NEW PROMISE FARMS - TWHBEA, SSHBEA & ApHC

I'm sitting here today (March 18) wondering how the heck I'm going to get myself through this first ride on the season. I had a horrible "riding" winter...if it wasn't ice on the ground, it was raining 20 inches or I was sick. Flame and I are like total mush-muffins and we'll probably die halfway through the ride. Someone will pass our carcasses and make the statement, "There lies Dodie, winning the Trail-Trash Award already."

For the most part, I am excited to get started back on the trail. I have missed the competition, the warm friendly atmosphere, the smiling faces and the dirt. I dug out my endurance stuff last night and will now be going through it replacing batteries, adding items I used up last year, adding new items that I forgot to bring last year, and generally getting myself all worked up. WHOO HOO!

I started two horses over the winter for new riders to this sport. According to their emails to me, they have been keeping to the riding schedule I gave them to condition their horses. Now, if I was as dedicated as they are, I wouldn't be sitting here paging through the yellow pages to find out about making funeral arrangements for myself so my poor widower husband doesn't have to be bothered. These two new riders promise me they're going to be at the Mary Lutz ride so I can mentor them through their first official Trail Trash ride (formerly known as Limited Distance ride).

Unbeknownst to my [now] happy crew, Judy, I also have one junior to sponsor (possibly two, depends on the mood of their parents when they find out it is *ME* doing the sponsoring), Connie on Rocket and a possible third newbie that I have been mentoring through email. If all of these new riders should show up at this ride, Judy will quit me for sure and I'll be crying in my ice tea. I guess I need to take up beer drinking, burping and farting to go along with my Trail Trash image that I'm cultivating this season.

[March 30] Update, after several good strong conditioning rides (and a couple that ended in disaster for one reason or another) I'm sure Flame is ready for the first ride of the season. I guarantee that Judy is going to get tired of hearing me whine like a like dog being beaten, but we'll do okay. Flame is certainly all about this work, likes to boogie, keeps a (mostly) steady brain about her work and is learning to listen to my not so subtle cues and commands. We may actually make a team, after all.

I want to take a moment to discuss LD rides (Limited Distance) and their importance in the Endurance Sport. There are many controversial discussions going on at any one time on the endurance blogs, yahoo groups, and various other discussion groups on the internet. Since November, I have been carefully monitoring what the rider's comments and thoughts are about the short distance competitions. I find it very interesting that the long time riders think the LD fills a fantastic need in this sport to get new riders and new horses started, as well as keeping older riders involved and riding, those riders that cannot do the 50 miles anymore. Still, although those riders with thousands of miles in Competitive Trail and Endurance support the need for the LD, they don't always agree on whether it is valid to call it competitive.

Here's my thoughts. (Should you care to indulge your eyeballs to some more of my writing)

I truly believe that any horse that is sound, sane and has a good attitude for this kind of work can complete a Limited Distance ride. Do I sound absurd? I shouldn't!

I cheer louder than anyone else when these riders are given their completion award because not only did they choose to ride 25 miles, the chose to spend hours and miles with their mount of choice conditioning to get to the point that they could compete and complete. They did it because they love the sport. They did it because they had fun getting there, and they had fun competing. They did it because it is what they wanted to do.

The Limited Distance riders are growing. In 1999 when I first started this sport, at rides I did I was always in awe of the 50 mile riders. They out numbered the LD riders and they were cranked. Over the years, I've seen the number of 50 mile riders dwindle and the number of LD riders swell as age, costs, time and other factors change the American lifestyle. In nine years, I've seen gas go from $1.20/gal to $3.50/gal. I've see the cost of daily living (electric, heating oil, groceries) triple. I've seen people taking on second part-time jobs just to feed their families. Those that can still find the money to keep their horses are losing the time to ride their horses.

It doesn't take a lot to condition a horse to do LD rides. It doesn't take a lot to keep that horse in condition to compete in the LD rides (safely and in good health). It doesn't cost as much to enter an LD ride. And it keeps those riders that can't do the 50's in the sport, supporting those that can do the 50's.

Is it endurance? Sure. 25 is not as the level of 50, and 50 is not at the level of 100, but it is endurance.

If you think you can pick your horse out of the pasture without any training or conditioning and go ride a 25 safely, sanely and comfortably, you're dreaming. Oh sure, there are horses out there that can do that...sit in a pasture two years and then go do a 25. How will the rider feel at the end of that ride after sitting around two years? I even know a horse that sat a whole year, came out of pasture for two weeks work and then competed and completed a 50 mile ride. Ask the rider how he felt at the end of that ride....he was bed ridden the next day. Yes, this is an example I know of personally.

THAT, my friends, is not endurance. THAT is stupidity. Not only did the above examples take the risk of permanently injuring their horses, they risked injuring themselves. Endurance is about commitment to your horse. Endurance is about partnership with your horse. Endurance is about training you and your horse to compete safely, sanely and wisely. Endurance is *NOT* about screaming down the trail at 14 mph to get a buckle or a T-shirt. The riders that earned those awards did it through commitment.

And so, the NPF Trail Trash team is starting three new horses this year and we'll be doing 25's and 30's. We'll be doing CTR's. We may attempt a slow 50 towards the end of the season. But we'll be doing it after we've determined that we have developed the necessary conditioning, training and partnership needed to complete that 50 with a healthy and sound horse underneath us. BECAUSE! our goal at NPF is to start a horse slowly within their abilities and see that horses competing year after year for many years to come.

And I would like to say to those of you whom have posted derogatory statements about me riding different horses each year...please take a look at the horse records. Those horses are still competing with their new owners. My joy is starting them slowly and determining their strengths so I can match them to their new owner correctly based on personality and talent. Then, and only then, can those horses continue happily in their new career.

I should have known that I was going to have an adventure on this ride when I took my truck to be inspected on Monday before the ride and they called me to tell me they had to order a part and it would be a couple days until it was in. Shades of past rides, right there. I told my mechanic I had to have the truck back by Friday as I was riding this weekend. He was agreeable. (I got the truck back late Thursday night, $1048 poorer after the inspection and repairs.)

Then, I should have known the adventure would get more interesting as soon as I got up Saturday morning and checked the weather channel. All week they were calling for sunny and 60 for Sunday down where we were going in NJ. As late as 10:00 on Friday night, that weather forecast was still sunny and 60. Saturday morning, however, the weather forecast changed dramatically.

After staring at the forecast in disbelief for 10 minutes, I dejectedly stood up out of my chair and shuffled my way upstairs to pack my rain gear and several changes of clothes and shoes. None of this rainy day riding wear had been packed in my gear the prior night because it was supposed to be sunny and 60. What this hour by hour weather doesn't tell you is that the wind was blowing 10-20 mph all day and it was more of the 20 mph winds than the 10 mph winds. It was a brutally raw riding day.

Being by myself this ride, it took me very little time to get the trailer packed and ready to go. On one hand that was sweet. On the other hand, it was a little depressing as I love company and don't really like being alone. Since I had a ton of time before I needed to leave and get Kyle, I hung around the barn generally pestering Walt while he was trying to work. I ended up receiving several "Aren't you leaving yet?" looks so I ended up doing miscellaneous barn chores to keep myself occupied (and alive).

I had a young lady come over to the barn to talk to me about getting some extra work (whoo hoo, another slave) and I killed an hour with her. She was highly motivated to do grooming for me. No-one wants to do the grooming. I latched on her like a leech on a leg muscle. Since I was needing to leave in half an hour, I got Flame out to show her the "Dodie-way" of grooming and prepare her for quitting before she even started.

I started off by demonstrating the shedding process. (and tried to talk to her around spitting hair out of mouth). As I worked my way down Flame's body, I noticed ... SHE'S MISSING HER LEFT FRONT SHOE.

At this point, the adventure was waiting to explode forth in a roaring ball of flame and I probably should have bailed out of going to the ride right then and there ... but NO! ... Not me!

I sent Walt into Flame's stall to dig around and see if her shoe was in there. Connie arrived at the barn, took in the situation and went for a walk up the hill where I rode last night to see if she had thrown her shoe while I was riding. I started looking through the shoes I had hanging on the wall as spares. Unfortunately for me, most those shoes were from those little Appaloosa feet and there was maybe one or two there that I could squeeze onto Flame's nice big foot.

In the meantime, that poor girl that was learning how to groom for me had no clue what to do after the shedding was done. I quickly went back to Flame, finished the entire grooming process (which was very calming in itself) so that she could start grooming other horses.

(sigh) I could have put it back on if we had found it. I looked at the ride entry sheet to see if the had a farrier at the ride and in big capital bold letters it said NO FARRIER AT THE RIDE.

I called my farrier again and told him (calmly) that I'd have to wait for him because I couldn't find that new shoe he put on Flame last Friday. He said he would be done where he was in NJ shortly and he could be to me in 2 hours to put a shoe on Flame.

I called Kyle and explained the dilemma. Told him to sit tight, I'd call him as soon as I was loaded and on my way to him. Kyle, a long time traveling buddy with me, is well aware of Dodie time and didn't sound at all surprised by my phone call. This is bad when I can't even shock an 18 year old.

In the meantime, I decided I should go and top off the gas tank and check the air in the trailer tires while I waited on the farrier. Things I was planning on doing when I left to go get Kyle on schedule. I am now running on normal Dodie-Time. While I was getting gas, my cell phone rang (yes, I know you're not supposed to answer it while plumes of gas fumes are surrounding you because you can blow up) but I answered it anyway and it was my farrier. He was on his way and would be there in 1/2 hour.

What? Already? He must have moved like greased lightning to finish that horse he was working on.

I moved over to the air pump and put air in all the trailer tires. I was confused at first because the tire said 65 psi cold but all four tires only had 40 psi. Hmmm. I was a little afraid to put any air in them, but I filled them to 55 psi and figured if it was too much, they'd blow up. $1.00

I am 5 miles from my barn. Filling the tank and air in the tires took about 15 minutes. I pulled into my driveway and right behind me is my farrier.

WHAT? He must have flown down the highway at 90 miles an hour, shoes rattling in his trailer as he went air borne over the potholes on RT 22.

I tried to pay him for burning up gas to come and put on one shoe for me, and he wouldn't take it.

Okay, I throw Flame on the trailer, and get on the road. I call Kyle from the bottom of the driveway to tell him I'm leaving and will be there in half an hour. I look at the clock and I am only one hour behind schedule.

From here, the traveling was smooth. Picked Kyle up quickly as he had everything packed and ready to go, got on the turnpike with no problems and sailed right on over there. We arrived at 5:45 and since day light savings came early this year, we still had plenty of light to get unpacked and vetted in.

Jen and Luke made it! Yea! We parked right next to them. She was beside herself with excitement (Yea!) and had a million and one questions about the vetting in (explained) and the ride meeting (explained) and she was ready. I had bought an extra meal ticket for Judy as my crew, but she didn't make it in time for supper. She came in after dark and found me hiding in the corner, 90 miles away from the base vet-in area.

Yes, once again, for the 7th time at this ride camp, we are here to lose weight! Walking is good for you ... remember that!

Luke looks really good...for those of you that aren't aware, Jen sent Luke to me over the winter to assess and do thirty days work on. Not only did everyone fall in love with him while he was here but I had two people tell me to make serious offers to Jen should she decide she doesn't want to run him endurance. He's that good!

So, Jen followed my conditioning program after she took him home and I tell you, she did a great job of getting him ready for the ride. He was energetic but calm and worked the entire 30 miles perfectly fine. She finished 11th out of 21 riders. I was so proud of her. Her first ride and Luke's first ride and they were a fantastic team!

Everyone was talking about the rain coming at dinner, including the vets when they talked about pulse parameters, so I knew that tomorrow would be wet. I was actually kinda glad for the rain, it would keep the horses cool and the trail would be packed sand instead of loose sand. I would have preferred rain over night and cloudy during the ride, but you take what you get and go on down the trail with it. It is, after all, endurance!

Judy, being the professional crew person that she is, bought herself on of those folding carts. Now, I don't know why everyone but me is embarrassed by my little red Flyer wagon, but they are. In fact, they go to great pains to disguise themselves when they are forced to use it. I just don't get it. I love my little red wagon, all the creaks groans rattles and everything. Hmmmm.

The adventure continues when Judy got her cart out of the box. We spent 1/2 an hour in the dark trying to figure out how to open it up. Believe it or not, Judy forgot to bring the instructions. That in itself was remarkable and just added to the adventure. Finally, she and Kyle went to another camp where they saw one of those carts to ask that person "How the heck does this thing open?" I found this to be pretty funny.

I talked to Jen about the hold and what she should have there for herself. Her husband and daughter came as support for her first ride and I thought that was wonderful! Her husband is very nice! I liked him right off the bat. We all walked up to the hold together to set up our stuff. I love this lantern that Judy's husband gave her, it's lights up the night like day time. Just don't make the same mistake I did and look right at it or you'll be blind for hours afterwards. It's a little nova in a green carrying case.

Back to camp, more questions and chit chat then I decide it's time for bed (well for me, anyway.) Kyle was moving around camp visiting with all the people he knows and being 18, he's got plenty of energy to spare to stay up late. Not me, I knew I'd be awake early and wanted some shut eye.

1:30 AM - I awaken to the sound of pounding rain on the aluminum cap I am sleeping under. The noise is thunderous. I stick my head out of the back to discover it's actually a very soft rain, but the aluminum is amplifying the sounds of the pitter patter to a dull roar. Ugh.

2:00 AM - I feel the trailer rocking and wonder what the heck. I stick my head out the back and see Kyle dragging a blanket out to cover Rikka. I see it's still a soft rain and figure if Flame wants to be dry, she'll hop up into the trailer.

3:30 AM - the truck and trailer start rocking like a tiny sailboat in the midst of a hurricane at high sea. I stick my head out the back to discover that Flame has hopped up in the trailer to get dry.

4:00 AM - the alarm clock goes off. Actually, the alarm clock SAYS 5:00 AM, because I forgot to reset it. I didn't even wonder why the phone hadn't rang (I set it for 5:00 AM, too as back up to the alarm clock.)

I get up and rush to the porta john to get rid of the ice tea I drank the night before. It's raining pretty good and I didn't think to put on a slicker before I got out of bed and traipsed through camp in my bare feet. The ground was VERY cold...now it was in the 50's when we went to bed so the temp has been dropping all night.

It's dry under the canopy that Kyle set up so I sat there a while and decided I was freezing because I got wet going to the bathroom. I hopped back into my bed and changed clothes.

Now the clock says 5:40 and Kyle asked me to wake him up at 5:30 so I walked over to his tent and woke him up.

A couple minutes later he comes out of the tent and asked me if I was sure it was 5:30.

He gave me a funny look and a couple minutes later my cell phone started ringing. I never even thought about the fact that the phone hadn't rang when the alarm went off. OMG, apparently my alram clock was not set to the correct time zone and it was an hour fast. Man, oh man, I could have had another hour of tortuous sleep under the rain crashing against the aluminum cap. STUPID!

Well, anyway, all the commotion woke up Judy and now we're all up, sitting around in the rain freezing to death. I finally got out from under the canopy and sat in my truck until Jen came to tell me that coffee was ready up at the chow house.

Time to saddle up. Kyle was doing the 50 mile ride so he had left us already. Flame was a nervous wreck because Rikka went off without her. I put Flame over at Jen's trailer next to Luke to keep her company but she was all wound up anyway. (Need to work on this).

Flame, being a big tall girl, can be intimidating just so ... but when she's whipping back and forth in a frenzy of separation anxiety, she is definitely daunting. Judy was leaping to left and jumping to right until I finally told her to just grab ahold of Flame and get over it. (grin) Poor Judy.

Luke, in the meantime, is looking at Flame like, "Dudette, get a grip!" He's not at all worried about anything and is standing there just as nice as you'd like.

And it's raining on us and our gear. No matter what you touch, nothing is dry, it is slick and slippery.

I get Flame all saddled and lunge out her nonsense a little bit. I then throw my blue poncho over top of the saddle and Flame jumps in the air like I've just tried to kill her with a flying blue bomb. I get it settled and it promptly falls off. I put it back up there, and again go through the "OH MY GOD, IT"S A HORSE EATING MONSTER" routing with Flame. It promptly falls off.

Forget it ... let's just get down to the timer and check in. I stop at the porta-jon to empty my bladder one last time and give Flame to Judy. Judy holds her in a death grip like any second the mare is going to fly off the ground and take off for Canada. Actually, for all her sillies and dancing around, she never once lays pressure on the halter or bridle. She's very well mannered and knows her space is not allowed into your space. She just likes to be silly. (shrug) I tell her to keep walking with Luke and I'll catch up.

I come out of the porta-jon to find Judy holding Flame at arms length and Luke is no where to be seen. Remarkably, Flame doesn't seem to be too worried about it.

We get to the timer and check in. We walk back to the vet-in area and I let Flame eat some grass while we wait. I am going to let everyone get on the trail before I even mount up. Luke seems a little more alert now that we're away from his camping area. He's watching the horses warming up and taking it all in.

7:30 AM - trail is open and I see horses streaming down the driveway. There are still some stragglers hanging back like we are.

7:40 AM - Jen is up and I'm mounting. The timer walks past us and says, "Hey! If you're on the 30, the trail is open." Yep, I know ... and now we're out of the camp last!

Actually, Flame is moving pretty loose and relaxed going out the driveway. The trash cans almost ate her alive, but other than that, she didn't do her usual "airs above ground" in the excitement to get going. We crossed the road and I eased off on her bridle a little and she was off.

GOD! I love this mare. She was at half speed and we're pulling away from Luke. She was looking 6 miles down trail and was 1-2-3-4 beating her way to get there. I reined her in a little to pace with Luke and she was testing testing testing to see when I'd give her some more gas pedal.

The trail was great. I was so glad for the rain. The sand was wet and excellent footing. Flame was eating up mile after mile. We passed all but 5 of the riders on the 30 and I hadn't even let out the gas pedal yet. Luke would fall behind as he was setting his own lovely pace that had nothing to do with Flame's pace. That was okay, I'd pull ahead then drop her into a walk and let him catch up then let her out and pull her up. I was actually very glad for Luke's pace because I would have been too tempted to let Flame go at full pedal. That would be very bad of me.

We cruised up like a Cadillac into the home stretch. Two miles to the road crossing. I hadn't been able to convince Flame to stop and drink, but that isn't unusual for her. When we condition, she usually burns up 12 miles before I can get her to slow down and take a bite to eat. She started hunching up like she wanted to pee. I'd pull her up and try to get her to stop and relax, but she was having none of that. At the one mile to vet in, there was a big puddle of water. She stopped on her own and took a very long drink. Jen said Luke played in it, but he didn't drink.

I got off at the road to walk her in and kept hoping she's stop and pee. She was still all hunched up like she wanted to get rid of it. No dice, she knew where she was and she was headed back to hold. I think my short little legs got all stretched out on that walk in because I was trying to keep up with her "Go Home" pace.

We walk in to the timer at 10:10 AM. (Do the math, 18 miles in 2.5 hours - nice pace Luke sets. If it was up to Flame, we'd have been back at hold in an hour). I go straight to pulse. 53. Good deal! Luke was also pretty low, I forget what his was, but it was low.

Up to the vet check, all A's. Good deal. I asked Dr. Nick to watch her carefully at the trot out because she was all hunched up. I was suspecting she needed to pee, but maybe it was something else.

Nope, those long legs of hers just stretched out a little longer and she wouldn't trot.

First, I had to get some dry clothes on. I was soaked to the skin through three layers. Let me tell you something I learned from Judy on this ride. Don't bring 1 coat, don't bring two coats, it is imperative that you bring three coats to a rainy ride. Thankfully, I had hoodies and sweats behind the seat of the truck that I carry in the winter time because I used up every bit of dry clothing I had at this ride.

Ah, dry warmth (for the moment). Back up to the hold area. I have already decided I am going to pull Flame from the ride. If she won't pee and she's cramped up, I might do some damage to her physically, not to mention mentally. I pull off her saddle and ask Judy if she peed.

Okay, let's go trot out again. She did trot out better this time, Judy trotted her and I chased ran up behind her. She got into gait and made the effort to look like a horse and not like the hunchback of Notre Dame. *BUT* she was still not "Flaming Lucy" so I decided that was that.

We were in 6th and 7th ride placing at this point. I did not remember passing that many people when we got on the trail. I believe that 21 started in the Trail Trash (30-LD) ride.

Cheryl, Renee and Dean had cruised in right behind us, so I asked Cheryl if she would take Jen with her group and let her finish. Cheryl, being the absolute most wonderful riding buddy I know quickly agreed. She knows Luke from when he was in my barn and she loves meeting new people, so got right into taking care of Jen.

And let's talk about Cheryl for a minute! She's riding Cosmo. Yes, the wonderful little colt on my 2003 FOALS page out of Sarah (Arabian) by Toby (SSH). She bought him, finished his raising up, did all his breaking and training and conditioning and is competing him. He was bred to do this sport and now he's proving to be a spectacular distance horse. Very bold and forward with a BIG motor. When Cheryl rides him, she is all grins.

I went to find Jen and her face fell when she found out I wasn't finishing. I told her Flame was fine and I was fine and she would be fine riding with Cheryl and Renee.

Okay Judy! Let's get this camp broke down and then I'll be ready to go when Kyle finishes his 50. Of course, once we finished I had to change clothes again. (sigh).

However, this was a most excellent training situation for Miss Flame. She not only had to watch her riding buddy leave back out on trail, but then she had to go stand all alone at the trailer with no-one to keep her company. She was determined, in that first hour of aloneness, to dig a hole to China. Once she decided that China wasn't going to help her find a new buddy, she gave up and started eating.

And she peed. I quick pulled her off the trailer to see if she would trot for me ... and YES! She was fine! No more hunch back.

Jen made it back! They completed with excellent PR recoveries. Jen was 11th place!!!! Cheryl 8th, Renee 9th, Dean 10th. WOW!

Jen was smiles all the way, even in the rain. She is definitely made of the right stuff to do this sport...and her horse? He was remarkable! I love Luke! They both completed their very first LD, thank you Cheryl and Renee!!!!

And Cosmo was cranked, Cheryl said he could have done a 50 mile ride instead of the 30. AWESOME!

And after several false starts and pulls, Renee finally finished an LD. YEA RENEE!

After Jen got all her stuff packed up and she left, Judy packed it up and left. I was all alone. I guess this was a good training session for me, too. I was able to learn how to be friendless and alone. I decided to take Flame back up to see Dr. Nick. She ZOOMED to the cones and ZOOMED back. He asked me what I did and I told him she peed and then was fine. He gave me some pointers on getting her to pee on trail and that was good. I probably could have finished the ride, but you know what? She's not quite 6 years old, this is her second competition, we had a horrible conditioning winter and she did those 18 miles like a true professional, so I was happy with our success for the day.

I saw Kyle going back out on his final loop around 1:00 ish, so figured he'd be back in around 3:00 ... I thought I'd put on some dry clothes and sit in the truck and vegitate for a little bit then head up to the hold about 2:45 to help him out.

While I was laying there in the cab of the truck day dreaming of all the trails I was going to do with Flaming Lucy in 2008, the trailer started rocking.

I looked out the door to see what Flame was up to and there was Rikka tied to the trailer.

Kyle's back! he completed his 50 miles in under 6 hours and finished 7th place. GREAT JOB, a top ten placing for Kyle! And Rikka looked just fine. He was concerned because she was barefooted, but these trails out here are all sand...no worries. He told me she was a handful in several places, wanting to boogie out. I'm telling ya, this cool rain and the packed trails were a horse's dream come true. They stayed cool and had the footing to motor over the trail with no trouble. Of course, the riders were all miserable, but if the horse is happy, what do we care?

Okay. So I missed helping Kyle when he got back in...I felt very badly about that. Kyle, I'm sorry!!!!

I saw gas for $2.99 here in NJ and I reminded Kyle to remind me to stop and top off the tank when we found that gas station again. We did, and I saved 30 cents a gallon. Whoo Hoo. Of course, it still cost me $66 to top off the tank before crossing into PA.

And so, I have done these trails in NJ 7 times and only completed them 3 times. I guess I'm going to have to work a little harder and try again this fall at the Mustang to get all the way through the sandy trail ride. (grin) I'm going to pray for rain.

Thanks for another adventure...(smile). I arrived safely home about 4:10 pm. The closer I got to home, the drier and more pleasant the weather! I hope your trip home was uneventful and safe. How did Kyle do? I hope you are pleased with Jen's outcome today. She wouldn't have been able to complete, let alone place 11th had you not coached her horse and her. I know she is very grateful for your help. It was also a kick to see Cosmo do well and for Flame to do well both on the ride and in dealing with the camp/trailer aspects of the ride.


	Experience the ENDURANCE of Foundation Breeding
HOME STALLIONS MARES FOALS SERVICES BOARDERS ENDURANCE SALES WEBSITE LINKS ABOUT US	MARY LUTZ MEMORIAL RIDE: April 6, 2008 Cold Rain, 44 degrees, winds 20mph I'm sitting here today (March 18) wondering how the heck I'm going to get myself through this first ride on the season. I had a horrible "riding" winter...if it wasn't ice on the ground, it was raining 20 inches or I was sick. Flame and I are like total mush-muffins and we'll probably die halfway through the ride. Someone will pass our carcasses and make the statement, "There lies Dodie, winning the Trail-Trash Award already." For the most part, I am excited to get started back on the trail. I have missed the competition, the warm friendly atmosphere, the smiling faces and the dirt. I dug out my endurance stuff last night and will now be going through it replacing batteries, adding items I used up last year, adding new items that I forgot to bring last year, and generally getting myself all worked up. WHOO HOO! I started two horses over the winter for new riders to this sport. According to their emails to me, they have been keeping to the riding schedule I gave them to condition their horses. Now, if I was as dedicated as they are, I wouldn't be sitting here paging through the yellow pages to find out about making funeral arrangements for myself so my poor widower husband doesn't have to be bothered. These two new riders promise me they're going to be at the Mary Lutz ride so I can mentor them through their first official Trail Trash ride (formerly known as Limited Distance ride). Unbeknownst to my [now] happy crew, Judy, I also have one junior to sponsor (possibly two, depends on the mood of their parents when they find out it is ME doing the sponsoring), Connie on Rocket and a possible third newbie that I have been mentoring through email. If all of these new riders should show up at this ride, Judy will quit me for sure and I'll be crying in my ice tea. I guess I need to take up beer drinking, burping and farting to go along with my Trail Trash image that I'm cultivating this season. Now, y'all stay tuned for more adventures from New Promise Farms! [March 30] Update, after several good strong conditioning rides (and a couple that ended in disaster for one reason or another) I'm sure Flame is ready for the first ride of the season. I guarantee that Judy is going to get tired of hearing me whine like a like dog being beaten, but we'll do okay. Flame is certainly all about this work, likes to boogie, keeps a (mostly) steady brain about her work and is learning to listen to my not so subtle cues and commands. We may actually make a team, after all. I want to take a moment to discuss LD rides (Limited Distance) and their importance in the Endurance Sport. There are many controversial discussions going on at any one time on the endurance blogs, yahoo groups, and various other discussion groups on the internet. Since November, I have been carefully monitoring what the rider's comments and thoughts are about the short distance competitions. I find it very interesting that the long time riders think the LD fills a fantastic need in this sport to get new riders and new horses started, as well as keeping older riders involved and riding, those riders that cannot do the 50 miles anymore. Still, although those riders with thousands of miles in Competitive Trail and Endurance support the need for the LD, they don't always agree on whether it is valid to call it competitive. Here's my thoughts. (Should you care to indulge your eyeballs to some more of my writing) I truly believe that any horse that is sound, sane and has a good attitude for this kind of work can complete a Limited Distance ride. Do I sound absurd? I shouldn't! I have been on rides with drafts, and draft crosses competing and completing carrying some very hefty riders whom may have been turned away from a hack stable due to their immense size. I have been on rides where the oldest horse completing was in their upper 20's and their rider made me humble in my weariness because their age far surpassed my own. I have been on rides where small 12.2 hand ponies have completed with their equally tiny rider who was barely awake at the end of it. I cheer louder than anyone else when these riders are given their completion award because not only did they choose to ride 25 miles, the chose to spend hours and miles with their mount of choice conditioning to get to the point that they could compete and complete. They did it because they love the sport. They did it because they had fun getting there, and they had fun competing. They did it because it is what they wanted to do. The Limited Distance riders are growing. In 1999 when I first started this sport, at rides I did I was always in awe of the 50 mile riders. They out numbered the LD riders and they were cranked. Over the years, I've seen the number of 50 mile riders dwindle and the number of LD riders swell as age, costs, time and other factors change the American lifestyle. In nine years, I've seen gas go from $1.20/gal to $3.50/gal. I've see the cost of daily living (electric, heating oil, groceries) triple. I've seen people taking on second part-time jobs just to feed their families. Those that can still find the money to keep their horses are losing the time to ride their horses. It doesn't take a lot to condition a horse to do LD rides. It doesn't take a lot to keep that horse in condition to compete in the LD rides (safely and in good health). It doesn't cost as much to enter an LD ride. And it keeps those riders that can't do the 50's in the sport, supporting those that can do the 50's. Is it endurance? Sure. 25 is not as the level of 50, and 50 is not at the level of 100, but it is endurance. If you think you can pick your horse out of the pasture without any training or conditioning and go ride a 25 safely, sanely and comfortably, you're dreaming. Oh sure, there are horses out there that can do that...sit in a pasture two years and then go do a 25. How will the rider feel at the end of that ride after sitting around two years? I even know a horse that sat a whole year, came out of pasture for two weeks work and then competed and completed a 50 mile ride. Ask the rider how he felt at the end of that ride....he was bed ridden the next day. Yes, this is an example I know of personally. THAT, my friends, is not endurance. THAT is stupidity. Not only did the above examples take the risk of permanently injuring their horses, they risked injuring themselves. Endurance is about commitment to your horse. Endurance is about partnership with your horse. Endurance is about training you and your horse to compete safely, sanely and wisely. Endurance is NOT about screaming down the trail at 14 mph to get a buckle or a T-shirt. The riders that earned those awards did it through commitment. And so, the NPF Trail Trash team is starting three new horses this year and we'll be doing 25's and 30's. We'll be doing CTR's. We may attempt a slow 50 towards the end of the season. But we'll be doing it after we've determined that we have developed the necessary conditioning, training and partnership needed to complete that 50 with a healthy and sound horse underneath us. BECAUSE! our goal at NPF is to start a horse slowly within their abilities and see that horses competing year after year for many years to come. And I would like to say to those of you whom have posted derogatory statements about me riding different horses each year...please take a look at the horse records. Those horses are still competing with their new owners. My joy is starting them slowly and determining their strengths so I can match them to their new owner correctly based on personality and talent. Then, and only then, can those horses continue happily in their new career. Yes, I'm proud to be Trail Trash. On to the ride story..... I should have known that I was going to have an adventure on this ride when I took my truck to be inspected on Monday before the ride and they called me to tell me they had to order a part and it would be a couple days until it was in. Shades of past rides, right there. I told my mechanic I had to have the truck back by Friday as I was riding this weekend. He was agreeable. (I got the truck back late Thursday night, $1048 poorer after the inspection and repairs.) Then, I should have known the adventure would get more interesting as soon as I got up Saturday morning and checked the weather channel. All week they were calling for sunny and 60 for Sunday down where we were going in NJ. As late as 10:00 on Friday night, that weather forecast was still sunny and 60. Saturday morning, however, the weather forecast changed dramatically. After staring at the forecast in disbelief for 10 minutes, I dejectedly stood up out of my chair and shuffled my way upstairs to pack my rain gear and several changes of clothes and shoes. None of this rainy day riding wear had been packed in my gear the prior night because it was supposed to be sunny and 60. What this hour by hour weather doesn't tell you is that the wind was blowing 10-20 mph all day and it was more of the 20 mph winds than the 10 mph winds. It was a brutally raw riding day. Being by myself this ride, it took me very little time to get the trailer packed and ready to go. On one hand that was sweet. On the other hand, it was a little depressing as I love company and don't really like being alone. Since I had a ton of time before I needed to leave and get Kyle, I hung around the barn generally pestering Walt while he was trying to work. I ended up receiving several "Aren't you leaving yet?" looks so I ended up doing miscellaneous barn chores to keep myself occupied (and alive). I had a young lady come over to the barn to talk to me about getting some extra work (whoo hoo, another slave) and I killed an hour with her. She was highly motivated to do grooming for me. No-one wants to do the grooming. I latched on her like a leech on a leg muscle. Since I was needing to leave in half an hour, I got Flame out to show her the "Dodie-way" of grooming and prepare her for quitting before she even started. I started off by demonstrating the shedding process. (and tried to talk to her around spitting hair out of mouth). As I worked my way down Flame's body, I noticed ... SHE'S MISSING HER LEFT FRONT SHOE. Holy crap. At this point, the adventure was waiting to explode forth in a roaring ball of flame and I probably should have bailed out of going to the ride right then and there ... but NO! ... Not me! I called my farrier and he was in northern NJ. Double holy crap. I sent Walt into Flame's stall to dig around and see if her shoe was in there. Connie arrived at the barn, took in the situation and went for a walk up the hill where I rode last night to see if she had thrown her shoe while I was riding. I started looking through the shoes I had hanging on the wall as spares. Unfortunately for me, most those shoes were from those little Appaloosa feet and there was maybe one or two there that I could squeeze onto Flame's nice big foot. In the meantime, that poor girl that was learning how to groom for me had no clue what to do after the shedding was done. I quickly went back to Flame, finished the entire grooming process (which was very calming in itself) so that she could start grooming other horses. Walt said "No shoe." Connie came back off the hill and said, "No shoe." (sigh) I could have put it back on if we had found it. I looked at the ride entry sheet to see if the had a farrier at the ride and in big capital bold letters it said NO FARRIER AT THE RIDE. Damn! I called my farrier again and told him (calmly) that I'd have to wait for him because I couldn't find that new shoe he put on Flame last Friday. He said he would be done where he was in NJ shortly and he could be to me in 2 hours to put a shoe on Flame. TWO HOURS! I called Kyle and explained the dilemma. Told him to sit tight, I'd call him as soon as I was loaded and on my way to him. Kyle, a long time traveling buddy with me, is well aware of Dodie time and didn't sound at all surprised by my phone call. This is bad when I can't even shock an 18 year old. In the meantime, I decided I should go and top off the gas tank and check the air in the trailer tires while I waited on the farrier. Things I was planning on doing when I left to go get Kyle on schedule. I am now running on normal Dodie-Time. While I was getting gas, my cell phone rang (yes, I know you're not supposed to answer it while plumes of gas fumes are surrounding you because you can blow up) but I answered it anyway and it was my farrier. He was on his way and would be there in 1/2 hour. What? Already? He must have moved like greased lightning to finish that horse he was working on. I finished topping off the tank at $3.29 per gallon, $115.00 I moved over to the air pump and put air in all the trailer tires. I was confused at first because the tire said 65 psi cold but all four tires only had 40 psi. Hmmm. I was a little afraid to put any air in them, but I filled them to 55 psi and figured if it was too much, they'd blow up. $1.00 I am 5 miles from my barn. Filling the tank and air in the tires took about 15 minutes. I pulled into my driveway and right behind me is my farrier. WHAT? He must have flown down the highway at 90 miles an hour, shoes rattling in his trailer as he went air borne over the potholes on RT 22. WOW! What a great farrier. He whipped a new shoe on Flame so fast, I almost missed it. WOW! What a great farrier. I tried to pay him for burning up gas to come and put on one shoe for me, and he wouldn't take it. YES! He is a great farrier! Okay, I throw Flame on the trailer, and get on the road. I call Kyle from the bottom of the driveway to tell him I'm leaving and will be there in half an hour. I look at the clock and I am only one hour behind schedule. Not bad! From here, the traveling was smooth. Picked Kyle up quickly as he had everything packed and ready to go, got on the turnpike with no problems and sailed right on over there. We arrived at 5:45 and since day light savings came early this year, we still had plenty of light to get unpacked and vetted in. Jen and Luke made it! Yea! We parked right next to them. She was beside herself with excitement (Yea!) and had a million and one questions about the vetting in (explained) and the ride meeting (explained) and she was ready. I had bought an extra meal ticket for Judy as my crew, but she didn't make it in time for supper. She came in after dark and found me hiding in the corner, 90 miles away from the base vet-in area. Yes, once again, for the 7th time at this ride camp, we are here to lose weight! Walking is good for you ... remember that! Luke looks really good...for those of you that aren't aware, Jen sent Luke to me over the winter to assess and do thirty days work on. Not only did everyone fall in love with him while he was here but I had two people tell me to make serious offers to Jen should she decide she doesn't want to run him endurance. He's that good! So, Jen followed my conditioning program after she took him home and I tell you, she did a great job of getting him ready for the ride. He was energetic but calm and worked the entire 30 miles perfectly fine. She finished 11th out of 21 riders. I was so proud of her. Her first ride and Luke's first ride and they were a fantastic team! More on that later. Everyone was talking about the rain coming at dinner, including the vets when they talked about pulse parameters, so I knew that tomorrow would be wet. I was actually kinda glad for the rain, it would keep the horses cool and the trail would be packed sand instead of loose sand. I would have preferred rain over night and cloudy during the ride, but you take what you get and go on down the trail with it. It is, after all, endurance! Judy, being the professional crew person that she is, bought herself on of those folding carts. Now, I don't know why everyone but me is embarrassed by my little red Flyer wagon, but they are. In fact, they go to great pains to disguise themselves when they are forced to use it. I just don't get it. I love my little red wagon, all the creaks groans rattles and everything. Hmmmm. The adventure continues when Judy got her cart out of the box. We spent 1/2 an hour in the dark trying to figure out how to open it up. Believe it or not, Judy forgot to bring the instructions. That in itself was remarkable and just added to the adventure. Finally, she and Kyle went to another camp where they saw one of those carts to ask that person "How the heck does this thing open?" I found this to be pretty funny. I talked to Jen about the hold and what she should have there for herself. Her husband and daughter came as support for her first ride and I thought that was wonderful! Her husband is very nice! I liked him right off the bat. We all walked up to the hold together to set up our stuff. I love this lantern that Judy's husband gave her, it's lights up the night like day time. Just don't make the same mistake I did and look right at it or you'll be blind for hours afterwards. It's a little nova in a green carrying case. Back to camp, more questions and chit chat then I decide it's time for bed (well for me, anyway.) Kyle was moving around camp visiting with all the people he knows and being 18, he's got plenty of energy to spare to stay up late. Not me, I knew I'd be awake early and wanted some shut eye. 1:30 AM - I awaken to the sound of pounding rain on the aluminum cap I am sleeping under. The noise is thunderous. I stick my head out of the back to discover it's actually a very soft rain, but the aluminum is amplifying the sounds of the pitter patter to a dull roar. Ugh. 2:00 AM - I feel the trailer rocking and wonder what the heck. I stick my head out the back and see Kyle dragging a blanket out to cover Rikka. I see it's still a soft rain and figure if Flame wants to be dry, she'll hop up into the trailer. 3:30 AM - the truck and trailer start rocking like a tiny sailboat in the midst of a hurricane at high sea. I stick my head out the back to discover that Flame has hopped up in the trailer to get dry. 4:00 AM - the alarm clock goes off. Actually, the alarm clock SAYS 5:00 AM, because I forgot to reset it. I didn't even wonder why the phone hadn't rang (I set it for 5:00 AM, too as back up to the alarm clock.) I get up and rush to the porta john to get rid of the ice tea I drank the night before. It's raining pretty good and I didn't think to put on a slicker before I got out of bed and traipsed through camp in my bare feet. The ground was VERY cold...now it was in the 50's when we went to bed so the temp has been dropping all night. Brrrrr I went in the trailer to throw hay to Rikka and Flame and ... Where'd all Rikka's hay go??? Hmmmm. I grabbed some of Flame's hay and shared it with them both. It's dry under the canopy that Kyle set up so I sat there a while and decided I was freezing because I got wet going to the bathroom. I hopped back into my bed and changed clothes. (change #1) Now the clock says 5:40 and Kyle asked me to wake him up at 5:30 so I walked over to his tent and woke him up. A couple minutes later he comes out of the tent and asked me if I was sure it was 5:30. Yes... He looked at his watch and explained to me in that it was 4:40 No.... He gave me a funny look and a couple minutes later my cell phone started ringing. I never even thought about the fact that the phone hadn't rang when the alarm went off. OMG, apparently my alram clock was not set to the correct time zone and it was an hour fast. Man, oh man, I could have had another hour of tortuous sleep under the rain crashing against the aluminum cap. STUPID! Sorry, Kyle! Guess you could have had an extra half an hour, my bad. Well, anyway, all the commotion woke up Judy and now we're all up, sitting around in the rain freezing to death. I finally got out from under the canopy and sat in my truck until Jen came to tell me that coffee was ready up at the chow house. COFFEE! Time to saddle up. Kyle was doing the 50 mile ride so he had left us already. Flame was a nervous wreck because Rikka went off without her. I put Flame over at Jen's trailer next to Luke to keep her company but she was all wound up anyway. (Need to work on this). Flame, being a big tall girl, can be intimidating just so ... but when she's whipping back and forth in a frenzy of separation anxiety, she is definitely daunting. Judy was leaping to left and jumping to right until I finally told her to just grab ahold of Flame and get over it. (grin) Poor Judy. Luke, in the meantime, is looking at Flame like, "Dudette, get a grip!" He's not at all worried about anything and is standing there just as nice as you'd like. And it's raining on us and our gear. No matter what you touch, nothing is dry, it is slick and slippery. Bleck I get Flame all saddled and lunge out her nonsense a little bit. I then throw my blue poncho over top of the saddle and Flame jumps in the air like I've just tried to kill her with a flying blue bomb. I get it settled and it promptly falls off. I put it back up there, and again go through the "OH MY GOD, IT"S A HORSE EATING MONSTER" routing with Flame. It promptly falls off. Grrrr Forget it ... let's just get down to the timer and check in. I stop at the porta-jon to empty my bladder one last time and give Flame to Judy. Judy holds her in a death grip like any second the mare is going to fly off the ground and take off for Canada. Actually, for all her sillies and dancing around, she never once lays pressure on the halter or bridle. She's very well mannered and knows her space is not allowed into your space. She just likes to be silly. (shrug) I tell her to keep walking with Luke and I'll catch up. I come out of the porta-jon to find Judy holding Flame at arms length and Luke is no where to be seen. Remarkably, Flame doesn't seem to be too worried about it. We get to the timer and check in. We walk back to the vet-in area and I let Flame eat some grass while we wait. I am going to let everyone get on the trail before I even mount up. Luke seems a little more alert now that we're away from his camping area. He's watching the horses warming up and taking it all in. 7:30 AM - trail is open and I see horses streaming down the driveway. There are still some stragglers hanging back like we are. 7:40 AM - Jen is up and I'm mounting. The timer walks past us and says, "Hey! If you're on the 30, the trail is open." Yep, I know ... and now we're out of the camp last! Actually, Flame is moving pretty loose and relaxed going out the driveway. The trash cans almost ate her alive, but other than that, she didn't do her usual "airs above ground" in the excitement to get going. We crossed the road and I eased off on her bridle a little and she was off. GOD! I love this mare. She was at half speed and we're pulling away from Luke. She was looking 6 miles down trail and was 1-2-3-4 beating her way to get there. I reined her in a little to pace with Luke and she was testing testing testing to see when I'd give her some more gas pedal. The trail was great. I was so glad for the rain. The sand was wet and excellent footing. Flame was eating up mile after mile. We passed all but 5 of the riders on the 30 and I hadn't even let out the gas pedal yet. Luke would fall behind as he was setting his own lovely pace that had nothing to do with Flame's pace. That was okay, I'd pull ahead then drop her into a walk and let him catch up then let her out and pull her up. I was actually very glad for Luke's pace because I would have been too tempted to let Flame go at full pedal. That would be very bad of me. We cruised up like a Cadillac into the home stretch. Two miles to the road crossing. I hadn't been able to convince Flame to stop and drink, but that isn't unusual for her. When we condition, she usually burns up 12 miles before I can get her to slow down and take a bite to eat. She started hunching up like she wanted to pee. I'd pull her up and try to get her to stop and relax, but she was having none of that. At the one mile to vet in, there was a big puddle of water. She stopped on her own and took a very long drink. Jen said Luke played in it, but he didn't drink. Okay, now that she drank, maybe she'll pee. Nope. I got off at the road to walk her in and kept hoping she's stop and pee. She was still all hunched up like she wanted to get rid of it. No dice, she knew where she was and she was headed back to hold. I think my short little legs got all stretched out on that walk in because I was trying to keep up with her "Go Home" pace. We walk in to the timer at 10:10 AM. (Do the math, 18 miles in 2.5 hours - nice pace Luke sets. If it was up to Flame, we'd have been back at hold in an hour). I go straight to pulse. 53. Good deal! Luke was also pretty low, I forget what his was, but it was low. Up to the vet check, all A's. Good deal. I asked Dr. Nick to watch her carefully at the trot out because she was all hunched up. I was suspecting she needed to pee, but maybe it was something else. I couldn't get her to trot. She just walked beside me. Dammit. I asked Judy to trot her and had Jen's daughter chase her. Nope, those long legs of hers just stretched out a little longer and she wouldn't trot. Dr. Nick said to walk her a bit, try to get her to pee and being her back. Hmmmmm. First, I had to get some dry clothes on. I was soaked to the skin through three layers. Let me tell you something I learned from Judy on this ride. Don't bring 1 coat, don't bring two coats, it is imperative that you bring three coats to a rainy ride. Thankfully, I had hoodies and sweats behind the seat of the truck that I carry in the winter time because I used up every bit of dry clothing I had at this ride. (change #2) Ah, dry warmth (for the moment). Back up to the hold area. I have already decided I am going to pull Flame from the ride. If she won't pee and she's cramped up, I might do some damage to her physically, not to mention mentally. I pull off her saddle and ask Judy if she peed. Nope. Damn. Okay, let's go trot out again. She did trot out better this time, Judy trotted her and I chased ran up behind her. She got into gait and made the effort to look like a horse and not like the hunchback of Notre Dame. BUT she was still not "Flaming Lucy" so I decided that was that. Dr. Nick said her CRI was good so it was up to me. I said, "Pull her." Now, let me go and find a catheter (grin) We were in 6th and 7th ride placing at this point. I did not remember passing that many people when we got on the trail. I believe that 21 started in the Trail Trash (30-LD) ride. Cheryl, Renee and Dean had cruised in right behind us, so I asked Cheryl if she would take Jen with her group and let her finish. Cheryl, being the absolute most wonderful riding buddy I know quickly agreed. She knows Luke from when he was in my barn and she loves meeting new people, so got right into taking care of Jen. And let's talk about Cheryl for a minute! She's riding Cosmo. Yes, the wonderful little colt on my 2003 FOALS page out of Sarah (Arabian) by Toby (SSH). She bought him, finished his raising up, did all his breaking and training and conditioning and is competing him. He was bred to do this sport and now he's proving to be a spectacular distance horse. Very bold and forward with a BIG motor. When Cheryl rides him, she is all grins. I went to find Jen and her face fell when she found out I wasn't finishing. I told her Flame was fine and I was fine and she would be fine riding with Cheryl and Renee. Off they went to finish the last 12 miles. Okay Judy! Let's get this camp broke down and then I'll be ready to go when Kyle finishes his 50. Of course, once we finished I had to change clothes again. (sigh). However, this was a most excellent training situation for Miss Flame. She not only had to watch her riding buddy leave back out on trail, but then she had to go stand all alone at the trailer with no-one to keep her company. She was determined, in that first hour of aloneness, to dig a hole to China. Once she decided that China wasn't going to help her find a new buddy, she gave up and started eating. And she peed. I quick pulled her off the trailer to see if she would trot for me ... and YES! She was fine! No more hunch back. Jen made it back! They completed with excellent PR recoveries. Jen was 11th place!!!! Cheryl 8th, Renee 9th, Dean 10th. WOW! Jen was smiles all the way, even in the rain. She is definitely made of the right stuff to do this sport...and her horse? He was remarkable! I love Luke! They both completed their very first LD, thank you Cheryl and Renee!!!! And Cosmo was cranked, Cheryl said he could have done a 50 mile ride instead of the 30. AWESOME! And after several false starts and pulls, Renee finally finished an LD. YEA RENEE! After Jen got all her stuff packed up and she left, Judy packed it up and left. I was all alone. I guess this was a good training session for me, too. I was able to learn how to be friendless and alone. I decided to take Flame back up to see Dr. Nick. She ZOOMED to the cones and ZOOMED back. He asked me what I did and I told him she peed and then was fine. He gave me some pointers on getting her to pee on trail and that was good. I probably could have finished the ride, but you know what? She's not quite 6 years old, this is her second competition, we had a horrible conditioning winter and she did those 18 miles like a true professional, so I was happy with our success for the day. I saw Kyle going back out on his final loop around 1:00 ish, so figured he'd be back in around 3:00 ... I thought I'd put on some dry clothes and sit in the truck and vegitate for a little bit then head up to the hold about 2:45 to help him out. (change #3) While I was laying there in the cab of the truck day dreaming of all the trails I was going to do with Flaming Lucy in 2008, the trailer started rocking. WHAT THE???? I looked out the door to see what Flame was up to and there was Rikka tied to the trailer. WHAT THE??? Kyle's back! he completed his 50 miles in under 6 hours and finished 7th place. GREAT JOB, a top ten placing for Kyle! And Rikka looked just fine. He was concerned because she was barefooted, but these trails out here are all sand...no worries. He told me she was a handful in several places, wanting to boogie out. I'm telling ya, this cool rain and the packed trails were a horse's dream come true. They stayed cool and had the footing to motor over the trail with no trouble. Of course, the riders were all miserable, but if the horse is happy, what do we care? Okay. So I missed helping Kyle when he got back in...I felt very badly about that. Kyle, I'm sorry!!!! We pack up in record time and head out for home. I saw gas for $2.99 here in NJ and I reminded Kyle to remind me to stop and top off the tank when we found that gas station again. We did, and I saved 30 cents a gallon. Whoo Hoo. Of course, it still cost me $66 to top off the tank before crossing into PA. And so, I have done these trails in NJ 7 times and only completed them 3 times. I guess I'm going to have to work a little harder and try again this fall at the Mustang to get all the way through the sandy trail ride. (grin) I'm going to pray for rain. Now - Judy sent me an after ride email. I thought I'd share it: Thanks for another adventure...(smile). I arrived safely home about 4:10 pm. The closer I got to home, the drier and more pleasant the weather! I hope your trip home was uneventful and safe. How did Kyle do? I hope you are pleased with Jen's outcome today. She wouldn't have been able to complete, let alone place 11th had you not coached her horse and her. I know she is very grateful for your help. It was also a kick to see Cosmo do well and for Flame to do well both on the ride and in dealing with the camp/trailer aspects of the ride. I have added clothes pins and a set of 4 heavy duty spring clamps to my ride kit so you can attach a cover over your saddle seat pad when it is raining before you mount. Remember to add some ziplock bags to your ride kit before you forget. I will be sure to practice opening and closing my new cart before next ride so it doesn't require a half hour and a cast of thousands to do so. ha. Take care. Jude UNDER CONSTRUCTION

	Instructor/Manager: Dodie Sable Located in New Smithville PA at Fenstermacher Road, 3 miles north of Kutztown University Call us at 610.756.3836 or email us at dodie@newpromisefarms.com