Far OUTTTTT Forest with the Kid: Part One

[Howard4567@aol.com]

The kid and I were raring to go.  Jennifer hasn't shut up about THE RIDE 
since ten days to takeoff and I was getting kinda edgy myself.  Even though 
we have never come close to placing in the top ten at any of these endurance 
rides, we always think we have to potential to do so.  Some egos never die, 
and my kid's idea of competing kinda keeps feeding mine.

Course I just hope to complete, cause when you ride a 17 H Saddlebred, you 
don't always get to finish.  I had returned my other Saddlebred (Skeletor), 
that I was leasing, to his owner cause I was having serious weight problems 
with the horse and knew he and I were not a match.  Even though he was one of 
the craziest horses I've ever ridden (you'd think that would be a match right 
there) I just could not keep weight on him no matter what I did.  For the Far 
Out Forest, I was putting all my chips on Dance Line, the tallest horse at 
Ridecamp, no matter where I go, who has had some leg problems in the past.  
My pull rate at these endurance rides, with Skeletor or Dance Line, is almost 
50 percent; Jennifer, riding her Arab, has never been pulled at a ride.

The big day finally comes.  I think one of the reason's Jennifer loves these 
rides is that I usually pull her out of school a day or two so we can get to 
camp early.  FOF is the closest endurance ride to my house, a 55 mile trip, 
if you can believe that.  If only they were all like that I'd be in endurance 
heaven.  

We get up early, wife is hanging around watching me pack up (actually I 
started packing two weeks ago), just laughing her butt off at me because of 
my nutty way of doing things.  When I bought out the duck tape to seal the 
cooler (and, yes, I did put the food in first) she had to hit the bathroom 
she was laughing so hard.  One of these days she's going with us and I can't 
wait till she sees me cook with an alcohol burner that is so old it has a 
born on date of 1944.  I lit it on one trip and 8 foot flames started coming 
out of this tiny burner filled with alcohol (did I buy the right stuff?), 
igniting a tree that I had put it under (duh) and melting my tea kettle and 
the cooler I had been using as a table underneath the burner.  If you camp 
close to me you must carry a fireman's ax, fireproof blankets, and a water 
hose.

I finish packing everything I can think of loading and do the last thing that 
I hate doing.  Loading the horses.  Now Jen's horse, Rebel (yea, I know his 
name is Politically Incorrect), loads real easy.  Walks right in.  Skeletor 
was a pain in the butt and Dance Line is not much easier. Dance is sooooooooo 
tall and his neck is sooooooo long he has to put his head down quite a bit to 
get in my rather tall trailer.  And his body requires two spaces in my three 
horse slant load.   But I have learned a trick or two and I'd tell y'all what 
I do, but some of you might try it without me, and if I'm not there to show 
you how to do it,  you might injure your horse a bit.  So it will be my 
little secret.  I get Dance Line in using my "method," hook him up and notice 
his back legs are still on the ramp.  This guy is so long I have to special 
order any blanket to get it close to covering his butt.

I figure I'll just get behind him and push him in, but as I go to exit the 
trailer, Dance starts freaking out and pulling hard on the trailer tie.  I 
"exit stage left" as quick as my little legs can move, watch Dance pull back 
so hard the rubber mat slides from his back legs to his front and down goes 
Dance's body, all except the head, still attached to the tie.  The break away 
didn't break; and I'm actually kind of glad.  Maybe he learned something 
there.  Dance stands up quivering, I yell at him to get his body completely 
in (he does), raise the ramp, close the top and know I'm off with a couple of 
first class nags and an 11 year old who is gonna talk my ear off the next 55 
miles.

HEY, Gotta go to work but I'll finish it (sometime), promise.

cya,
Howard