Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

This is the ride story that wasn't . .
. or better yet, the one that my faith in horse people was renewed.  So
now that you're probably scratching your heads (unless this has happened
to you), I'll share with you 'the rest of the story'.

Wednesday before the ride:
Wednesday's are always the greatest day before a ride.  I'm always
excited about the impending time I'll spend on my horse with an old buddy
and meet a couple of new ones.  This is also usually the day that
I pack the trailer and the Suburban for hauling out to the ride on Friday.
 Why do I like to pack on Wednesday's?  Well, it's because I'm
a blonde (oops, that's unfair to the intelligent blondes out there), but
I seem to always forget something if I pack on Thursday.  Unfortunately
the mare I have in my pasture with my boy had a problem and it needed to
be 'fixed' before I left (developed scratches again). So, without going
to bed way too late, having to pack on Thursday was the only option.

Thursday before the ride:
it was a long day at work, with me completely antsy knowing that not only
did I have to work all day, but I had a dinner with a client and then needed
to go home and pack.  Needless to say, in the spirit of not going
to bed at midnight, I rescheduled the dinner. . . only to have to work
until 7:30 p.m. anyway!  Got home, got the things out of the attic,
all the food (and then some - never like to run short), all the 'stuff'
for two horses and my riding partner into the trailer and to bed . . .
at 1 a.m.  It's a good thing I have a wonderful daughter who will
feed the ponies (horses) when I need help.  Turns out that I hadn't
even had a chance to load my friend's temporary panels that were being
used elsewhere on the property (where a mud slide had taken out the fence).
 So off to bed with the knowledge that I'd need to get up real early
in the a.m. and replace those temporary panels and attach them to the side
of my trailer.  Sheesh - but I was GOING to A RIDE!~

Friday before the ride:
this was the day that 'all good things' were to happen.  It seems
that for some reason, luck would have it that I would today learn (better
yet, be reminded) that there are REALLY great people out there, particularly
HORSE PEOPLE!!!  Getting out of bed at 5 a.m., I started soaking beet
pulp (in 3 months of living on our new 'ranch', everyone is the house,
including the non-horsey folks, have learned what soaking beet pulp is
all about - but I digress).  I grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed
down to feed my boy some much needed 'sloppy stuff' and pull the temporary
panels from the plunging hillside . . . of course it took longer than it
was suppose to. . . and then my truck wouldn't start (a really bad sign)
but once jumped and a deep sigh, I was off to pick up my riding buddy,
Dick Carter (yes, the guy with LOTS of experience, and lots of cowboy poetry
- but don't tell him I told you).  Needless to say, a fun riding buddy
and one I'm continually learning things from.  After stopping at Starbucks
for some much need 'encouragement' (caffeine), we were as I put it "off
to see the Wizard".  Two hours later, stuck in traffic, we were
half way there.  Another hour and with smiles on both our faces, things
started to go haywire.  It's not ALL the time that a pick up truck
pulls beside you and says - to your horror - "your brakes are smoking!"
 Our smiles froze and turned to frowns after a quick look in the rear
view mirror (thank goodness Dick was driving).


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