{"id":1231,"date":"2010-11-19T13:51:14","date_gmt":"2010-11-19T18:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/enduranceintrospection.com\/wp\/?p=1231"},"modified":"2013-11-16T13:52:36","modified_gmt":"2013-11-16T18:52:36","slug":"i-cant-even-think-about-bowls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/enduranceintrospection.com\/wp\/i-cant-even-think-about-bowls\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI can\u2019t even THINK about bowls!\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Sometimes life gets just a little too stressful.<\/p>\n

As a self-employed consultant, when there is work available, I work.\u00a0 There are enough lean times that I rarely turn down work, and sometimes find myself with too much travel, too many clients all needing assistance \u201curgently\u201d, and too many technically demanding training programs to deliver.\u00a0\u00a0A classic symptom for me is that\u00a0disturbing moment where I find myself standing in a hotel elevator with the little key card in my hand and absolutely no recollection of my hotel room number.<\/p>\n

I get homesick, miss all of the critters, miss sleeping in my own bed, miss my routine on the farm, miss my husband.<\/p>\n

Work has been that way lately.\u00a0 Back to back classes scheduled, such that one weekend was simply an exercise in driving home, unpacking, doing laundry, repacking and hitting the road again.\u00a0 A non-weekend, of sorts.<\/p>\n

In the middle of this hectic schedule, my friends Rachel and Pam and I started plotting a way to get ourselves to the Mustang Memorial Ride in New Jersey.<\/p>\n

The Mustang ride is a bit of an enigma.\u00a0\u00a0 The trails there, while lovely, are miles and miles of the same scenery \u2014 pine trees, sand, more pine trees, more sand, sand moguls, pine trees, puddles, sand.\u00a0 Did I mention the sand?\u00a0 So to say that the views from the saddle are not awe-inspiring is a bit of an understatement.<\/p>\n

That flat sand has a way of taking a toll on horses and riders.\u00a0 The lack of change means that everyone can get very sore from the repetitive and sustained nature of the effort.\u00a0 No hills or turns or terrain changes to challenge different muscles, so one has to mix it up themselves.\u00a0 Posting, then half seat, then sitting the canter, then in two point trotting, watching that each trot diagonal and canter lead is worked evenly over the course of the ride.<\/p>\n

Throw in the fact that the weather is almost always inhospitable means that one would think this ride might have trouble attracting riders.<\/p>\n

However, it is the last ride of the NE Region\u2019s season.\u00a0 The camp is lovely.\u00a0 The hospitality is terrific; the volunteers cheerful.\u00a0 And knowing that we\u2019re on the cusp of a long winter, it seems to attract riders from all over for one last chance to hit the trail before hibernating for a few months.<\/p>\n

Like me, Pam has been stressed by running her own business, a dairy\/equine veterinary practice, and an upcoming three month trip to Australia, where she will be working on her husband\u2019s family\u2019s ranch.\u00a0 Every time we exchanged emails, me from the road, her in the evening after a long day making vet calls, we both lamented our own stresses.<\/p>\n

Still, we were determined to go to the ride.<\/p>\n

Even when our Ford F-450 sang its swan song.\u00a0 Another thunk which led to another trip to the service shop where the transmission was pronounced \u201ctoast.\u201d\u00a0 RIP, you big *(&#@ lemon.<\/p>\n

I called Rachel when I got the news about the truck.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s not give up yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Somehow I was able to wrangle my brother in law\u2019s F-350, swapped our plans so that\u00a0I would haul my two horses in the 2-horse trailer to Pam\u2019s (where we would transfer horses and stuff to her 4-horse trailer) and head to New Jersey the following morning.\u00a0 My friend Gene agreed to let me bunk in his trailer.<\/p>\n

We.were.still.on.<\/p>\n

I had two blissful days of no training, no work and a single focus of getting all of my stuff and the horses to the ride so that I could enjoy the company of my friends and horses for the last ride of the season.<\/p>\n

Pam, in the mean time, continued to be buried with work.\u00a0 Rachel, too, juggled work and finishing up the last work on the barn they built this year, so that her horses can come live at home within the next few weeks.<\/p>\n

We were all shoehorning this ride in between a whole lot of \u201ctoo much.\u201d<\/p>\n

With my down time, I made lists, and like any good girl of Polish heritage, started cooking and baking.\u00a0 Pie for the farrier (who squeezed in Ace\u2019s last minute reset when I didn\u2019t like the balance of his feet), pie for the neighbor who would feed the horses (since Rich was also out of town for the weekend for a conference), cookies for my house\/dog\/kitty sitter, cookies for Gene and Dale, cookies to share at the ride, soup for the ride.<\/p>\n

I was a happy little homemaker, launderer, horse-stuff packer, checking things off lists and looking forward to the weekend.<\/p>\n

When I get enthused like this, I tend to like to share my planning, so I sent daily emails to Rachel and Pam, of things I\u2019d planned to pack, buy, bring, and of course, what I had baked.<\/p>\n

At some point, wanting to ensure we would have all necessary utensils and such to heat and serve the soup, I emailed Pam to ask if she had bowls and such in her trailer.<\/p>\n

I think that was the day she wrestled around in a stall attempting to shove a cow\u2019s uterus back in to its body.<\/p>\n

Her reply?<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t even THINK about bowls!\u201d<\/p>\n

Poor Pam.\u00a0 I packed the bowls.<\/p>\n

I love it when a good plan comes together.\u00a0 All the logistical mud-wrestling\u00a0worked out seamlessly.<\/p>\n

As the miles passed and we drove toward New Jersey, you could watch the stress leave Pam\u2019s face.\u00a0 Her speech slowed \u2013well, a little anyway \u2014 I still like to describe her as \u201chaving been shot out of a cannon.\u201d<\/p>\n

The laughter went on all weekend.<\/p>\n

Like any ride where riders and horses of various levels of experience share miles and miles of trails together, as well as\u00a0close quarters\u00a0at a\u00a0campsite,\u00a0there are always bound to be some mishaps.<\/p>\n

Pam got to do a little hike back to camp a few miles from the start after having retrieved a horse that had bolted near the start.\u00a0 So she and her mare, Prin, got to\u00a0do a few extra miles to tack onto their 30 mile LD.\u00a0 But Pam had a\u00a0perfect ride, staying ON the mare and having a truly harmonious ride; the mare is clearly ready to move up.<\/p>\n

I brought Ned for his friend, Rachel, and got to enjoy watching the two of them enjoy one another all weekend long.\u00a0 Ned has discriminating taste, and he clearly\u00a0finds Rachel to his liking.\u00a0 He gets dreamy-eyed and\u00a0nuzzly when she\u00a0grooms him and totes her around like his own tiny little perfectly-balanced jockey.<\/p>\n

It had been a couple of months since Ace, plagued by\u00a0multiple hoof abscesses from a rocky ride in WV in August, had competed.\u00a0 He came back in fine form, however.\u00a0 He felt strong and cheerful and pleasantly \u201cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ned had a little bit of heartburn about the juggling of the order of the loops\u00a0since the last time he\u2019d done a ride in New Jersey.\u00a0 He tried to tell us in various subtle and unsubtle ways that we had the first loop all wrong, and only acquiesced\u00a0when we were within spitting distance of returning to camp.<\/p>\n

As I told Rachel, you could almost hear Ned saying, \u201chey, you\u2019re totally going the wrong way, you idiot, but at least you\u2019re a featherweight!\u201d<\/p>\n

We got chided, once again, for not riding hard enough, when both boys pulsed down with pulses in the area of 44.\u00a0 The pack was well ahead of us, but I was convinced that a lot of horses would be slowing down.<\/p>\n

The second loop of the three loop ride was the one both Ned and Ace had done previously as a final loop, so as I anticipated, they had a real change in attitude heading out on to the white loop.<\/p>\n

Both boys were on fire, passing horses and asking to canter.\u00a0\u00a0 We moved right along at a pace that was faster than the first loop; this loop went rather quickly.<\/p>\n

On the third loop, we followed a couple of horses, as we were unfamiliar with this new final loop, finally dropping back and relaxing when we figured we were about 4 miles from camp.\u00a0 We were disappointed to find out, however, at a water stop, that we were, in fact, still 7 miles from camp.<\/p>\n

I think we were all a little tired.\u00a0 The sand takes its toll on everyone, Ace and Ned no longer had horses in view to chase, so we alternately trotted and walked the boys in to camp, with me worrying that Ace felt uneven behind, or might be getting tight.<\/p>\n

This happens to me at virtually every ride, and almost every time it turns out that I am suffering from Lameness or Metabolic Distress Paranoia.\u00a0 Once Ace smelled camp, he perked right up, felt absolutely strong and even behind, and vetted through with all As.\u00a0 (But not before I wound myself up into\u00a0what would appear to have been a Xanax deficiency.)<\/p>\n

When will I learn?<\/p>\n

Much celebrating upon our return.\u00a0 Our friend Gene\u2019s mare had been pulled at the first hold, but was now perfectly sound, so that was a bit of bad news\/good news.<\/p>\n

The weather had been glorious.\u00a0 Clear and cold in the morning, but warm and sunny and surprisingly still for NJ, where there seems to be a perpetual wind.\u00a0 As the sun went down though, the temperatures dropped quickly, so we got all of the horses and ourselves bundled up for post-ride munching and relaxing (horses and riders) and laughing and\u00a0consumption of adult beverages\u00a0(riders only).<\/p>\n

As always, what is said in ride camp stays in ride camp, but it is safe to say that the conversation ran the gamut of serious to inappropriate to candid to downright bawdy.\u00a0 My cheeks hurt, literally, from laughing.<\/p>\n

In the morning, we lingered over Gene\u2019s amazing Keurig coffee, and reluctantly packed up to hit the road.<\/p>\n

For my boys it was a six hour haul to Pam\u2019s and then another three hour haul home.\u00a0 I had Truck Rigor Mortis when I arrived home, settled the boys in and watched them have a long, satisfying drink before tucking in to their hay.\u00a0 Perhaps because it was so painful to move, I spent a few extra minutes in the barn, listening to them munch contentedly, seemingly unaffected by their rigorous weekend.<\/p>\n

All that planning and driving and moving of stuff from here to there and back again.\u00a0 It was all well worth it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m back on the road again for work, and will admit that I got out of my car a little gingerly after several hours of driving a couple of days ago.\u00a0\u00a0 But this trip is different, having had my soul fortified by the love and generosity of good friends, and miles and miles spent on the trail with my favorite horses.<\/p>\n

I feel renewed.<\/p>\n

Sayonara, 2010 Ride Season!<\/p>\n

\u2013Patti<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes life gets just a little too stressful. As a self-employed consultant, when there is work available, I work.\u00a0 There are enough lean times that I rarely turn down work, and sometimes find myself with too much travel, too many clients all needing assistance \u201curgently\u201d, and too many technically demanding training programs to deliver.\u00a0\u00a0A classic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pattis-blog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/enduranceintrospection.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/enduranceintrospection.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/enduranceintrospection.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/enduranceintrospection.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/enduranceintrospection.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/enduranceintrospection.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/enduranceintrospection.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/enduranceintrospection.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/enduranceintrospection.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}