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[RC] Things I learnt at DVE - Part 2 - Lucy Chaplin Trumbull(Hopefully this isn't a repeat, I'm having trouble with the length of my posts, I think) * * * Things I learnt at DVE: * It takes 9.5 hours to get to Jackie Bumgardner's and 11 hours to get home from Panamint Springs. * Zini thinks travelling in the trailer is fun, since when you stop, you get fed carrots and BP slurries. Travelling is interesting, since you get to look out of the window. Travelling takes a long time, though. * Zini thinks stopping at rest stops is nice, because you get to eat grass. And watch 18-wheelers coming in. Jake brakes aren't good, though. * Zini thinks camping is fun, since you get to watch all the other horses parading past all day long, and eat incessantly. And mum feeds you slurries at least twice a day. And you get to eat three times the normal amount. And you don't have to share. * Zini shakes her head going into the wind/rain. * Zini will lead quite cheerfully going into the wind/rain. * Zini also likes to tuck her nose into Color's tail to keep her face out of the rain. * Zini will still move forward at speed when it is sleeting into her face. * Zini will leave camp on Loop 2, even when it is raining. * Zini will go 25 and 30 miles with virtually no food and no rest stops (the two 30 minute holds we were supposed to have were eliminated because they didn't want horses standing around in the weather, so we just did a quick VC and then carried on. Poor Zini, no rest for her). * Zini probably isn't that impressed with the concept of distance riding. * Zini will drink from puddles and running washes. * Zini doesn't care that camp is 300' away when we are coming in, she will still stop and drink from big puddles anyway. * Polarfleece is still warm even when soggy. * When you tuck your polarfleece neck gaiter up around your nose and inhale, you get a nose-full of water. * Smartwool socks will keep your feet warm, until your boot is filled with three inches of water. * Once your boot is filled with three inches of water, you can no longer keep the water warm enough to keep your pruney feet warm. * You can take off a boot and empty the water out of it while sitting on the horse, although you have to stop moving. * When you stop moving, find the two-millimeter long grass for the horse to graze on. And turn the horse's butt into the wind/rain. * When it rains that much, you will need to empty your boot twice during a 25 mile ride. * Next time duct-tape your rain-trousis to your boots to stop them letting the rain dribble in. * When you discover an inch of water in the HRM pocket on the top of your pommel bag, do not empty it out onto the horse, as it pours down the gap under the pommel of the saddle and the horse doesn't think it's a funny joke. * Wet sheepskins are not pleasant to sit on. * Nubuck leather saddles soak up water really well. * Wet sheepskins or new nubuck leather saddles leak dye onto the white parts of your horse. * Leaving your woolly gloves in the pommel bag so that they "don't get wet" doesn't work. * It takes approximately 60 miles to dry out a pair of woolly gloves if you duct-tape them to the dashboard over the heater vents and turn the heater on full. * A hot water bottle is the best possible thing to take with you. Next time buy several. * My prototype rump-rug worked really well, except for the part where I had to wring out the ends. But remember, polarfleece is warm even when wet. * I can roll - well, "scrunch" - up my prototype rump-rug and snug up the elastic straps while trotting at speed in a group of horses (not something I'd ever even attempt with my gelding, Provo). * When your HRM reads 207 while trotting along a straight, flat trail, it's probably time to tighten your girth a couple of holes. * Do not try and mount the horse when your girth needs tightening a couple of holes. * If you mount and it feels lumpy, the saddle is probably twisted 45° to the right. * When your girth needs tightening a couple of holes, it is very easy to twist the saddle back to center. * My rump-rug does need a tail strap for 30 mph side-winds. * Wearing six layers is many too many when you are walking down a long rocky hill in bright, bright sunshine. * I need more dog-collars/snaps/bits of string on the saddle for attaching four of the layers of clothing when I take them off. * Hoof-it will stay in for 55 miles, although if you try and add a layer to it a day after putting it in, it will fall out. * Your horse will not automatically go lame if the Hoof-it falls out. * If you are a semi-gaited horse and you get a bit tired or fed up, it's best to resort to hopping on the front end every few paces. This causes mum to have cardiac arrests and report your lameness to the vet at regular intervals. * When you've gone 55 miles, you can still gait and jump around, and leap sideways such that mum (in her slippery rain-trousis) nearly falls off and squawks in an entertaining manner. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Lucy Chaplin Trumbull elsietee AT foothill DOT net Repotted english person in the Sierra foothills, California * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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