Pine Tree 50 endurance, Waterford, ME June 2010

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

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

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

Cindy Ross riding Short's Flame



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

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

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



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

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