Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I tried to send this before, too big! here it is:

 

Well before we headed back to our camp site, I wanted to weigh War Cry, so my mom waited for me, but my oblivious dad kept going (you've got to understand we have major problems with the separation) and after we both weigh in, be head back but only to be looking head on to loose Spirit, dragging my dad behind him, finally my dad (who had grabbed onto Spirit's tail to stop him) let go and slowly began to get up while everyone else tried to grab Spirits lead rope. When all was calm, my dad hobbled with bolts of pain in each step he took.
    I took my Spirit, who seemed calm and collected now that the mare was in sight, and told my dad I would take his horse, and he could go take a look at his leg. I put the horses up, turned the (oh so needed) electric on, threw some hay in and walked in the RV. My dad was icing his upper thigh, and my first thought was that if we were in World War 1 times, It would be decapitated! Not only was it black and blue? it was green too from being dragged like a sack of dirt against the grass. My mom was there and told me she would stick with my dad so I was hanging with Ashley. Well I looked around and the horses needed water, so Ash and I asked this nice lady named Caren to use her truck to haul water. Ashley had her permit and since it wasn't a HUGE distance she drove, and we made a couple trips. Ash went to go return the truck to Caren while I was setting up my area where I could dump my tack and check War Cry's heart rate before the vet check. My mom came out of the RV and told me I did a great job with the water (I have a feeling there's guna be a but in this sentence..). But (see? I knew it!) I didn't bring enough!  we needed more for the horses now, not for the set up for tomorrow, so my mom and I grabbed 5 gallon buckets and walked to the "pool" Kim had set up for the horse water that was refilled every 15 minutes it seemed. We scooped up some water, and before we were even half way to our campsite, this really nice man offered to let us use his wagon-type thing to haul water? (What a SAVIOR!). We thanked him and when we dumped THAT water in, we loaded up the wagon will all the buckets we could find and when we passed the nice man's wife didn't look too happy as we passed her with (HER) wagon. 

    After about 3 trips, I returned it and thanked the kind man. I walked back to the campsite filthy, it was really dusty and with the trucks driving in and out of the main road, it wasn't making it any easier! People who passed by seemed to stare at War Cry because of the "war paint" I put on him. In all my vet checks if there was a "decorations" category I would certainly get an "A".  For the rest of the day, we really just hung out and set up everything so we knew where our tack and other things were because it would be dark in the morning.

    That night, at the ride meeting, Kim explained the trail and different loops, and there were no maps! But that wouldn't be a problem because the trails are so well marked, while some parts can be tricky, just follow the ribbons is as easy as it gets. I was quite tired, so afterwards, I helped my dad with the horses, talked with Ashley for awhile and then hit the sack. Not being able to hear the horses' every move (like it was in the tent) made everyone sleep well.  
    That morning, at around 4:30 (good thing it's central time zone) my dad and I woke up. After having the horses all set up for breakfast, we talked about how my mom and I would split up. We understood that my mom defiantly wasn't going to stick with me, since Princess isn't an Arab like War Cry and couldn't handle going too fast in the beginning. Well before I knew it, it was 5:00 am and I had to saddle War Cry. My mom and I decided to stick together for the warm up but split up from there. Well we were all set up and went to the front gate where Ms. Nancy Gooch was. It would not be a ride without Nancy, and her band of helpers, who have been doing timing probably longer, and better than anyone I know.

    We called out our numbers, 15 and my mom's 13 (I was hoping she would have some good luck this ride). We were defiantly early enough, with 10 minutes before the start. We weren't as far from our campsite as we wished, because Spirit did his best to let Princess and War Cry hear him and his lonesome self. The fog was low and thick, and unexpected to stay this long. Well the ride was delayed for the fog, and Princess and War Cry neighing back and forth with Spirit but behaving.