Thursday, December 4, 2008

Thanksgiving Weekend 08

*** Nov 28th - 30th - Thanksgiving weekend - Carolina 30/55/100. I hauled Gail's horses (Loverboy & Clint) down to Patrick, SC w/ Sierra on Friday Nov 28th (my horse strained a tendon in October after a 16 mile run and then 2 gallops later in same week). We pulled out at 9:30 and we stopped in Southern Pines for breakfast & to purchase food and some camping gear we'd not had. When we arrived (strait shot down US 1 - thank god), I found where I was supposed to put Clint (corral - 10x10) and moved the trailer 2 times before decided could back into an area near the corral where he was. Wasn't any room for 2nd horse - so Loverboy stayed tied to trailer. I got water and hay for horses while Sierra set up tents - doing a great job for us. Discovered we definitely need some type of overhead cover/carport/awning and rug to set chairs and eating area up. Toilets (psuedo bathrooms w/ showers but hadn't been maintained and were leaking and/or broken) right across the way from front of truck - but only two... So used horse trailer some of the time to potty & then cleaned that up before hauling out Saturday eve. I was the 3rd person to sign in (for Gail - not me) so Clint was designated #3 and while in line for vetting, he got his number greased onto his hips. He did awesome for the vetting and I managed the run down and back w/o passing out or falling on my face. BarBQue dinner was good, though we were cold. Riders meeting was right after and then Sierra and I visited w/ several other riders - asking ??'s. 2 other horses were taken home from "corrals" - so I put Loverboy in the one next to Clint for the night. Found out i can still sleep on the ground in the cold - actually the tent registered 58 degrees and i sweated in sleeping bags and mink blankets (had on a tank top, underwear and leggings). *** 29 Sat - It started raining at 1 am on Saturday (it was almost midnite before Gail & I got to bed - it was 10:30 or so when she arrived at the ride from Staff Duty NCIOC - 18th Airborne corp. Shem picked her up and drove her down after duty) and then turned COLD w/ continuing rain as the sun came up. UGH. It was miserable... especially for Sierra and I - we didn't have enuff or the right type of gear to stay completely dry/warm. The riders at least kept warm while riding - sort of - saw some really interesting rain gear combinations - divers wetsuits seem to work really well w/ riders, too. *** Gail did the first loop (wrongly set up - 22 miles instead of the 15 we'd been led to believe) in 2 1/2 hours before her break and vet point. Clint vetted out good - considering. Then he drank a little (not enuf) and ate some beet pulp and a dose of grain and nibbled hay. After getting good scores in vet check, they had 50 minutes of down time. Gail changed clothes, then sat in front of defroster/heater in the truck and ate cup of noodles and a muffin, drank some hot chocolate. Then I re-saddled Clint for her and she was up and gone for 2nd loop which was to be 11.7 miles. I don't know exactly how long it ended up being - they changed the route part way thru on the riders... No matter - she was having problems w/ Clint. She called back - got thru once but couldn't understand and then lost all signal from her. Thought she'd had a wreck on the trail and we watched riders coming in from the 55 & 100 milers - on their in-between loops, then the rest of the 30 milers started arriving. NO GAIL. I spoke to ride manager - but they had no-way/no-0ne to get down that loop of the trail to see what the problem was (WHAT????!!!!), so while I fretted and wondered - Gail was on her own (Loverboy being an idiot and I wasn't going to attempt to ride him from camp and try to pick up on the trail). No-one said they'd seen any injured horses or riders... Then she showed up (right at two hours time)... Unsaddled CLint, covered him w/ sheets/polar fleece cooler to keep him somewhat warm (& next main purchases are waterproof turnout blankets - hopefully will be here in the next week or so) and went to vet check. Clint finally learned he needed to drink on the trail (the age old adage of "U can lead a horse to water, but u can't make 'em drink" comes to mind - he's had issues w/ this since she got him). While waiting for him to "pulse down" - he drank some while being walked. Had to fight to keep him from over drinking the cold water and cramping up. Then he didn't pass the vet out - but none of the vets (4) could agree on what exactly was wrong - he was sore and pronounced "unfit to continue" - therefore listed as an in-completion on the ride. Such a disappointment - but that's the way the ball bounces I suppose. After vetting - we started knocking down the tents/little camp (I changed into warm and dry clothes first). Got both tents, the two tarps, the left over hay, and the cooler and some other supplies all stuffed into the bed of the truck and all the blankets and clothes bags into the truck (Sierra was a bit squished but she was warm!!). Loverboy actually didn't want to load but Clint leaped into the trailer w/ a "Lets get outta here" attitude. Since no reason to stay - we headed out - i think it was around 2:30 pm (can't remember). We found the little mexican resterant in Patrick and stopped and ate - horses doing fine - Clint seems ok. I'd left the fleece cooler on him (THANKS YVH - that's a really nice cooler!) and he was drying underneath and not cold. We pulled out at 4 pm. Got gas, checked tires and didn't stop again until Southern Pines - where we got drinks and did a pitstop. Arriving at Gails' home around 6:45 pm (I think) - we ended up completely unloading the truck - knowing that we would need to set up the tents later in the week to get them dry again... *** Then I "stole" her truck to head home myself. Sierra took a hot shower and went to bed almost right away. I ate dinner (Larry made Chili and cornbread) watched some TV but was dozing so went to bed myself before 9 pm... *** 30 Sun - Slept until 1 am, then was wide awake for the next 2 1/2 hours or so. Went to bed around 4 am and was back up for breakfast and coffee at 8:13. I spent time on line - looking at camping equipment, riding gear and tents. Also, brought my email stuff up to date... but was moving slow. Gail called - saying Clint was out there shaking so hard he was "swaying" and we discussed using towels to dry him off, then layering the cooler under an actual blue tarp. I got moving (the girls' fed our horses - then Skye went w/ Matt to church, and Mark had come up from Parkton and he and Dira went to church via Larry chauferring) and took shower before going to Gails'. she was cussing - clint didn't like layering idea and the tarp was in the pasture and he was having a ball moving around - tho a bit stiff and maybe short strided. Gail changed into more dry clothes (3rd set) and we went thru more online stuff. Then we went up to Blue Sky Equestrian store in Pittsboro to look around on their holiday hours. I found a pair of Irideon Cadence riding tights that would fit & ordered a size smaller. My first pair of riding britches since I was a youth myself. I also looked over and found a riding jacket brand that would work (if I decide I am going to or can show next year myself) and that I may order at a later date. Actually, may order it anyway - nice jacket that would work very well for business attire at work! *** Then we headed back into Sanford and got a late lunch at Waffle House - bad timing. Not good service or food, drag. *** Then we went to Wal-mart where I spent lots of time in camping section looking up and comparing styles and prices on quite a number of different items. I will be purchasing a camp toilet to set up in the horse trailer from now on!! Also will be converting our kerosene coleman stove to a propane hook up - need more lighting & at least one camp table too. Then onwards to home again. ....