vet was a bit concerned over Marie. She doesn’t have pretty legs, and she isn’t a pretty mover.She never has been and never will be. Marie travels narrow behind and is stabby with her right rear leg. She has puff, and bumps and all sorts of other things that an older, hard working horse will get.  The vet judge for this ride has never seen my horse before. The vet judges that have seen my horse on a regular basis have gotten to know her and know that this is just normal for Marie and she always is fine. The vet judge did decide to let me ride but said she would be watching me closely. That was ok; I knew she had the best interest of my horse at heart. And she simply doesn’t know my horse like I do. After vetting in, we settled River and Marie back in their stalls and asked the ride manager if there was a decent place to eat nearby. She gave us direction to Windsor, VT. It was only about a 10 min. drive. We ate at a questionable looking little diner there. The food was fabulous! They had a buffet that night. We headed to bed soon after we got back from supper. We knew we’d be riding in the rain the next day so had come prepared. I have rain pants I ride in which work great other then they work up my leg over time, which is annoying. So, Bonnie donated a piece of elastic to me and I sewed stirrups onto the bottom of the rain pants.

I rained hard that night. We were sure glad our kids were snug in the nice stalls, and that we were snug in my nice trailer. It was still raining when we got up in the morning but not as hard. We were up about 5:30 AM. Bonnie heated up water while I went over to the barn to feed River and Marie. Then I went back over to the trailer for coffee and oatmeal. We set up our chairs in the trailer and were nice and dry there. There were 16 horses being vetted in this morning. So, we knew that would take a while. The ride would not be starting until 9:00 AM. When the rain slacked off a bit, we’d go out and socialize a bit, and then hide in the trailer when it rained harder. Because of the rain, I packed our hold gear into two buckets with waterproof lids. There is nothing worse then a wet, soggy hold bag. Bonnie and I were at the barn tacking up when I realized we were missing the riders meeting. I ran over to catch would I could, which wasn’t much. I did find out we were following pick ribbons and the hold was being shortened to 10 minutes due to the cold and rain. I was not happy about the 10-minute hold. Bonnie and I waited as long as we could to leave the barn but finally it was time to warm River and Marie up a bit so we ventured out of the dry barn out into the rain. Then, it was our turn and we were off. I knew this ride would be a bit challenging with hills. We don’t have much for hills at home so it is hard to condition for them. I had been out riding and conditioning more with Marie then Bonnie had with River, but Marie is more then twice River’s age at 19 years old. The first part of the ride was hilly but overall not to bad, I set a fairly moderate pace as I feared more hills and didn’t want to burn out Marie and River too much early in the ride. Much of the first part of the ride was on dirt roads. At one point, we came out of a woods trail into a field. We were looking around for the trail marker when suddenly Marie and River both just about jumped out from underneath us. Another rider had popped out of another trail into the field startling our mounts. She had taken a wrong turn and was looking for the trail again. There was a man in the field mowing and he pointed out where the trail was. So, the three of us rode on together. We came out on a tar rode and rode down this for a while. Eventually, we all realized we had not seen a trail marker in a while. We went on a little further until we came to an intersection. This came out onto a fairly busy road and there were no markers at all. So, we knew we were off trail! AGH. We turned around and headed back. On the way back, we came upon Vicky Smith and let her know she was off trail too and she turned and followed us back. Not far from where we met Vicky, we found the trail marker and headed down the trail. But, we had added at least two miles to our ride. The 4 of us stayed  together into the hold. There was a bit of a hill coming into the hold. Marie doesn’t pulse down quickly and this wouldn’t help. You are allowed 10 minutes to pulse down, but if the hold is only 10 minutes and you take all 10 to pulse down, there is no time left for the trot out. And forget about feeding yourself or your horse. The hold was held in a large field with lush grass. Though eating supposedly will raise a horses pulse, standing Marie on lush grass and NOT letting her eat will raise her pulse much higher as she frets hard about wanting to eat. So, I just let her eat. River was a little bit chilled and shivered just a bit. One of the P&R crew got a blanket for him. River’s pulse came right down quickly, but Marie took the usual full 10 minutes and then just squeaked in at 60 bpm. Then there was a line for the trot out so there was not chance of getting out of the hold on time. Though any time we lost that was not our fault, we would get back. River’s trot out was good. The vet still was not happy with Marie. She was now saying that Marie was looking uncoordinated in back placing her feet all over. She looked normal to me. The vet decided to let me continue but was worried. We headed out of the hold about 28 minutes after we arrived so I knew we should be getting an 18-minute credit. The second half of the ride was tough, tough and ummmmmm, oh, yeah, did I mention tough. We did a large section on woods trail. And we climbed a hill that just went on and on and on. It was very steep in sections and the footing was lousy from all the rain. Marie and River would try to dig in to climb but it was slippery. Marie was in the lead and she went slow and steady for a long time. River stopped a few times. Finally, even Marie was getting pooped and she stopped too and needed a breather. That hill literally went on for several miles seemingly without end. Then, of course, what goes up must come down. And the footing was the same going down, muddy…..not deep but slippery. Even when we did come to some flat sections of trail, it was just to slick to speed up. By the time we got back to the dirt road, I felt that Marie and River were too tired to push any harder and we walked the last 4 miles back to the fairground. There is no award that is worth risking my horse over and our ponies were tired. We did not make our time but we did not get disqualified. We were 21 minutes past our time and you are allowed 30 before disqualification. Had we not gotten off trail, we would have made our time.

It was raining harder when we finished, and we could not go back to our stalls until the vetting was complete. So, we tied River and Marie to the trailer, untacked and put their rain sheets on them. Both had good P&R’s and I was so relieved. I knew they were tired, but I had made the right call to not push them harder trying to make our time so they were fine, yes tired, but in good shape. We let them both graze while we waited our turn for hands on. Marie was calling and nickering to all the gray horse. Marie just loves gray horses. Male or female! Hands on went fine. Marie had no changes in her tack area and her legs looked better then when she started the ride. We had some time to kill between our hands on and trot out so we tied the ponies to the trailer again with hay and water. Bonnie put a second blanket on River as the vet thought he was a bit chilled. I have to say, Marie has always seemed impervious to all weather conditions. She is such a tough horse. Bonnie and I went down to the snack shack and each had a couple cheeseburgers. Then, we packed up what we could pack so we’d be ready to go after the award ceremony. Then it was time for trot out. River did a very nice trot out. Marie’s was good in my opinion, very willing and steady. The vet was surprised at how good she looked as she had been expecting the worse. She did feel that Marie was dropping her right hip and dragging her right toe just a slight bit more at the end but she said it was just a slight change. So, Bonnie and I actually both scored quite well. Bonnie got a 96 and I got a 95 ½. But, we both had a 21-point time penalty. I was just thrilled with getting a completion though with a horse and mule in good shape and ready to do it again soon! We didn’t leave until nearly 6:00 PM. We had a long but uneventful drive home.

3320 VERDA Brown Bag 25 CTR 5/8/2010
# Start: 24 # Finish: 22
J1. Lutka / Thompson, Casey
1. Old Vermont Rebel / Kimberly, Jenny
1. Picaboo Street (Pica) / Walker, Courtney
3. Beckie / Dockham, Peg
4. Empiric / Blittersdorf, Melody
4. Sir Douglas / Phillips, Christina
6. Con La Gracia / Limlaw, Gene
6. Ashmoro Billy Alan / Batchelder, Rhonda
6. Charlestown Raphael / Savino, Anne Marie
6. Texas Sonset SSH / Demick, Catherine
6. Sundance Tatezi / Smith, Vickie
11. WBA Chanceful / Johnson, Ray
12. Omars Montana / Bottesi, Marlene
12. Canequin's Reach For The Stars / Gesler, Liz
14. LBF Hickory Smoke / Fiddes, Esther
15. Juneson's Image / Bennett, Abbie
16. Craggy Lea Jazzy Lady / Ring, Wilson
17. Kalis 2862 / Abbott, Melissa
18. Silver Britches / Brooks, Leslie
c River / Hinz, Bonnie
c Marie / Ross, Cynthia
DNF Rockin Rudy / Hall, Kathy
DNF Sadie / Thurber, Lorraine
J2. Calamity Jane / Abbott, Logan

T.R.O.T. Sleigh Rally February. 2010

I went to my first ever sleigh rally Sunday. I trained my horse, Marie, to drive years ago and though I had not hitched her in years and she had never pulled a sleigh, I decided to take her and give it a try. Marie is such a good dependable girl I was quite sure it would be no problem.

The rally was held at my friend Amy's home. The first problem was I don't have a sleigh. Amy said not to worry, she would find me one to use. Ok, problem one solved. Second problem, there was very little snow with the fields being nearly bare. We waited and listened to the weather report all week hoping for some snow, but no such luck. While the rest of the east coast, mid-west was getting buried under record breaking snow falls, not a flake was falling in Maine. Even TX and FL were getting snow!!!!! Amy said it looked like it would be changed to a carriage rally. But, Saturday, Amy's husband, Gary, was determined it would be a SLEIGH rally so he started trucking in snow from every snowbank around and he used a manure spreader to spread the snow over the field. Then he had a snowmobile grooming machine come and groom the field. By Sunday morning, the sleigh rally was on! So, my (reluctant) husband, granddaughter and good old Marie headed out early and were the first to arrive. One of the Beem's barns was heated and it was all set up with the food, tables and chairs and the registration table. A nice place to get out of the cold. It wasn't a bad day but it was cold with a bit of a biting wind out in the open field.




Amy showed me my choice of sleigh's to use. There was a metal road cart that had removable wheels and runners you could put on. Then there was the absolutely adorable Portland Cutter. I could not resist the cutter. Maire was feeling a bit lonely and wondering were everyone was and being quite vocal about it. That is between bites of hay because nothing puts her off her food. I harnessed her up and took her over to the sleigh. She was a bit of a pill to get hooked up at first as people were starting to arrive and she wanted to know if any of her buddies were around. But, we finally managed. Then the big moment, I knew she had not forgotten how to drive, but would she mind the different feel and sound of a sleigh. I climbed in, took a deep breath and asked her to walk out. No problem at all. It was like she'd pulled a sleigh all her life. GOOD GIRL!!! I called Susie R. and left her a message to tell her the hitch was a success!




I took a spin around the field alone then took Madison, my granddaughter, for a spin around the field. I then unhooked Marie and tied her back at the trailer as it was a while before my first class. I went into the barn to warm up. Someone had brought some Yellow Lab pups that were for sale and that was the highlight of Madison's day. She could not take her eyes off those puppies for the rest of the day. Before I knew it, it was time to hitch back up again and get ready for my first class. This time Marie was much more cooperative and in no time I was ready. Marie was a bit fidgety so I had to keep her slowly walking around at first but then she settled down. A lot of people had shown up and there were also quite a lot of spectators. There was some beautiful draft teams giving sleigh rides and a few that were there just for the show. No mules though.




My first class was pleasure driving. It was a big class. Marie was wonderful and did everything asked. We didn't place though so apparently I didn't ask all the right things. Next was the reinsmanship class. That was done one at a time in the ring. You had to go in, stop at a cone for 4 seconds, then do a figure 8 pattern and out. I had a total brain cramp and managed to do a figure z or maybe a figure x or...... but it was NOT a figure 8! DUH! Oh well, once again Marie was great and did just as I asked. At this point, Susie called me back and said she and David were coming up to watch. Next I did the obstacle course. I did manage to get that right! Then on to the marathon course which I once again managed to do right and Marie was great and really getting into it.

I was asked by several people if I'd entered the 'half & half' class. That was the obstacle course done with two drivers in a sleigh. The first driver would go once around the course and as you came around by the start/finish line, you would hand the reins over to the other driver and then would drive once around the course. Well, I didn't have anyone to go with me. Amy said she would but just about then, Susie showed up. I grabbed her out of the audience and she was thrilled to help me out. Susie did great as did Marie of course. The obstacles were set up near the end of the field by the woods where there actually was some snow and there were a few spots that were getting a bit scary as it was a bit deep and getting rutted up with all the sleighs and a few times we were afraid we might tip, but didn't.



After the class, I took Susie for a spin around the whole field, then Susie helped me unhitch and remove Marie's harness. I gave Marie lots of hay which she attacked with her usual gusto. We all went in for lunch. Susie and David left before they gave out awards. That was too bad as Susie and I got 6th place in the 'half & half' class!!! And I got 2nd place in the marathon.

It was a wonderful day and I am so glad I went

GMHA 3 day 100 mile CTR, Woodstock, VT September 2009

I was up early on Thursday morning, loaded up Ruby and headed to Susie’s house. We were going together to the ride. The haul to the ride was uneventful. It took about 4 hrs. Both Ruby and Susie’s horse, Spark, were relaxed and ate plenty of hay in the trailer. Though Ruby did manage to poke out the screen in Susie’s trailer. She loves to ride with her nose stuck out the windows as far as she can get it.

The weather for the ride was going to be fabulous. No rain in the forecast at all. It was going to be in the 70’s during the day and 40’s at night. Low humidity. When we arrived and checked in, I had been $1 short on my entry when I sent it in. I only had 90 cents and had to borrow 10 cents from Susie. How pitiful is that. The ride was held at the GMHA ground (Green Mountain Horse Association) in South Woodstock, VT. It is a beautiful place. Many types of Horse venues are held here and they are high level events from carriage driving, eventing, dressage, endurance and CTR’s. As well as many pleasure trail riding events. There are 4 shed row barns as well as another huge barn for stabling. A covered arena, numerous outdoor arena, a complete high level cross country jumper course. There are also buildings for indoor gatherings and meetings. The grounds are beautifully kept and maintained. Woodstock Vermont is a beautiful area of hills and farms. It is a very wealthy area. The cows in Woodstock live in better accommodations then my house. Many of the homes border on being palatial and many of them are just second or summer homes of the wealthy. There are miles and miles of dirt roads there and that is the way the town wants to keep it. As well as the roads are miles and miles of wonderful trails. There are no public lands in Woodstock so all the trails are by the grace of private landowners. But the town is very equine oriented. There is also an ordinance against camping on Woodstock. You can’t set up a tent in the town. How strange is that. So, for most events at GMHA, you have to find a hotel, B&B or such to stay at. At this ride, GMHA members were allowed to camp on grounds but ONLY in self contained rigs and there could be no awning, campfires or such. There is also NO cell phone use in Woodstock as there is also a town ordinance against cell towers on private land. And there is no public land.

Anyway, the area is absolutely gorgeous. When we arrived, we first went to the GMHA office, got our ride packets and our stall assignments. We were in Barn “C” brook side. We quickly unloaded our stuff into our assigned tack stall. I had meant to bring my own shavings but forgot. So, had to pay their $10 fee for a bad of shavings. ECK!!!! In the next stalls down from us were Basi and Chris who Susie had met at a previous ride. They are a married couple and both compete in distance riding. As well as distance biking and swimming. Marsha Deleware was on the other side of us and we were very happy about that. She is a wonderfully sweet woman. Esther Fiddes was also on our side and she is just a riot. Once Ruby and Spark were settled into their stalls, Susie and I sat by the stream and had PB&J sandwiches. Then I walked Ruby and Spark while Susie set up “house” in her trailer. One woman we passed us made the comment about Ruby that “that certainly isn’t an Arabian”. I told her that wasn’t true as Ruby’s mother was a registered Arabian. The woman walked off with a puzzled look on her face. I passed the same woman a while later and she stopped me and asked me, “Ok, really, just what is she?” She had to be mule educated.

It was finally time for vetting and we headed up to the covered arena. The vet judge for the ride, Art King, had seen and vetted Ruby at a number of rides. He is a Ruby fan. The hands on went well with Ruby being a real lady. So, then the trot out…..We headed straight down to the end of the arena. At the end was a platform that is actually part of a deck connected to the meeting hall. There were a bunch of people sitting on the deck watching. Just as Ruby got half way around her first circle, she really noticed all the mule eating humans sitting up on that platform. At the same time she also noticed the open arena gate nearby. She immediately decided to exit the arena. THANKFULLY, she is not a bolter and when she got to the end of her lead line, she spun around to face me. She then got her head together and decided to trot her circles. She looked good and passed to start the ride. YIPPPEEEEEE!

After vetting, we had to go weigh in. EEEKK! We had to be weighed with all our tack. I had to keep telling everyone that my saddle weight 100 lbs. I don’t think anyone believed me. Susie and I visited with Marsha and Tracy for a while enjoying a glass of wine. For dinner that night there was a dress up banquet at a country club down the road. So, Susie and I dressed up off we went. Chris and Basi rode with us. Open cash bar was at 6:00PM. But with the wine being $10 a glass, I decided I would skip drinks. 6:30PM was dinner and the food was absolutely fabulous. After the meal there were several speakers that talked of their experiences of riding 3 day 100 mile events. There was a man there that was being honored for his years of riding this particular event. The man was 85 years old. The last time he rode the 100 was only 5 years ago when he was 80 years. Old. And he still rides every day.

When we got back to GMHA, Nancy and her friend were there. The were doing the pleasure ride that was being held at the same time as the CTR. Susie and I walked Ruby and Spark and let them graze before heading to bed. It was a beautiful night. Clear with a full moon. As every night following it was while we were there.

Friday morning Susie and I were up at 4:30AM. The weather was perfect as predicted. We fed then went up to the office for breakfast. Breakfast was simple being muffins, pastries and breads but all made by a professional bakery and absolutely delicious. There was a bit of a mix up in the starting order and they had Susie going out 2 minutes ahead of me. We managed to get that straightened out. The riders meeting was at 6:15AM. Then we tacked and got ready to go. Ruby was VERY keyed up. Susie and I mounted and were walking around warming up, we notice on young woman trying to mount her horse with little success. Her mother was trying to help her but was on crutches and was limited in how much she could help. When we come around the next time, we were just in time to see that the woman had mounted with the assistance with a few men holding the horse and the horse immediately started bucking. And that horse meant business. The horse ran bucking towards on of the barns, she turned when she got to the barn and headed back the way she came and she was still bucking hard. At this point the woman was still on but had lost one stirrup and was laying over the horses neck. The horse came up right behind a parked car and swerved around it throwing the woman hard into the car. She landed very hard. She did get up but you could see she was hurting. It took a number of people to catch the horse. And if the grounds were not mostly fenced, the horses would have been long gone. The woman did remount the horse but was very dizzy and confused and was sent to the hospital. We later found out she was ok. We also found out that her mother was on crutches due to being thrown from the same horse a few weeks earlier.



Susie and I were finally released to start at 7:00AM. Ruby and Spark headed out like gangbusters. We started out riding through the cross country jump course. Geesh but those jumps are scary looking but lovely to ride through. The trails were very tough as you were either always going up or going down. Very hilly and the hill were long. The footing was beautiful though. About 10 miles out, Ruby started shaking her head, then started stretching it down. This is not normal for her and I knew something was wrong. Though she was still very eager to go and I was actually holding her back. Her stride did shorten and she wanted to canter more then trot. So, I slowed her down much to her disgust. At the first water stop, Ruby was panting more then usual. It was not that hot so I was really getting worried about her. She still was very eager to go but I just knew things were not right. We got into the hold in good time. Ruby did pulse down ok but at the trot out was definitely lame. It was her left front. The same one we had the trouble with last year. I was heart broken. And so was Ruby. We were pulled from the ride at 20 miles. It was definitely the right thing to do to pull her. But I’ll admit I cried as I watched Susie ride out. And Ruby seemed to feel the same. She bawled for Spark as he left. I was very proud of her though. Once Spark was out of sight, she was so well behaved and entertained the volunteers with her mule antics and enthusiastic rolling. Another woman had also been pulled from the ride and both equines were trailer back to GMHA. I settled Ruby into her stall. She was not happy about being alone in the barn but behaved well. Since I had nothing better to do while waiting for the other to finish the ride, I cleaned all the stalls on our side of the shed row we were in. Then I sat and relaxed in my chair and snoozed. I was peaceful sitting there by the stream. Around 2PM it was announced over the loudspeakers that the first riders were due to come in anytime so I went up by the arena to watch. Each rider was announced as they arrived. And each rider had to ride once around the arena. Marcia and Esther came in together. Susie came in just a few minutes behind them. Spark looked real good, he pulsed down great and had a wonderful trot out. After we got him settled into his stall with plenty of food and water, we had our lunch. Ruby sure was glad to have Spark back. After we ate, I got Ruby out and her left front pastern was slightly swollen and she was showing even more lameness. That evening there was a BBQ. It was great as all the food had been so far. After the BBQ, I asked Art, the vet, if he would look at Ruby again. He did. He asked me not to give her anything because he wanted the treatment vet to look at her in the morning. And since the swelling was minor and her pain did not seem bad, he didn’t think this would be a problem.

Out friends that have come for the pleasure ride were staying at a local Inn. We went over there so Susie could take a shower. When we got back, we went walked Ruby and Spark on last time. Ruby was happy to get out of her stall. She is not used to being in one for so long. Ruby was getting tons of attention. Everyone loved her and she was accepting all the attention with her usual grace. Everyone was so sad she had been pulled. Everyone had really been rooting for her. It was so wonderful to have such open acceptance of her. Whenever I was walking around the grounds without her, people kept coming up to me and asking where “the mules” stall was so they could go see her. Quite time was at 9:00PM so we headed to bed then.

Saturday morning the alarm went off at 4:30AM. I fell back to sleep as I wasn’t riding. Susie said she would feed Ruby. I woke an hour late to the sound of Ruby braying because Susie had taken Spark out to walk. I got up and went up to the office for breakfast. The treatment vet came to look at Ruby. He was a very nice man. He had spent 20 years on a racetrack and had a lot of experience with lameness issues. Ruby’s left font pastern was still slightly swollen and she was still consistently lame when trotted. He asked her history and looked her over and really feels I am going to continue to have problems with Ruby. I must admit I only understood half of what he told me but it had to do with her ringbone and how it was affecting the ligaments in her pastern …. And so on. He said he would place bets that I will get two good rides, and one bad ride, and one good ride and two bad rides until she just broke down. He said he would guarantee she will develop arthritis in both pasterns as she has ringbone in both. He felt that riding would be good for her; endurance riding would not be so good. Just too hard on her joints with the speed and distance involved. Certainly not what I wanted to hear, but something I had suspected for a while.

After all the riders had gone out, I cleaned all the stalls on our side of C barn except for Joanie’s stall as her horse was still in it. I drove out to the hold to help out as a volunteer. I was soon very busy with my duties as professional horse holder and fetcher of food for hungry riders. The time went quickly and I had a good time helping. When Susie came in, she said the ride so far had been extremely hard with very steep climbing. It had taken them 2-½ hrs. to do the first 13 miles. That left them with time to make up on the 2nd half of the ride. And everyone else was on about the same pace. After all the horses had left the hold, I drove up to the top of Heartbreak Hill to watch some of the horses go by. I headed back to GMHA and got lost. But, not bad and soon found my way back. Once back I cleaned all the stalls on the opposite side of our barn. A man came over to tell me that he had been watching Ruby all day and wished the horses were half as well behaved as my mule. He just loved her and said he kept talking to her from his trailer while I was gone and she would nicker/grunt at him in reply. He was just so impressed with how well behaved she was with being all alone in the barn. I knew it wouldn’t be long until the first horses started to come in so I got Ruby out and walked her up toward the finish line. The swelling was out of her pastern and she was walking much better with only occasional signs of lameness at the trot. There was one arena up by the finish line with perfect mule rolling sand so I took her there so I could watch the riders come in. Ruby was in mule heaven there and rolled to her hearts content. By this time I realize that people are starting to follow me around with cameras when I had Ruby out. It was like hanging out with a movie star and being followed by the paparazzi!!! It was getting kind of bizarre. Ruby spotted some cows on a hillside across the road and was staring at them, ears pinned forward totally fascinated. The paparazzi went wild with all the beautiful posing. She would stare, head up, eyes bright, then prance a circle around me and pose again. Her antics spooked the first horse that came across the finish line so I quickly returned her to her stall. But, whenever I walked around without her, even more people were looking for her. I was thinking I would just make up some maps to her stall to hand out and start charging admission to see her. Overall I have received very positive reactions to Ruby in this sport. But this was over the top and really wonderful, if bizarre, to see. Susie, Marsha and Esther came in together on time. They were thrilled and exhausted. All three had great trot outs and were cleared to ride the last day. Susie, in her desperation to get clean quickly, took a bucket of water into her Sparks stall, stripped naked and bathed there with me guarding the door to keep people away.

Dinner that night was at a tack shop right next door to GMHA. Nice shop and the food was great. After the dinner, we came back to the barn and the party continued right in front of Ruby’s stall. Well, she just loved all the activity and really hammed it up begging for pretzels, of which she got quite a few. She was the hit of the party. Quiet time was once again at 9:00PM so we had to break the party up early and head for bed.

Sunday morning, Susie was up once again before me and fed Ruby. I came out soon after and walked Ruby when she walked Spark. Ruby continued to look better. I went up for breakfast while Susie got ready for the ride. Susie was once again riding with Marsha and Esther and I cheered them as they left. They only had 20 miles to ride and no hold. So, they would be done before 10:00AM. Once all the riders left, I went over to visit with my friends that were doing the pleasure ride. Nancy’s horse had gotten a swollen spot on his back that hadn’t gone down. And her friend’s horse had gotten horrible girth galls the previous day. So, neither were sure if they were going to ride. Joanie did ride but was worried as her horse was recovering from Lyme disease and still on antibiotics. And she’d had a long day the previous day because she’d gotten lost and done a few more miles then planned. As the pleasure riders were gathering to get ready for their ride, I went back to C barn and I cleaned all the stalls on both sides of our barn. Then I brought Susie’s truck over to the barn and packed everything up that I could. By then, it was time for the first horses to come in so I grabbed my camera and headed up to the arena so I could take pictures of everyone as they made their ride around the arena. Right on time, Susie, Marsha and Esther came in. I was so excited for them!!! All three horses looked good and all three riders looked exhausted but happy. Ruby was very happy to have her buddies back. All three pulsed down fine. Hands on were done first. When Susie was done with that, I got Ruby out and walked with her and Spark. She needed to keep him moving so he would not stiffen up before the trot out. Ruby was thrilled to be out and with her buddy. We let them graze a bit also. When it was time for Susie to go up for her trot out, I put Ruby back in her stall much to her disgust and went up to watch. Spark and Esther’s horse, Pokey, trotted out very well. Marsha’s horse Piper was a little bit lame but would get a completion. Everyone was thrilled. All the horses were settled in their stalls with lots of hay and water to rest and eat. And then we all went up to have our brunch. It was, yet again, absolutely wonderful.

This CTR is unlike any other I’ve been to in that the award ceremony is done mounted and in the arena with much pomp and ceremony. Very cool though a pain in the butt to saddle up again after having just finished riding 100 miles in the past 3 days. I went up and sat on a hill above the arena with Joanie and Nancy to watch and take pictures.

Halfway through the ceremony, my name was announced over the loud speaker for winning an award! I was a bit shocked when I was brought down the arena and given the “on ground sportsmanship” award!!! Apparently my barn cleaning, horse holding and food fetching and been much appreciated. It was embarrassing but very nice. (blush) Steve Rojeck came up to me later and said he thought it was his wife that had been cleaning his stall every day and he was wondering why she was being so nice to him. He thanked me and many others also came up to say how much they appreciated coming back from the ride to clean stalls. Well, it’s not like I had anything better to do and I find stall cleaning quite relaxing.

The past 2 days that Ruby had been alone in her stall, she had been quite. But, during the ceremony, she knew all the horses were nearby and she brayed during the whole thing. THANKFULLY, she was just far enough away so it was no disruption and everyone actually got quite a kick out of it saying she was just cheering for all the winners.

Once the ceremony was done, Susie wanted to get going as soon as possible. We didn’t have much more to pack up and one of our friends on the pleasure ride that was staying to the next day said she would strip out stall for us!! So, we loaded up and headed home. Susie was tired so I drove and we got home safe and sound.

Fryeburg 2 day 50 mile CTR, Fryeburg, ME July 2009

My favorite ride of the year, the Fryeburg 50. It is a 2 day ride of 25 miles each day. Bonnie came with me and she rode my horse Marie. Bonnie and I had planned to head to Fryeburg first thing Friday morning. But, it was pouring rain and wasn’t going to clear off until early afternoon. So, we decided to go later. I met her over at Susie’s house where I had to pick up my horse at noon. We had decided to go to the Town Landing for lunch but we loaded Marie into the trailer to keep Ruby quiet while we were gone. We knew as long as they were together, they would be happy as clams. After lunch we headed out. It is close to a 2 hr. drive to Fryeburg. The ride is at the Fairgrounds there and the grounds are lovely with wonderful shedrow barns. Nice bathrooms with showers. Everything is so convenient with water available at every 4th stall and being able to camp right in from of the barns.

We arrived at around 3:00 PM. The rain had let off by this time. Very quickly we realized that the mosquito’s were unusually bad. Actually, that doesn’t even begin to describe it. They were HORRIBLE! As someone described them as being in "biblical proportions". We quickly had Ruby and Marie settled into their stalls and camp set up. I had brought my dog, Zephyr along also. We cleaned both girls up and got in line to be vetted in. The vetting didn’t take long. Ruby and Marie both vetted in well. We settled them both back into their stalls and went into town for supper. When we got back, we were just being driven crazy by the mosquito’s. So were Marie and Ruby. There was no relief anywhere. Not in the barn and even the bathrooms were filled with them! No amount of fly spray seemed to help at all. We ended up putting light stable sheets and fly masks on Ruby and Marie to limit the amount of skin that was exposed to the mosquito’s. That seemed to help and they seemed much more comfortable. Everyone ended up heading to bed early as no one could stand staying out with the mosquito’s so bad. Not that there weren’t plenty in the trailer. We had to sleep with ourselves covered as much as possible. Zephyr slept up in the gooseneck with me, but on his own bed.

I woke up in the night and it was pouring rain. AGH! We got up around 5:00 AM to feed the girls. the mosquito’s were still horrible. We then went into the office for breakfast. The mosquito’s were horrible in there too! Steve Rojeck said in all the countries he’s competed in, and all the thousands of miles he’s ridden, he had never seen anything like it. Riders meeting was at 6:30 AM. Ride started at 7:00 AM. We got the girls tacked up and ready to go. The rain ended before the ride start. Our time out was 7:10 AM. Ruby naturally took the lead and headed out like she was on a mission. Before long we caught up with the riders in front of us. It was Marsha Deleware, Lois Crowley and another woman I didn’t know. I decided to stay with them as I know Marsha always sets a nice steady pace. AND she is fun to ride with. The 3 horses and Ruby all got along and traveled well together. We moved right along. Because of all the rain we’ve had this year, the ride manager was limited on trails. We could only do one of the agricultural field roads. We usually do quite a few miles in the fields. And we had to do several miles along the roads. But, it was that or sloghing through mud. We told her we’d be happy with the roads, there was enough mud on the trails as it was. And the mosquito’s were just as horrible out on the trail. Bonnie and I both had fly masks and fly nets for our equines necks. It really helped a lot. Before we knew it, we were at the hold. Marie was her usual rude self looking for the food she knew was there. Ruby was a lady and very good. Ruby pulsed right down. We had to use the full 10 minutes for Marie but that’s normal for her. At 10 minutes Ruby was 48, Rosemarie was 60. The trot out went fine for both. We had made such good time on the way out, that we had to go slower on the way back. We ended up walking the last 4 miles and then still waiting in the field before the finish line because we were back too early. While we were letting them graze while waiting, Bonnie suddenly yells at me, “Watch out, she’s going down!” While I was thinking, who’s going down, Suddenly Ruby and I are on the ground! Ruby had decided to roll. I yelled at her in surprise and thankfully, she got right back up. Finally, it was time to cross the finish line and we were done. Ruby pulsed right down to 40 at then end. Marie was at 58. Since it was a 2 day ride, that was ok. It was high but within parameters and would not count towards scoring. We did our trot outs and both girls did fine. Yahoo, we were both good to ride the next day. I was so relieved since I’ve been worried about Ruby since she had her injury last year.




The sun had finally come out and it was quite warm and much to our relief, the mosquito’s were not so bad. We had lunch and then sat with everyone visiting. Susie & David arrived and Marie knew right away that Cody was there and started hollering. Susie decided to camp at the barn behind the one we were in. The ride provided a nice supper. Joanie and Nancy showed up in the evening and camped out back with Susie. I decided to take a quick shower before heading to bed. I had so much bug spray on me, I felt like a walking chemical factory. The mosquito’s started getting bad again as it got later so we blanked Ruby and Marie again.

The 2nd day’s ride was the same as the first. We were up again by 5:00 AM to feed. The mosquito’s weren’t quite as fierce as the previous morning but still bad enough. We had breakfast, and after the riders meeting, tacked up. It had started to rain so we tacked up in the stalls. Ruby thought Marie had gone and she pitched a fit making getting her saddled a bit of a chore. By the time we headed out, once again at 7:10 AM, the rain had let off but we took our rain gear just in case. Ruby was even more forward and energetic then the previous day. The mosquito’s were once again quite bad on the trail. We eventually put on our rain jackets just to keep them off us. Not far from the hold, Susie caught up to us. We rode into the hold together. Once again, Ruby pulsed right down to 40. Marie just squeaked in at 60. We took extra time at the hold since we knew we had more time then we needed to get back to camp. We rode nice and easy on the way back walking the last 3 miles or so. We finished in good time.

At the end Ruby pulsed down to 38. Marie was 48. Not bad for her so I was pleased with that. The final trot out went well for both Marie and Ruby as did the hands on. After all the vetting was done, we settled Ruby and Marie into their stalls with lots of hay and water and finished packing up camp. Then we sat and relaxed until supper and awards.

Bonnie and Marie got a completion. Marie got 6 points off for lameness. She was not lame but she travels funny and this happens often. Ruby and I got 2nd place. Ruby only had a score of 98.5. She only got 1 ½ points off for windpuffs. I was so proud of her, she did such a great job!! Good mule!

Fryeburg 50 CTR 7/25/09 13/S-12/F
Judges:
J1. AJ Morning Star Wakita / Bedard, Cassidy
1. Beaujolais (L J)/ Rojek, Steve
1. Bedrocks Handsome Fello / Alexander, Lee
3. Guysborough Gray / Bridges, Jean
4. McAllister's Ruby / Ross, Cynthia
4. Silver Britches / Brooks, Leslie
6. Weasel / Fellows, Sally
7. Cry Me A River / Wright, Caliegh
8. Highcountry Piper / Deleware, Marcia
9. MDA Billy Four / Munn, Donna
10. Craggy Lea Jazzy Lady / Ring, Wilson
11. Marie / Hinz, Bonnie
DNF Ashmoro Billy Alan / Batchelder, Rhonda

Trails from the Crypt, Sumner, Maine October 2008

Cindy on Marie and Bonnie on River


The last ride of the season, and one of the best. I was taking my horse Marie. My friend Bonnie was going and it would be her mule, River’s, first CTR. The weather was predicted to be good, if a bit cool. We were excited though I was sure going to miss riding Ruby.

We headed out after Bonnie got off work and arrived around 3:00 pm. We quickly set up the pen and turned out Marie and River with hay and water. Though they were most interested in the lush green grass. As we were setting up camp, Terry York came down from the vetting area and asked if we could get up to the vetting as soon as possible since we were the last ones to be vetted and they could be done. So, we went up immediately. Bonnie and I decided to switch equines for the trot outs. River had not been previously trained to trot in hand or on a lounge line. I had worked with him a few times the week before the ride so we thought it would be best if I did his trot out. Marie is an old pro at trot outs so that would be fine with Bonnie. River did great. He was a bit confused but did fine. Bonnie and Marie did great also and we both passed the vetting with flying colors.

After settling River and Marie back into the pen, Bonnie and I finished setting up camp then headed over to the house. The Ride manager, Laura, opens her house for the ride. It is wonderful since it can be cold this time of year and nice to have somewhere warm to hang out and socialize. And, Laura always has lots of good food. We ate, then there was a brief ride meeting. Then we just visited with everyone until it was time to go to bed. It was cold overnight but Bonnie and I both came prepared with our 0º sleeping bag, down comforters and plenty of warm clothes.

The hard part was getting up in the morning……but not too bad. At least there was no wind. That makes a difference at this ride site at it is in a huge open field on the side of a mountain. There was ice on the top of the water buckets. River and Marie had been pretty quiet overnight and we slept quite well. We got up, fed the critters and quickly headed into the house for some breakfast and coffee. Before long, it was time to saddle up. We mounted up to warm up about 20 min. before out ride time. I could tell Bonnie was a bit worried about how River would handle everything. And when we went up to the drive way, where everyone was riding to warm up, River spun back once as it worries him just a bit to have thing coming at him head on. But, we waited for a quiet space and went up onto the driveway and he was fine. Pretty soon, it was our turn to head out. Susie was riding with us. At the last minute, Marsha Deleware asked if she could join us also. Ride management ok’d it and we all headed out together. We were glad to have Marsha along. Bonnie was very worried right at first. River was a bit excited and she wanted to keep it slow. But, we headed right off at a trot sure that he would settle right out in no time. He did and was wonderful the whole ride.

Cindy on Marie, Marsha on Piper and Bonnie on River



We made very good time. At the hold, I had some trouble getting Marie pulsed down. She wasn’t high enough to worry about but just over the max. FINALLY, she came down and it was a rush to get out of the hold on time. We didn’t make it and were about 5 min. over. But, the trail was easy and we were ahead of time coming into the hold so weren’t worried.

The second loop went great. We had to slow down a bit so we wouldn’t come in too early. And even then, we had to stop in the field near the finish line and let the horses and mule graze a bit before we could cross the line. That was good for Marie though. I would not have to worry about getting her pulsed down at the end. Bonnie and I traded equines for the trot out again. River was not worn out for sure and he was still a bit confused about the whole trot out thing. He took right off, bucked and kicked and cantered a few circles before settling into a trot! Silly mule! Marie did her usual lackluster trot. Though Bonnie added a bit of excitement by dropping her lead rope. Marie nearly completed the trot out on her own before realizing she was loose and wandering off across the arena. Hands on went uneventfully.

We settled River and Marie back into their pen with hay and water and went into the house for the meal and to wait for the awards. The meal was fabulous!! And then awards …. (drum roll) ….. Bonnie got 4th place overall with a score of 99 with River!! Yippee!!! And we later learned there was a 4 way tie for 1st place all with a score of 99. The mule did us proud!!!!





Cindy doing final trot out with River


Trail from the Crypt 25 Oct 18, 2008 20/S-F
Judges: L. Buggia DVM - J. Brunjes
J1. SA Mr Madazsin / Potter, Christina
J2. Dew Drops Te Party / Buckley, Sarah
1. Slar Alladins Storm / Seams, Peter
1. Alar Enchanted Safire / Seams, Cynthia
1. Attala / Dockham, Peg
1. River / Hinz, Bonnie
5. Innis Free / Palmer, Judy
5. Aramis / Robbins, Kathleen
7. Michabou KT Brigadear / Rice, Stephanie
8. SS Polar Ice / York, Cara
9. MacKenzie / Reinheimer, Susan
9. SPD Carousel / O'Connor, Colleen
11. Nikademus / De Falco, Sarah
12. Nerzans Lady Mariah / Bonneau, Heather
13. Marie / Ross, Cindy (93.75 pts)
14. Potaca / Rice, Bill
15. Kheme-o-Alexs / Fortucci, Ashley
15. Highcountry Piper / Deleware, Marsha
17. Miss Dixie / Abbott, Melissa
18. Cliffes Copper Penny / Buckley, Stephanie

Western Maine 55 mile endurance ride, Fryeburg, ME July 2008

I decided to go to the Western Maine endurance ride. This is a five-day ride with 50 to 55 miles each day. Each is a separate ride. There is also a 30 to 35 mile limited distance ride each day. And if you rode the same horse for 3 consecutive days, Wed, Thurs & Friday, then you would be eligible for the “Pioneer ride” awards. Since Ruby had done so well at the Moonlight 50 in VT 10 days earlier, I decided to try for the Pioneer ride.

The day I was heading out to the ride, the farrier had to come to my house to replace a shoe on my boarder’s mule. Now my shoes were only 11 days old but with so many miles to be ridden over the next few day, the farrier wanted to check Ruby’s shoes to make sure they were all good and tight. He found a broken nail on Ruby’s left front shoe. He pulled one end of the nail out the top of her hoof with no problem. But, when he pulled the nail head end out of the bottom of her shoe, Ruby just about jumped through the ceiling! That nail had been moving around and created a bit of a hole and she was a little sore from it. He pulled the shoe off and reset it. She was fine with that. He did not put another nail in that area of course. He only puts in 3 nails on each side, the first 3 from the toe. So, he used the 4th nail slot behind where the broken nail was. When he was done, we trotted Ruby out and she looked sound. The farrier was worried but didn’t see any reason not to go to the ride. So, I loaded Ruby up and off we went.

The ride was located at the Fryeburg Fairgrounds. It is a large and beautifully maintained fairground with nice shed row stalls. Water piped in between every 3rd stall. You can park your trailers and camp right in front of the stalls. And the big bonus is there are nice bathrooms and showers. This is my favorite place to ride from.

Ruby loaded right up with no problem at all and we had an uneventful trip to the fairgrounds. I arrived around 3:00 pm. The weather was lovely. It was in the 80’s with a nice steady breeze. As soon as I got Ruby settled into her stall, I registered for the 3-day Pioneer ride. When I presented Ruby for her vetting, I explained about the broken shoe nail. Art King was the vet. Art has seen Ruby many times now at rides and just loves her. He was at the first ride Ruby and I ever did and was the first vet to “vet” her in for a ride when she surprised Art and me with a mortal fear of stethoscopes! She is very much over that now. Ruby was slightly off on her trot out. But very slight and the vet didn’t feel there was much to worry about and passed her to start the ride.

I took Ruby out in a big field to graze for a while then settled her back in her stall with lots of hay. Some of the riders that had ridden that day were giving me warnings about how tough the trail was for the 55-mile ride. They said there was a section of very rocky trail with some bad mud holes. A few riders withdrew from the 55 mile ride and changed to the 35 mile ride so they wouldn’t have to go through that section of trail a second day. Oh, great! Bill Rice was one of the riders that switched from the 55 to the 35. What have I gotten Ruby and I in to? Well, tough trail is a mules specialty. I asked Bill where his wife was and if she was riding at all. He told me that she had been kicked by a cow the previous day and had to go to the hospital! Poor Stephanie! She was going to be fine but had a bad bone bruise and had to take it easy for a while.

Later as I was sitting in a chair resting in front of Ruby’s stall Elliot Bridges came by. He told me he heard a mule braying and knew it must be me. Ruby was being very vocal. There were no horses in any stalls close to her so she was talking to everyone. I rode with his Elliot's wife Jean at the Crooked River CTR this spring. As usual, I had the only mule at the ride. Elliot and his wife Jean are from Canada. I was thrilled to see them. Jean is 71 years old and an inspiration to me. She rode the Fryeburg 2 day 50 mile CTR on Saturday and Sunday, and then stayed to ride the Western Maine 250 through the week. She was riding the limited distance rides and planning to do 4 of the 5 rides.

The ride provided a very good spaghetti supper and then they had the award ceremony for Tuesday’s ride. I had a nice time visiting with Janet Brunjes and Irving. Janet was scribing for the vets and Irving was doing some of the LD rides. After the awards ceremony, I took Ruby out to graze again. A lot of people were out grazing their horses and it is a fun time for humans and equines alike to socialize. And there were few bugs! This was an unexpected but pleasant surprise. I settled Ruby back in her stall and fed her. Then got everything ready for the ride and packed into my hold bag. I did not have anyone to crew for me on this ride. This would make things harder but I’ve found everyone on these rides to be so helpful and ride management will provide what “public” water they can at the holds for us crewless competitors. And will get your hold bags to the holds also. Before I went to bed I gave Ruby a buffet of dengie, beet pulp with carrots and alfalfa cubes to munch on during the night and buried her in lots of hay. I also gave her some loose minerals and loose salt in separate pans. She really went for the minerals. And though she still had no neighbors, she was quiet through the night.





I slept fitfully and was up at 4:00 AM to feed Ruby. The ride start was 5:30 AM. I was quite chilly. I heated up some water for oatmeal with fresh wild blueberries. And got coffee at the ride office. Ruby was very eager to go and danced around some when I was saddling her up. I decided to start out riding her in her hackamore. She has just been so good at all the rides this year I did not foresee any problems controlling her with just the light hackamore. We warmed up for about 10 minutes then we heard the anticipated “trail is open”. Ruby and I were second out of the gate. I just let Ruby choose her pace and she took up a big lovely trot. She quickly passed the rider in front and we led the race for the first 45 minutes. The first 10 miles were flat and easy. There were long stretches through agricultural fields where Ruby would get on a nice easy canter for several miles at a stretch. A couple riders passed me, then I was doing well maintaining a 3rd place spot. At the first few Pit crew stops, some other riders pit crew would always offer Ruby water or ask if we needed anything. This is what I mean about everyone being so supportive and wonderful that endurance rides. Kathy Brunjes dumped water over Ruby as several pit crew stops. And it shows what a pro Ruby as become that she is no longer startled by a stranger running up to her and pouring a bucked of water over the top of her neck. I was going along at a good canter when suddenly I came out of the fields onto a road and realized there were no marker ribbons. Dang!!! When had I seen the last one???? I realized I was off trail and had to backtrack. RATS!!!!!! As I was heading back, I came across a rider, Cindy Nelson, coming my way. I told her there were no markers down this trail and I was sure we were both off trail. She turned around also and we went back. Not far from where I met her, we found the trail and got back on course. But, 3 riders had passed us while we were off trail. Cindy’s horse and Ruby were well matched in pace and we stayed together the rest of the ride. Cindy was a lot of fun to ride with. We hit some long hills just before coming into the hold. The first loop to the hold was 16 miles. It was warm now and a bit humid but not bad at all. The first hold was 45 minutes and we had to strip tack. Ruby passed her vetting fine and the vet thought she looked better then when she vetted in the previous day. I offered Ruby beet pulp with some grain, carrots and apples in it. As well as some dengie and alfalfa cubes. She ate well. She had not taken a drink yet.





Cindy and I headed out together for our second loop. This loop was 22 miles and very tough. We started right out on some long hills. Then we went onto national (or state?) forest land and what were really hiking trails. This was very rough. There were lots of short but steep hills. It was very rocky and a few very nasty mud holes. Ruby was in her element here and did fabulous often leading the way. Cindy commented a number of times how nice she thought Ruby was and it was making her want a mule. We caught up with Steve Rojeck and 2 others riding with him at a river crossing. Steve is on the US Endurance team and has been competing all over the world…… forever I think! There was a bad bridge that could not be crossed by horses and we had to go around. Steve and those with him and gone to the right side of the bridge to cross and it was not a good spot. It was soft and muddy with no good way out on the other side. They floundered around and had a hard time getting out. The left side looked better. The footing in the water was good and the far side had a nice place to get out. But there was a straight drop off into the water on the near side and none of their horses would jump off that bank into the water. I pointed Ruby at it and she didn’t even hesitate. She gave it a quick look, and jumped right off the bank into the river! GOOD MULE! Ruby and I came through with no trouble at all. Cindy’s horse followed Ruby. You should have heard all the “Wow, did you see that!” “That mule didn’t even hesitate”. “What a great mule”. I was so proud of Ruby that my head was swelling so bad it’s a wonder I didn’t fall out of the saddle from being so top heavy!

Cindy’s husband took care of Ruby as well as his wife’s horse at all the pit crew stops. The second hold was at the same place as the first hold. This was another 45-minute hold where we had to strip tack once again. Ruby passed the vetting just fine. And she was drinking well now. She ate well too.

The last loop back to camp was the same 16-mile loop we came out on. Ruby was getting a little tired now but it didn’t take much encouragement from me to get her to keep up with Cindy’s horse. And a few times, when Cindy’s horse lagged a bit, Ruby would take the lead and get him though. In that last loop I suddenly got so thirsty I was ready to jump off Ruby and suck water out of a road ditch! I had brought water with me but apparently not enough. Cindy offered me her last swallow of Gatorade and it was a lifesaver! Cindy and I crossed the finish line tied for 6th place. And we were cheered across the finish line by no other then IVAL! I was so glad to see her! I immediately stripped off Ruby’s tack and sponged her with lots of cool water. You could tell that Ruby had had enough. That was the longest distance we’ve done and faster then we’ve gone before. Our ride time was 7 hrs. 28 min. Ruby and I could have stood for the Best Condition award. But, Ruby was tired and I knew there was no way she was going to do a trot out in circles that would look good enough to win the BC award. And, at the end, her pulse was down, but not steady. I had a long talk with the vet and we decided it would be in Ruby’s best interest if I didn’t ride the next day. I would give her a day off and ride again on Friday. I kept a close eye on Ruby for the next hour or so to make sure she was fine. She snoozed for a while but was drinking, pooping & peeing. You know, all the things you want to see a tired but healthy equine doing. I visited with friends between checking on Ruby. First Jean & Elliot, then Bill & Stephanie. Finally, I went over to visit with Ival. She and Wendy were very busy getting ready for the next days ride so I didn’t bother them for too long. Though I did have Ival take me to meet Shorty. She is a very nice horse. I really liked her. Later I took Ruby out to let her graze for a while. She was huffing down grass like she had never eaten before. She looked very good and was her usual alert self interested in everything going on.

Dinner was great. Pulled pork with beans (yeck!) and salads. Steve Rojeck sat at my table. He mentioned how impressed he was with Ruby at the river crossing and was interested in her breeding and previous experience. He wanted to know if all of Anthony’s mules are as nice as Ruby. The awards ceremony followed. After taking Ruby for one last walk and letting her graze on some more grass, I settled her in for the night and went to bed early.

Thursday dawned very cloudy. I fed Ruby who had begun nickering insistently at around 4:00 AM. Everyone was disappointed when they found out I was not riding. Ruby has built up quite a fan club. Her wonderful work ethic on the trail and sweet disposition has won the hearts of everyone. I decided I would crew for Ival and Wendy. I didn’t tell them but would surprise them at the first pit crew stop. I unhitched my truck, filled my water tank with water, loaded up buckets, sponges, carrots and all else they might need and headed out. At the first pit crew stop, I cheered them on, quickly sponged Shorty, gave her a carrot and they were off. They all came into the hold looking great. This was a 45-minute hold with mandatory tack off. It took Shorty a bit longer then Wendy’s horse to pulse down but she is a bigger horse and it is her first 50-mile ride. Shorty was fine and was soon passed through the vet check. And I was once again impressed with what a sweet horse she is. I did what I could to help Ival and Wendy then. Making sure they had their hold bags, holding horses so they could take care of themselves. Just before they left the hold, the rain started. And it rained hard. Ival had a raincoat with her but decided not to wear it. It was quite warm out and she figured she would probably get just as wet sweating in it. Wendy did put a raincoat on. They left the hold right on time. There were 4 of them riding together. By the time they got to the 2nd pit crew stop, we were in the middle of a nasty thunderstorm. Once again, I offered water and carrots to the horses but none of them needed to be sponged for sure! At the 3rd pit crew stop, Lynn Heartman was just waiting there with her horse that was very unhappy and bouncing around. I finally got out of my truck (I was hiding in there staying out of the rain) and asked if everything was ok. She said she had lost her riders card and she knew the rider behind her had picked it up. So she was waiting for her because she had to have the card when she got to the next hold. I told her I would get the card for her and I would be at the hold by the time she got there. She was very relieved and headed out. Ival and her group came though soaked to the skin but looking great and everyone was still smiling. The 4th pit crew stop was out in a cornfield and you had to drive through the field and across a river to get there!Only those of us with trucks could go to this one. And I sure recognized the spot because it was where I had gotten lost the previous day. Because not all the crew vehicles could get to this stop, I offered water and carrots to all the riders that passed me here while I was waiting for Ival to come through. The rain would let up at times but then come down in buckets again. I was so glad I was not out riding and could have kissed the vet who talked me out of it! The 5th pit stop was not far from the 4th and they almost beat me to it. When I got to the second hold, it was raining buckets once again. I hid under a tarp with the vets and scribes until I thought it was close to time for Ival to arrive. Then I got everything ready for them setting food and water out for the horses. They came into the hold still looking good. Wet but good. Shorty was doing great. Ival was getting tired but doing just fine. Due to the rain, the hold time had been shortened to 30 minutes and no tack off. Ival was too worried about taking care of Shorty that she really was not taking care of herself enough! Most of us do that though. It was still raining as they headed out on the last 16-mile loop. The trail had to bypass the agricultural fields this day. They were having a problem with some kind of potatoes blight and were spraying some heavy-duty chemicals on them. I met them at the last pit crew stop and they were all still looking fine.

When I got back to camp the rain had finally stopped. I dropped off all of Ival and Wendy’s things at their trailer and went to check on Ruby. Boy was she terribly offended at having been left behind and me not being there all day. She nickered to me when I pulled up, but when I came up to her stall, she went to the back and was just giving me a very offended and hurt look. She wouldn’t come to me until I opened the door and went in. Then she came right over and loved up to me. I took her out and grazed her until Ival came in. Ruby and I escorted Ival and Shorty across the finish line. Shorty looked great. Ival was very tired but fine. I was so happy for her.

Just a little later I took Ruby over to be vetted out for Friday’s ride. She was quite lame at the trot! Her left front pastern was a bit swollen. Both vets looked her over and had me trot her out a bunch of times. One vet thought she was lame on the left front and the other vet said it was the left rear. They checked her with a hoof tester but didn’t really get any reaction out of her. They poked and prodded and felt her legs back and front. She stood quiet and calm. One vet held up her back leg to do a flexion test. And he told everyone that was standing around us that this was a rare moment that you would ever catch him bent over near the back end of any mule holding up it’s back leg. And he said that was how impressed he was with Ruby’s disposition and manners. Ruby was no worse with the flexion test. They both palpated her all over and did find she was a little sore in her left hip. So, they came to the conclusion that the broken shoe nail had made her sore in the left front and she was taking more weight on the left rear causing that hip to get a little sore. In any case, I was not going to be riding Friday. And I was not going to make her stand around in a stall another night. So, I decided to pack up and bring Ruby home. While I was packing up Cindy Grant and her daughter Emily came over to say hello. I felt so bad that I would not get more time to visit with them. It was so nice to see them. But, they don’t really live that far from me so we will just have to get together some time.

So, I had a great ride and Ruby was a super star. But, now I will give her some time off and make sure she heals up. I will soak her foot as it may very well develop an abscess. Poor Ruby has had a tough year so far with first the pulled shoulder and now the broken shoe nail. I should have just kept riding her barefoot!!!! Both problems were caused by shoeing!

Western Maine 55 July 30, 2008 12/S-11/F
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