Far OUTTTTT Forest, With the Kid: Part Two

[Howard4567@aol.com]

The drive was uneventful, except for listening to my daughter talk 
incessantly, the entire trip, without taking hardly a breath for air.  I 
actually knew the way to this campground; I was there last year.  It was the 
Far Out Forest ride where I pulled my horse, even before I started, during 
the pre-ride Vet Check.  I reluctantly did this after hearing the advice of 
the head vet (he was supposed to be there this year and is my favorite vet of 
all times) and from an endurance rider who was a reliable friend.  Tendon 
problems are not good ones and can put your horse out of the game 
permanently.   But I had heard some phenomenal comeback stories, endurance 
related, and I was planning on Dance being one of them.  Actually, I was 
kinda praying cause I was having insecure feelings (non Jesse Ventura type) 
about my horse's legs.

And here I am driving to the same ride with the same horse.  Look up the word 
stubborn in a dictionary and you'll see a picture of me and my horse.  We 
were returning, this time accompanied by Jennifer and Rebel, to a ride so 
close to my house I wouldn't pass it up even if the entire ride was one big 
sand dune (it isn't).  As I drove to Doe Lake I attempt sending telepathic 
thoughts to my horse, Dance Line.  I tell him I consider him a superior, 
athletic specimen, whose Achilles' heel is a left front tendon.  I mentally 
transmit, "Dance, OLE buddy, if you get us thru the 35 miles of deep sand at 
this ride, your status will be elevated highly in my back yard.  I will let 
you pick the gait for most of the ride.  As God is my witness (I love "Gone 
with the Wind," sorry), you will be adored as no horse before you (hey, it is 
telepathic thought, so I embellish)."

Unfortunately, Dance was too busy worrying about the mat he uprooted from the 
floor of my trailer (I could feel the back end sway every so often as I 
drove, especially when I made a turn or stopped) to answer me.  But I knew he 
and I would have plenty of time to discuss it, face to face, before the start 
of the ride tomorrow morning. I had left the house by 10:30 AM (I got up at 6 
to put the finishing touches on my packing, haha) and hit Doe Lake by high 
noon on a beautiful, but brisk, sunny day with not one cloud in the sky.

As I pulled into the Ridecamp area, I noticed not too many rigs were here.  
This surprised me because I remembered at the ride last year, this time of 
day,  it was twice as crowded.  And Jean's ride, at Osceola last month, had a 
lot more riders and rigs.  I started wondering if, maybe, the deep sand and 
the three vetchecks outside ridecamp were the reason for the lack of riders.  
Oh well, I know just the spot I want, way back in the corner with Lakefront 
property.  And I take it.

I set up the portable corral in record time (for me under 30 minutes), exit 
the horses, look at Dance making sure he's OK (he is) and start out with the 
tent.  I had made the mistake of letting Jennifer run off, not realizing I 
needed her to help me with the poles.  So I wander to search for the kid and 
to see if any riders are registering.  I check for my wallet, with my fresh 
AERC cards in the front pocket (I have it), and wander towards this huge 
pavilion meeting hall they have here.  The building has a fireplace, which I 
figure will be popular later tonight.

I find Jennifer, say hello to a few folks and go into the hall.  Only one 
person in front of me in line.  Yesssssss.  Too cool.  Then, as I'm standing 
there I realize I forgot to bring the Coggins papers.  Duh.  So, I leave the 
Pavilion, say hello to a few more folks, who have their stuff together, and 
watch them form a line that was nonexistent a few seconds ago.  Damn.

I force Jen to escort me to our campsite, get her to help me erect my 
Wal-Mart tent special that sleeps 6, and then let her wander off again.  I go 
back to the Pavilion and get in a line that isn't too long.  Looks like lines 
will not be a problem at this ride.  In front of me is Jean, from Osceola, 
and I talk with her a bit.  During this time Jennifer and her friend join us 
for a couple minutes. Jean looks at my daughter, then at me and proceeds to 
tell the tale of The Far Out Forest Pervert who molested and killed a young 
girl and then killed her family somewhere near here a couple years ago.  Not 
far from this very spot, in the same forest, that is to be our home for the 
next three days.  I look at my daughter and wink, hoping she will think 
Jean's story is fiction, which I find myself also wishing.  My kid needs her 
sleep tonight and if Jean's tale keeps her up or gives her nightmares I'm 
gonna be pissed in the morning.

Jean finishes her tale, I don't let her know she's irritated me a bit, and we 
finish registering.  I grab Jennifer again and tell her we're gonna beat the 
vet line today.  We hurry and grab our two horses, and I notice my new female 
neighbor has just gotten herself stuck in the sand next to our campsite.  
Before I leave our portable corral with our horses I go up to her and ask if 
I can help.  She's in a foul mood and tells me help is on the way.  Good 
thing cause my 2 WD diesel wouldn't be able to get out of the hole she's dug 
her truck into.  I leave with the horses, feeling I've been a good neighbor, 
and Jen and I hit the vet check area, with only one horse and rider in front 
of us.

The vet doing the check is the best I've ever seen at an endurance ride, so I 
listen to him pass on to the rider in front of me some valuable information 
concerning horse conformation.  He has spotted something with her horse's 
front legs.  He has her horse do a figure 8 kinda thing and the horse comes 
up lame in one particular direction, twice.  The vet kinda knew this would 
happen before it did, which amazes me cause the horse looks pretty good, in 
my opinion.  Anyway, he doesn't disqualify the rider but does give her some 
advice concerning this ride and I look at Dance and think, "It's showtime, 
and I'm not gonna mention last year."  We breeze through the check with all 
A's and then I get to watch my Jennifer.

I'm not sure if I told you but even though Jen is 11, she could easily pass 
for 7 because of her height.  Since I have a living Grandmother (she's 85) 
who is 4"10" my genes have to take the responsibility for this part of 
Jennifer's physical appearance.  Riders in line watch her trot out her 15 H 
Arab, and are usually impressed.  So is the vet and he talks to her the 
entire time, hardly looking at the horse (I'm joking).  Rebel gets strait A's 
also, and we hike back to our camp.  I spot Truman in line, he yells out 
something funny about my horse ("It sure must be colder up there on top of 
that mountain you ride"), a few other riders in line laugh, and I ask Truman 
why he's not wearing shorts, since that's what he wore at Osceola when it was 
35 degrees outside.  I can't retort as well as Angie, off the cuff, but I 
still give it a shot.

A few of the riders in line next to Truman laughed (out of courtesy I think) 
and Jen and I go back to our campsite.  No one is camped next to me, except 
for the STUCK LADY we have for a neighbor.  I ask Jen if she wants to see if 
her friend Samantha and Samantha's Mom (St. Sandy) want to ride with us, 
after they vet in.  Jen takes off to ask them.  I'm realizing that Sandy is 
the only Georgia buddy I got that's showing up at this ride.  Sandy has too 
much class to bother me while I'm napping, so this might be a good thing, 
even though I'll miss the drinking company.

I relax and have a beer.  Find some food, eat and realize I'm nap material 
all ready.  Jen comes back and tells me Sam and her Mom are saddling up.  
Damn, there goes the nap, but it is a beautiful day.  By the time Jennifer 
and I are done tacking up Dance Line and Rebel, St. Sandy and Samantha ride 
up to us and say Hello.  The four of us leave the camp area on horseback and 
head out around Doe Lake.

We ride a bit, Sandy says something about my tights asking if I've lost 
weight.  I tell her I might have, I'm down to only a twelve pack a day right 
now, a drastic reduction.  haha.  I canter on ahead, Sam and Sandy want to 
take it easy cause they're doing a 50 tomorrow, and end up ahead of the other 
three so much they're out of site.  Jennifer had decided she wanted to stay 
behind with Samantha.  I come up to some camp area and notice a woman who 
appears to be sunbathing.  She must be a Yankee, cause it's too cold for most 
Southerners to be in a bathing suit today.

I ride a little closer to the young lady, just to make sure she's OK, and 
notice something quite unique about her.  She's totally naked, trying to get 
that all over tan.  Wow. I wonder if she'll want to come over and pet my 
horse?  haha.  I decide to stop wandering towards her, even though it's 
really what I want to do, because the camper next to her might contain a male 
or guard dog (is there a difference?) and I don't think either one of them 
will want to pet my horse.

So I just wait for the gals, admiring the view, the young lady catches me 
looking, smiles and waves.  This gives me the incentive to wander over closer 
but then I hear the other horses coming my way.  I ride towards St. Sandy and 
the gang, not wanting them to think I'm some kind of pervert or something.  I 
don't tell anyone about the naked lady and we continue on our ride.