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Big South Fork was a quick trip for us this year. We spent 3.5 hours hauling 
Thursday morning to arrive in ridecamp at around 11:30 AM. There weren't a ton 
of people there, yet. Daniel scouted the "small rig" field and chose our 
camping spot. I took Tanna to weigh in to avoid watching him pull the trailer 
through the slightly muddy field with our ancient camper on our dually truck.

Tanna weighed 808 pounds! That is the most he has ever weighed. Guess that oil 
in his food is really packing on the weight. I was surprised and threatened to 
put him on a diet.

Back at camp, I settled Tanna in his metal corral pen and contemplated lunch. 
Daniel and I both agreed we were tired so spent a couple hours napping in lieu 
of lunch. It was a good choice, if a hard one. :-)

At 4 PM, we hiked over to the visitor's center to buy ice, only to discover it 
had closed at 4. Just our luck, Good thing I'd put in lots of frozen water 
bottles. On the way back, we stopped to check in and get my rider pack. The map 
was on the back of my vet card on waterproof paper. Good idea on both counts! 
After the ride, my vet card didn't look nearly as bedraggled as normal. I also 
received a ride evaluation form that was my meal ticket for Friday and a arm 
band to put vital statistics on in case of an emergency.

Tanna vetted in calmly. All As with a couple minuses thrown in for variety.

Back to camp for supper and pre-ride preparations. Then over to the ride 
meeting. While waiting for the meeting to start, I visited with Teddy to chat 
about the Bosana boots and to buy several more syringes. Dosing electrolytes 
and probiotics uses a lot of syringes when preloading all the doses I'd need 
through the ride. :-)

Daniel and I took one of our cats with us. A pretty little Siamese cat that has 
to have medicine twice a day, Sib is a very well-mannered and calm cat 
considering all the activity she was exposed to. That is probably due to 
missing a few brain cells, but it makes her very easy to take to a ride. This 
was Sib's first ride and we were unsure of her reaction, but she handled it 
well. She was a hit at the ride meeting and we had lots of people comment on 
her calmness and many had to come pet her.

The ride meeting started with a welcome by new ride manager Eric Rueter. Kudos 
to him for putting on this ride! We were afraid we were going to lose this 
great ride after the Isaacs decided they did not want to put it on anymore, but 
Eric and his wife, Nelia, stepped up to the plate and delivered a great ride 
(with lots of input from the Isaacs, he said).

One of the BSF rangers, Christy, gave a quick talk welcoming us to the park and 
sharing where the nearest gas was, what the trails were like, and generally 
just had a good chat. Otis gave his normal speech. No cell phones in the vet 
area (you know who you are!), goal of NO treated horses, pulse of 64, 50 minute 
holds, tack off.

The trail maps were discussed. They seemed quite confusing while I was sitting 
there at the ride meeting, but once I got on the trails, most everything became 
clear. I seem to have that condition at most rides. :-)

Back to the trailer and last minute preparations. I took Tanna for a walk and 
then retired to bed.

At 2 AM, I woke up and thought it was time to get up. It obviously wasn't, but 
since I was awake, I slipped out and checked on Tanna. I was concerned that he 
had not been drinking. He still hadn't drunk from his water bucket. Maybe a sip 
or two, but no noticeable difference in the water level. I took him for a walk 
to the common water troughs by the vet in area. I spent several minutes forcing 
him to play in the water, but he never drank. I let him nose around looking for 
good grass for awhile.

As I hung out there, I heard a horse or two galloping in the short rig field. 
Quite obviously loose from their pen. I went back to the water troughs and 
tried again to get Tanna to drink. I listened for hoof beats, but heard no 
more. The horses must have turned toward the woods or stopped because I never 
heard them on the pavement. Somebody approached me and Tanna, I think it was 
Betsy, but since it was dark and I was blind, I wasn't sure. Anyway, she made 
sure there was somebody with Tanna and we talked about the loose horses for a 
minute before I headed back to my trailer.

Back in bed and awake at 4 AM. Still had an hour before time to get up, so I 
slept on and off until the alarms began ringing in the camper. We had set no 
fewer than 3 different electronic devices to go off at 5 AM. Can you tell I'm 
paranoid about getting up on time? :-)

Up, dressed, food ready and too hot to eat. Took Tanna over to weigh him. 808. 
Lost 4 pounds overnight. He still wasn't drinking. :-( Back to eat my food. The 
coffee was disgusting, the oatmeal pasty and the fake meat hot dogs had a weird 
taste. I managed to choke down the oatmeal and that was it. Out to saddle in 
the dark. Finally mounted at 6:40. Start was at 7.

Tanna did not throw me off (he likes to blow up in the first 30 seconds of 
mounting) and I counted my lucky stars, thanked God, and warmed him up at a 
walk. I gave my number to Nancy, got the official ride time and set my watch. 
Back and forth to warm up. I was a little chilly in a short sleeve shirt, but 
knew I'd warm up and regret having a jacket to mess with so ignored the chill. 
Tanna was sporting a butt rug for the start, though. Just as a precaution. I 
figured I would roll it up when we got going good and once I didn't feel chilly 
anymore.

(to be continued)

April
Nashville, TN



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