My husband drove me, a month's worth of clothing
and equipment, and my good old gelding Music, South to Interstate 80 in
Pennsylvania to meet Cia and Wave. On August 24, three weeks before
the PAC in the state of Washington, we left NY and PA behind and started
west. This was no wily nilly meeting and trip - this was a mission with a
plan, and the successful outcome was the satisfying reward.
I had helped Cia in Spain last year and had become
attached to Wave during the World Games. I was impressed with his workman
- like attitude and his ability to adjust to everything around him. I was
thrilled when she asked me to come along to the Pan Am
Championship.
We traveled only 400-500 miles a day stopping in
the middle of most days to walk and graze for almost an hour. The two
geldings got along great, with good natured Music aptly handled the role of
companion, scratching post and entertainment to Wave, while Cia and I
got on swimmingly. The four of us moseyed our way across the country
with the human travelers singing to rock and roll, playing gin rummy, and
absorbing the history and beauty of the west, while the equine partners munched
hay, watched out their windows, and rolled in the western dirt each
evening.
We stopped every afternoon in time to set up camp,
ride the geldings a few miles, and make new friends from the Equine Travelers
book we used to make overnight accommodations. Except for the second night
when we stayed with old friends of mine from Sandarac Arabians in Illinois, we
stayed with strangers every evening of our trip west and never had a bad
stop.
Getting to Trout Lake on day 7 of our
journey was really exciting. After 2700 miles we were ready to put down
our "camper' roots" and put up our portable corral. The area was beautiful
with the White Salmon River nearby and Mt. Adams which stood
above us in our rented field. The horses had not lost a bit of weight and
appeared content. We met the neighbors, made lifelong friends, and scouted
the local groceries (25 miles away) and feed stores for supplies for the
ride.
With two weeks until PAC, we began to explore the
trails. Instead of hard volcanic rock, we were delighted to find good soft
footing, but the dry weather that caused fire warnings, also turned the trails
to dust. Many times when trotting down a trail behind another horse, I
couldn't see the footing I was asking my horse to trot through.
I couldn't imagine being the 20th horse through in a single file
line. Fortunately that aspect of the trail would change before ride
day.
Though I was along as 'groom' and was prepared to do anything needed, Cia
took care of Wave herself She was aware of every poop, every drink and
whether he seemed restless or happy. Nothing escaped her observations and
though we were in a secure field and the horses were in a sturdy portable
corral, we never left them alone. Too many accidents can happen, and we
were going to do everything within our power to make sure Wave was ready to
compete at his best.
