Home On The Range: Friday

We all arrived in ride camp at about 5 pm on Friday afternoon. The wind was blowing pretty hard. Ruth parked and then Mr Williams came over and told her that the trail was right there and she was the last truck in the row allowed to park there. So we all moved to the next row and lined up.

We unloaded the horses and Sinwaan had an obvious bloody spot on his leg. CRAP! All the other horses looked good. We took turns running to the restroom (the closest porta-potty was about 3 or 4 rows over) and then set up camp. I put up Sinwaan's hot tape paddock between Ugly and the camper to try and help block the wind and also to make it more secure. I also like to see him out the camper windows. I was thinking it would probably be a good idea to get him to the vet sooner rather than later due to his leg in case they had any advice or ointment.

We all headed over together. First we had to go into the Quonset hut to get our paperwork and vet cards. We took turns holding horses and going in. I was able to get my lucky (?) number #21 so I was happy about that. There were a lot of handouts and I grabbed all of them for reading later.

There was not too much of a line so we were able to vet through fairly quickly. Everyone looked great, and I think this was the best score Sinwaan has ever gotten - A's for everything, including gut sounds (usually after trailering over he scores a B). He also had the lowest pulse rate of all four horses. Dr Mike took a look at his leg and told me I should keep it covered to help keep it clean but that it didn't look too deep. He wanted me to come back and trot by in the morning to make sure it wasn't swelling or otherwise getting worse.

Back at the trailer I used some vet wrap to cover it and then took him back to have a vet check my work. I have never put on one before and didn't want it to be too tight. Dr Jen checked it for me and said it looked fine. So I led him back to the trailer and settled him in with 2 buckets of water, a pan of grain and his ration of hay. He ate the grain, wasn't interested in the water, and stood at the far end of his paddock where he could watch the horses out on the trail.

After that we quickly made up our dinner of haystacks and ate before the ride meeting. As it turns out we were a bit late for the meeting and the room (in the Quonset hut) was PACKED, it was standing room only at that point. Gail went over the particulars of the ride and introduced us to Mr Beckley, the landowner. He showed us the 10,000 acres that we would be riding on and also pointed out multiple other sections of land on the map that will be available to us for future rides. These land owners are encouraging people to come out and use the land for "recreating;" hunting, mountain biking, horseback riding, anything really. He was pleased to see so many of us show up. Gail described the trail as being easy to follow, barefoot friendly, and a lot of it along the ridge tops. One loop also took riders past a grave, that is Mr Beckley's father. The wildlife was deer and badgers, with warnings to watch out for badger holes. It sounded fantastic and I couldn't wait to ride.

During the meeting there was a cry of "loose horses!" and the response: what color? "Three (or four?) of them, one is a gray Arab." Well just about everyone has one of those. One of the horses was caught and tied to a trailer. "What color trailer?" "White." That was the running joke of the weekend since just about everyone there also had a white trailer. This is the primary reason some people are against using hot tape for portable corrals. There are many varieties of corrals, and I meant to take photos of them as an example. Horses can run through hot tape if spooked, ornery, or if they discover it isn't on (hot). Loose horses can be dangerous and no one appreciates that. I am thankful that my horse has always done well in his and it gives him a little more freedom to move than being tied to the trailer.

There was a group of nine of us who went. Ruth and Hope camped out in Ruth's tent. My mom slept in her Explorer. Her foster girl Faith slept in our truck. Matt, me, and the kids, along with Heather slept in the camp trailer. I also took along one of my dogs, Missy, and she did incredibly well. It was chilly Friday night and we were sure glad to have the heater working faithfully all weekend. The last time my dad visited he helped with fixing up the beds so they were all functional and we could fit more people in. He added a 2x4 railing to the bunk so Levi wouldn't fall out, and also helped to fix the sofa bed below it so that Matt and I would have a little more room. Ellie slept on me, so Friday night I did not get any sleep, the excitement combined with the nerves prevented any hope of that.

At one point I heard coyotes howling and it was really beautiful. The moon was full and bright - so bright I did not need to use a flashlight to find the toilet. Sinwaan was cozy in his blanket. The stage was set, everything was in order... except for that leg. What would tomorrow bring?