Not literally thank goodness. But I had hesitated to pull the trailer with the folks' p/u, mini 5th wheel hitch and adaptor because dad found that the rock in the 5th wheel + the gooseneck/ball hitch motion made it tough. So since my p/u was to be ready to go on friday we never tried to get the 5th wheel blocked up where it couldn't move. So I got my p/u. Hitched up and made sure there was clearance to turn (there is NOT clearance to leave a tail gate down and hitch up so I don't know that I'll bother putting my tail gate on. Its been off ever since I bought my camper but we still have it.
So add in my slow packing and I hit some early rush hour slowing on 225 through Aurora and then Parker road with all the traffic lights really gave the blue beast an acid test for pulling the white albatross. It was able to pull through that with no tranny overheating or any other issues. Shade does not like the new trailer but she isn't being stupid about it and I think she'll adjust. I liked my weekend package, even with the limitations of not having everything ready to use yet.
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The ride was a nail biter. Shade was short striding on the RF at the friday check. When the vet told me my response was "I'm not sure I should even start then as this is not something that has ever been seen before" The vet and head vet told me it was quite subtle and Dr D volunteered to look at her again saturday morning before we started. I took them up on that (tacked and warmed her just a bit and had them look just minutes before ride start. Still there but less than friday night. So I went ahead and started, figured its no big deal to me if we get pulled mid ride; Grey gave me lots of practice with that.
I thought I maybe felt something just a couple of times during the ride, but always only when Shade was ahead of the group and wondering where they were, not wanting to leave them -in the first and 3rd of 4 loops. I never did get ducks aligned to wait till end of a hold for the check to make extra sure the vets would see everything that might be there; but she always had 10 minutes to come off of trail adrenalin and I knew they had good eyes. Just a few minutes after our 3rd loop vet check they announced that they were putting the ride on hold due to tornado warnings and lots of lightning. Very rare on an endurance ride that all riders happened to be in the vet hold and they could make such a call. I took Shade to the barn area, they had announced there were 100 open stalls and we could use them and I figured that was better than a ride camp with all manner of
folding carts etc to blow around if a tornado or strong winds came through.
Shade hated the stalls. They were designed so strange horses wouldn't fight, with solid side walls and she couldn't see any other horses. But she wasn't crazy, just stood there feeling miserable. Well we didn't get any tornado, not even strong wind and they announced they were resuming the dressage show so I saddled Shade back up and went up to the ride area. I was the only 50 miler who had headed to the barns. They were looking for me (I took a weird route I guess) so they could send us on the final loop.
I quick bridled and put on my helmet and gloves and we all rode out together. Shade loved it. She led the whole pack much of the way, with the front runner taking the lead at times when Shade was content to just mosey a bit. (I'm not sure front runner really understood that the differences in everyones pulse time into that vet check was going to be accounted for at the end of the ride, so she had over 20 minutes on me or if she was competing with the 2nd place horse and rider still) I knew it, I was just letting Shade have fun, she loves to be the lead mare (should have been a mustang.) We cantered across the finish --not racing because Shade didn't care who was in front, just wanted to stay with the other mare at that point and I knew the whole group was so close that I was last since I had been 5 minutes behind in pulsing down at the vet check.
I went ahead and stood for BC since there were less than 10 of us and we were all so close in time, and others had been complaining about horses being a bit off too. Shade's 10 minute CRI was ok but her final BC was not great (nothing even close to not fit to finish for getting the ride completion but the #'s would not have been great. So maybe it was some subconscious will on my part to forget to report my weight to the vets scribe so they could compute our score.
I was going "huh" when there were only 3 BC presenters at the awards thing and I was not one of them; only remembered my memory lapse as I was walking back to the trailers. Overall I am really happy with my ride. Shade shows the steel under that magnolia exterior once again. Unfortunately the front runner was pulled. I guess she kind of had race brain. I didn't see much gait problem on the trail but they had told her the horse was marginal at that 3rd VC, and she stood for BC (one does not have to do this) and the horse was over the margin at the final check. I have no idea if the mare would have trotted out good enough if she had just completed right at the end of the ride but I bet she wishes she would have at least tried to do that.
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I had told the RM I would volunteer sunday morning if I didn't have to go to Conifer to fetch Lady right away. Well Lady may well be staying up there for a year so I had time. I enjoyed ride volunteering. Front runner was sponsoring someone else's daughter on the LD. She was still wanting to top ten but she was really polite to the vols and vets and not pushing. I was never in eye or earshot on saturday so I don't know what transpired but she and the 2nd place rider had kept getting mixed up on the course. I over heard someone on sunday say she was being real polite so sounded like she wasn't so polite saturday.
I don't know -I have ridden the ride before so even though 2 loops were different I had a feel for the maps and how the loops started out but still I think the course was marked fine for just riding, not racing, and an experienced racer, not spoiled by trail bosses who mark to try to outfox the person who always manages to get lost or having been with an experienced rider in front would have been fine. I did a mix of pulsing and vet scribing. I put Shade in a now open pen during the ride so I wouldn't have to worry about her getting a leg over her lead at the trailer or anything since we were all out to an away first check on sunday.
When all the LD riders had vetted and things were pretty much in hand, plenty of vols for the 3 50's still on course I decided to break away and get home. When I had the trailer packed up and went to grab Shade she had managed to give herself a scrape/cut on her chest. She must have hit the t-post holding the panel. It was tall and she didn't rear and impale herself on the top, but the tabs to hold wire clips were facing into the pen, and that is the only thing I think could have stuck out enough to catch on at all. I asked the ride vet if I could get one more bit of free medical advice -just wanted to know if she agreed it was no biggie, just put some stuff to keep flies out on it -- she cleaned it up for me and confirmed its superficial and its not right at the corner of her chest where it would keep getting pulled so it should heal quickly. Great blood supply, I'm sure glad Shade didn't find a way to scrape a leg.
Shade loaded ok. S(from HJ) helped us. I had tied her, so she wouldn't try turn around and maybe scrape herself and she got the lead over her nose and pretty well was in a bind, so I had to just unsnap her and let her turn around, - since I had a door holder this was okay so she got to ride home turned around. Probably better for braking for those lights on Parker road. I don't accelerate too quickly with the albatross so there is not much stress on a horse taking off.
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Today I found out the Sep 13-14 ride just west of Fort Carson is canceled. They had a fire there. I think it was some time ago, someone at this weekend's ride used the words "the fire this SPRING burned right there at the arena where the basecamp always is" So I'm a bit pizzed that the recreation area manager didn't put out any kind of alert that the ride might not be able to happen, but seemingly just waited till the last minute. And since Shade was short striding this weekend I won't take her to the Rushcreek ride in Neb. this weekend. But I did see on the ride calendar where a 3 day ride has been added in sw NM in mid Nov. Its a longer drive than Moab, and probably not quite as scenic, but the timing will be better for work so I guess I'm going to get Shade checked out by a chiro, and hopefully try to condition up and plan to try to do that ride in NM.
So I don't guess my trailer is bad luck/karma. Actually, at this point I think its been a victim of the previous owner. Friday I thought I might fill the horse water tank, dad had filled the people tank. Dad had told me that the horses tank hose doesn't have an end valve so I grabbed the valve from my b/p trailer. Well when I went to put on my hose valve I found that the hose end was female, not male like expected. Hmm, look under the tank and WTF, the end with the valve switch has been JAMMED up under the tray tank, I couldn't get it free, I think I have to get cutters and cut some on the tray tank to have any hope of not completely tearing up the hose connection on the tank to get it straightened out. But HooBoy, the poor horses the original owner was 'training' --using that amount of brute force on a hose, instead of reasoning things out, trying the other end --- well I'm glad the roping horse trainer that bought the estate and sold me the trailer got all those horses and they got a chance. I know some folks think being a roping horse is a hard life, and I don't even know what discipline the original trailer was in. paint horse trainer tells *me* nuthin; but I think M (roper) is a horseman, and at least taught them their jobs. My guess is the original trailer owner was just a forcer.
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