Duct tape part 5

[Coujurs1@aol.com]

  Okay, left out on the second loop and the ever changing terrain.  <g>.  
Goat was behaving pretty well now, and soon we caught up with Betty Baker.  
Betty had an escort in the form of Asama, the 3 cell phone guy.  He would 
periodically yell out and ask what Corky's heartrate was.  All the loops 
except for the first were 30+ kilometers in length.  Betty and I (And Asama) 
cruised along pretty good.  And soon arrived back to the Vet area.  I got 
called upon to weight (now this is why woman don't box (much) we will weight 
in public with a saddle but forget about it without it).  I had someone hold 
Goat and started untacking to the repetitive voice of the official saying 
"you need to weight", I started to tell him that I spoke and understood 
English and if he wanted the horse untacked any faster...of course after 
untacking, I had to weight (sorry) wait.  They had someone on the scales 
already and he was a bit under the 75 kilos, but not under the allowance.  
They told him to add weight to be sure he was at the correct weight later in 
the ride.  I got on the scales (arms now dragging the ground) and was 3 kilos 
+ over, I asked if I could dump some weight and they said sure!  But I didn't 
want to risk it, plus untaping the lead plates would be a pain, and that 
electrical tape was hard to come by, still no duct tape.
  Goat vetted through fine, and he and Conquistador decided to swap food, 
since Quister wasn't interested in his.  Goat of course was interested in 
pretty much anything.  By this time we had figured out the out gate, the 
first VC we thought we had to run the card before leaving and did so.  
  Off on the 3 rd loop.  Goat and I were pretty much by ourselves for a 
while.  Of course we rounded a corner to a herd of camels, around 50 or so, 
loose on the track.  Uhoh!  Hopefully the camel training would help.  Yep, 
Goat just kept on trotting and the camels looked scared of him.  I rode right 
through the middle of the herd without a bolt out of him.  Just after passing 
through, two SUV arrived to save the day and herded the camels off of the 
trail.  It really got hot on this loop.  And at one of the water stops, some 
nice man gave me a bottle of Gatorade (or so I think that is what it was <g>) 
and that helped quite a bit as I started to melt from the heat.  I rode most 
of the end of this loop with a nice young man.  He was a cousin of Sheikh 
Mohammed's (I think).  He instructed his crew to hand me water bottles.  I 
kept slowing down to get them and he would tell me not to, to let them run 
and catch up so I didn't think he was trying to cheat me by making me slow 
down to get the water.  I explained that didn't matter, if someone was 
helping me, I sure wouldn't fuss over a few seconds wait.  At one point, 
someone drove up and handed him a cell phone and down the trail he rode 
conversing on it.  Not something you see everyday back home.
  Arrived back at the VC, Goat was a little draggie, but vetted through fine. 
 Ate his time away in the VC and off we went again.  
On this loop (to be my final one) he started acting tired.  Would move out, 
but wasn't quite the same horse.  All that crap he did on the first loop was 
taking it's toll.  Valerie Kanavy's incredible crew was out on the trail 
everywhere, and John Alexander took care of Goat and I.  We came upon a hill 
(yes it's true Virginia!  A hill) so I thought what the hay, and got off to 
tail.  Forgetting that Goat has never done that, he would take a step look at 
me, take a step.  But since I had already dismounted (a chore in itself) I 
decided to lead him up the hill.  The vet's that were out on trail drove by 
and I explained what I was doing and they drove off.  I caught back up with 
Valerie and her clan.  And we rode into the VC together.  
  Goat came down pretty quick and took him to the vets.  Duane trotted him 
out and he just wasn't right.  The vet checking him wanted another one to 
watch him.  Duane trotted him again and they went to have a conference.  I 
interrupted them and told them not to bother, I wasn't going back out.  They 
looked at me kind of surprised, thanked me and sent us on our way.  This was 
pretty tough, it was Goat's first non-completion.  
  I never did hear about when the awards ceremony was, watched the BC 
judging.  Didn't hear till later that Sheikh Mohammed was first BC and Hassan 
Ben Ali won second, they awarded 3 places, don't remember who won the third.  
  We went back the next day and watched the children's race.  It was quite 
interesting.  They don't have sponsors per se.  At least not one.  They are 
followed all the way by 4 wheel drive vehicles with coaches in them.  Plus an 
ambulance for both the horse and the rider is nearby.  The ride was won by 
Sheikh Mohammed's son.  
  My flight back was pretty uneventful (after killing the screaming brat 
behind me, kidding!).  Customs wasn't the nightmare I assumed it would be.  
And to the phone I went to find out when and where to meet Duane.  Called a 
contact with the airline Duane and Goat were on. Seems they took off from 
Sarjah fine, but no one had though to talk with Detroit about landing.  So 
they were having another lay over in Germany.  ARGGHH!  So I called to fuss 
to my Mom and she, of course as mom's do, had a solution.  Nina Murphy (no 
relation <g>) had called to see if we were back and offered to do anything 
she could.  So I called her and she arranged to meet me at a Marta station 
and put up, I mean put me up for a day or so.  Thanks ever so much Nina!  
Duane finally called and said they would be in on Sunday (this was Friday) 
and Goat would have to be quarantined till bloodwork was back.  Hopefully 
they weren't testing him for the sexually transmitted diseases that they had 
originally said they needed.  Ah excuse me, he is a GELDING, kind of like 
being married, no s-e-x ( I spelled it in case children are reading).
  And yes the story is coming to a close, WAKE UP.  Finally after being home 
for 2 weeks, we get a letter from Lufthansa airlines, saying they had a piece 
of luggage with our address on it, was it ours?  If so yada yada yada.  I 
attempted to call Germany, and failed miserably.  So called Atlanta Lufthansa 
Cargo, asked him to call.  They called early the next morning and said the 
luggage was a trunk like we described...where did we want it sent?  I paused 
a bit, thinking maybe this rocket scientist could get this one on his own, 
nopey!  So I say, "how about the address ... on it?".  He says "Sarjah?".  
ARGH!  I asked him why I would want it sent there, they never got it there 
when I needed it.  So I told him my address to send it to.  It finally 
arrived, I tried to find out from the Fed Ex guy how much it cost to ship it, 
all he would say is a lot!  So my duct tape is finally home...which is great 
since I needed it this past weekend!  (uhoh sounds like another story!)

Nina and Goat