Thanks to Matt and his dad Jerry, the camp trailer was all wired up. They worked hard to have it ready in time and I am so grateful to them for that. But we still needed to wire up the Suburban with a brake controller, so Olsen Brothers agreed to do it for us right away.
When we got home from dropping off the Suburban at the shop I noticed the front door was wide open. BeBe was on the couch looking out the window, and I went in and called Bonnie and she was curled up under a blanket, but Buddy (my pit bull) was missing. Nooo! We canvassed the neighborhood, I on foot and Matt in the Camaro. I saw the AC officer and flagged him down but he hadn't gotten any calls about a loose dog. I gave him my information and headed in the opposite direction. I called 'Buddy-Buddy-Buddy' in my excited voice and within a block he was charging towards me. Good boy! Got him settled back in the house and gave the AC officer a thumbs up when he drove by to check on the situation.
The goal was to leave town by 2 pm but it wasn't until after 3 that we actually were able to pull out in our little convoy. Ruth in her pickup hauling the two horses, and us with the Suburban and camp trailer. We stopped to check the air in the tires as one was low on the horse trailer. Finally, on our way!!
The weather was nasty leaving town but it didn't last very long as we drove right on through it. Ruth drove faster than us and soon lost us, as the wind was not good to us and whipped us all over the road. Note to self, a lifted truck does not a good hauler make! It was a drive of a little over 2 hours, and upon arriving in Othello we had two options for reaching ride camp. We chose the latter option which put us through Othello and entering the Wildlife Refuge on the back side. We missed our turn (seeing the "Endurance Ride" sign a moment too late) and had to drive until we found a spot big enough to turn around. Once we took our turn onto the gravel road it was slow going. Very narrow curvy roads through what seemed like massive range-lands. Really lovely scenery, plains and bluffs and clouds and cattle. We crossed a rickety narrow little bridge and Matt made me get out and take a photo.
We had a couple options to choose a fork in the road, and thankfully we guessed right each time and soon descended upon Ride Camp. We stopped and I climbed up on top of the Suburban for a photo. We could see Ruth right at the edge and she already had her electric corral set up with the horses settled in. (She is dead center with the little black Dodge pickup)
We pulled into camp and I got out and helped guide Matt through as there were dips and holes and shrapnel shells all over the place. We parked next to the corral and I was in a rush to get Sinwaan groomed before his vet check. Matt needed help leveling the camper and then he decided he needed to unhitch it and then the trailer slid back a little so he had me and Ruth behind it pushing on it while he did who knows what trying to get it all squared away. Finally he had it steadied so Ruth and I walked down to the Beginning Riders Meeting and we were late. They had us sign a tablet as beginning riders so we could get a special completion certificate (neat idea!) What they were talking about was stuff I already knew so I went up in the GIANT motor home with "Office Open" sign on the door. It was nice and warm in there and I picked up my vet card and some other paperwork, but I forgot a map so I had to go back for that later. I asked about when to vet in and they said I should try to do it right away. I told Ruth what was going on and that I needed to go back and get Sinwaan asap to try and be done with him before the main ride meeting. I told her she could stay and listen to the beginners meeting or she could go back with me and vet Topper through. She didn't really feel like a lot of the beginners ride meeting applied to her as a trail rider so she went back with me to get her money so she could enter the trail ride upon her return.
I went and pulled Sinwaan out of the corral he shared with Topper and got to work grooming him. He had mud caked all over one side from rolling in his pasture at home (we had been in such a rush to get out of town I didn't have time to groom him before we left). He was really shedding out and hair was flying all over the place. Nothing like horse hair in your mouth to gross you out! LOL I got him as presentable as I could as quickly as I could and Ruth and I walked the horses down to vet them in. Well we barely made it, I think we were the last horses to go through that evening. Sinwaan scored well, one B+ for gut sounds and the rest were all A's. I think Topper also got all A's on his card, so we were off to a good start. We took the horses back and got them settled and we heard a very loud horn that sounded like a semi-truck. It was the RV announcing the start of the ride meeting. 
I went in to say goodbye to Matt and Levi, and the poor little tyke was crying, Matt thought the horn had scared him. Matt had things he needed to do and wanted a break so I bundled Levi up in a quilt and carried him down to the ride meeting. Everyone was gathered around the outside of the RV and it was getting COLD! Sprits seemed high and I was glad to hear there would be no gates. We had driven over some cattle guards coming in and I was wondering if we would have to pass through any fencing on the trail. The head vet spoke about the weather conditions and special concerns; for example because of the cold they were requiring all riders to check in with the out timers 15 minutes prior to the start to show you were warming up your horse. They also recommended not to sponge your horse even though they might get warm. They also noted that if you had a rump rug or blanket you should be using it on this ride. They warned that the cold would likely have some horses wanting to go faster than usual but for us to please keep our horses in control and at a reasonable rate to avoid tying up. They listed signs to watch for if your horse is tying up. It was a very informative meeting. Levi seemed to enjoy being there too, peeking out from his quilt in my arms. Someone made the announcement that if you are riding for AHA points there was additional paperwork to fill out and I meant to do that but forgot at that point.
They had changed some of the start times and I was thrilled to hear my division of 25 mile riders starting at 9 am. This meant I could get up at 7 am and have plenty of time to eat breakfast with the family, groom and saddle Sinwaan and warm him up before we hit the trail.
When we got back to the camper I decided I would take the advice of fellow riders that I had read about. Dress in your ride clothes before bed, so when you get up you are already in warm clothing. Great advice by the way! I slept in my jodhpurs and wool socks and turtleneck and t-shirt and sweatshirt and when I got up I saved that much time getting dressed in addition to already being semi-warm.
I also got my saddlebags ready. I looked over that knife I had found when I was out riding last weekend and cleaned it up and it appeared to be in great shape. I made sure I had my spare hoof pick. I packed a couple granola bars, filled my water bottles and had them ready to go. I also carry a compass/whistle/thermometer and toilet paper but haven't used either yet. I packed my vet card and disposable camera on top for easy access. I also packed one of my red EasyBoots in case we lost a shoe. I left room for my heart rate monitor and borrowed a velcro loop from Gail after the ride meeting. I packed a disposable (red) poncho in case of inclement weather but prayed I wouldn't have to use it.
Then I got to work on my rump rug. I was not sure how to attach it to my saddle since I have no rear D-rings. Ruth to the rescue! She said "why don't you just use duct tape?" Well why not? She had some in her truck and willingly shared it with me and helped me figure out how to make it work. We didn't want to put it sticky-side down onto the saddle so we ended up folding the tape over on itself through the middle and open on the ends, then put the ends through the rump rug rings and attached it back to itself over the seat of my saddle. Then we brought additional leads down to the keepers to help secure it. Well this worked like a charm and I never even felt it. I was excited because it felt like I was finally becoming a real endurance rider by finding another use for duct tape! LOL!!
At one point we heard some thundering hooves and someone yelling "Loose Horses!" and Ruth went out to see what was going on. She said it was so dark out there she really couldn't see much of anything, but our horses were still contained and doing well.
I also took time to review the ride map. Well I had trouble making out the loops, colors, distances, and did not see on there where the water stops might be. It just frustrated me. I got about as far as determining that the pink loop was first, the blue loop was second and some of parts of it was shared trail. I hoped it was well marked and decided to just try and follow people tomorrow as my game plan until I found someone to ride with.
Once my tack was all ready and everything was done, horses blanketed and tucked in for the night, we went to bed (about 9:30 I think). We had been having some trouble with the furnace in our camper. The fan didn't work so even though the pilot light was working, and we turned it to "on" it would not really put out any heat. So we finally gave up on that and would heat water on the gas stove to try and warm the camper up a little before we got all tucked in. It was too cold to have Levi sleep on his own so he slept on my chest and seemed quite happy and content there, although I really didn't get any sleep. I was worried the sleeping bag would go over his head so I kept checking him. I was also pretty darn excited about the ride. We all fit pretty well in the camper, with us in the dining room table/bed and Ruth on the sofa.
2 comments:
Anticipating part 2....and pictures... :)
Oh the sunset is beautiful!
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