I should have lots of pictures and plenty of stories for this post after the CTR I have been working towards since the first of the year. But you know what they say about the best laid plans........
July 10 and 11 I rode the dress rehersal and final timing for the CTR. Vooshka was great - 21 miles on Saturday and 19 miles on Sunday. She rode with horses she hadn't ridden with before and even stayed with me when the horse we were riding with decided to leave his rider at the P&R and head down the mountain. Voosh and I were left at 1200' by ourselves and had to ride down a gnarly deep brush trail in bear country. The absent horse and rider were reunited and finished the ride with us.
At the very end of the ride Voosh came up lame on her right front. We walked home and I didn't plan on riding her until Saturday the 17th. We were supposed to be drag safety rider for the Novice/CP division.
Saturday dawned clear and bright. I was at ride camp by 7:30 am and had Voosh saddled by 8:00 for an 8:30 departure. My trailer was parked right by the timer's tent so there were 50 horses and riders gathered in the presentation area beside us. Long story short, Voosh lost her mind with all the activity and energy level. She did the best impression of "airs above the ground" that I have ever seen. Thank goodness there was someone to take my place as safety rider because there was no way I was getting on that horse.
I actually did ride her later because she couldn't get away with that nonsense. I rode the Mare after lunch for the PM trail.
The rest of the weekend I was camp go-fer. I used the wheeler to set signs and mark trails. I got all the ribbons and prizes organized. I picked up trash. I helped enter data into excel spreadsheets. I brought the judges their dinner (smoked prime rib, baked potato, green beans and corn on the cob, chocolate cake).
Although it wasn't the CTR I imagined, I still got to participate in some way. And I will get to ride more because all the flagging has to be taken down!
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SOrry Voosh came up lame. Sounds like you made the most of it. Did Elmer Bandit's "mom" make it to your ride?
ReplyDeleteYes, she did. Mary Anna broke her collarbone several weeks ago so she couldn't ride but still came up anyway. She volunteered to be our P&R captain and did a marvelous job. I hope she gets to come back someday and ride.
ReplyDeleteMy horse wont be there until next Spring, but we are looking forward to alot of fun trail rides, since there are no endurance rides in Alaska. :(
ReplyDeleteJocelyn - you could always START one.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info on my goats. But I do have a question. What is Bo-Se and CD&T? I would have e-mailed but did not see one.
ReplyDelete