It's Monday morning and my body feels like a blob of sore. This past weekend was chock full of fun and excitement. Early Saturday morning Bob and I headed off for the Swanton Pacific NATRC ride. We would both be riding in the Novice Heavyweight division. The drive was an easy 2-hour trek and when we got to the campsite, the weather was beautiful. The campsite was nestled between towering green trees with a creek snaking through the acreage.

We made our way to the Novice campground at about 10am and parked next to Kaye and her entourage of 3 junior riders plus their friends riding in the Novice and Open division. I was worried that they were going to be noisy all night, but 10pm rolled around that evening and they all were quiet and well-behaved. At around 11am, our other neighbors, Bev and Ron, drove up with their Shagya arabian, Victory. We found them to be incredibly nice and welcoming.. this would be Victory's first ride and Bev's first after a few years off from NATRC. We all clicked right off the bat - we wouldn't have asked for better neighbors! On the other side of Bev and Ron were Debbie, her daughter, and Debbie's friend (sorry, I can't remember her name after all the people I met this weekend!). They were also exceptionally welcoming and nice.. we found them to be a fountain of helpful advice and encouragement throughout the weekend.

After we checked in, we brought our saddles over to be weighed in. I think that was one of the hardest parts of the trip, having to lug my saddle across camp. Mental note: empty the water bottles before you try and hike a half mile with your stuff. At about 4:30 we vetted in our horses. Isabella did wonderfully despite my brain fart and not turning her away from me during the trot-out (there was a truck that had stopped in my path which foiled my trot-out plan, thereby causing me to improve and turn the wrong way) and Bob caused some controversy with his Old Mac boots. Since it went over his pasterns, Leroy, the vet, didn't know whether to consider them 'leg protection' or not. The rules interpreter (forgot his name, but he was a nice older gentleman who called Bob 'Bill' the whole weekend) said that is would be okay since he was in the Novice division and that he'd bring it up to Jim Ferris and the Board to discuss hoof protection at the next meeting. I think this is a great step towards acceptance of barefoot horses in NATRC. Isabella was barefoot the whole weekend over ROCKY tough terrain and she didn't get a chip in her hooves.

Later that evening, Laurie, the horsemanship judge, came by the campsite to look at our setup. We had Tavi and Isabella tied about 15 feet apart with the Tralor-Ties. One thing she mentioned was that if they really wanted to, they could turn into each other and squabble. Isabella and Tavi have been buddies ever since January when I bought Isabella.. they're best friends, they don't fight! As soon as we mentioned this, Tavi turned his butt against Isabella and tried to smack her a good one. This would be the first and only time he tried this and of course the horsemanship judge was standing no more than 10 feet away. *Doh!* Good timing. She also gave us a few helpful suggestions for next time regarding water bucket placement and safety.

After a night of no sleep (it was cooooold!!), we got out of bed at 4:45 to feed the horses and get dressed. I hopped on Isabella and she was shivering which worried me a little so I kept walking her in circles while we waited for Bob. The first obstacle was to ride up to Leroy and dismount then mount. I never had problems with mounting with my other western style saddles, but my Arabian Saddle Company Solstice has a heck of a time slipping. My first attempt came and my saddle slipped. He called Bob up with Tavi to go ahead while I readjusted my saddle and girthed up. At the same time a rider came up to Leroy and expressed her concern that her horse was tying up. So with 3 things to see at once Leroy took only 1 point off for my awkward ungraceful flop into the saddle. The next judging point was the first hill right out of camp. Bob spotted them in the trees and mentioned it to me right after we passed them. If I remember right, Isabella was running into Tavi's butt and I was bouncing around in the saddle with my feet sticking straight out.

The P&R (pulse and respiration) checks went smoothly. Tavi amazed the vets by getting an 8 and 2 (pulse beats and # of breaths within a 15 second period) at both checks (lowest of the day) and Isabella did well at 11/3 and 10/2. We were very proud.. our conditioning paid off. The trail was a mixture of fire roads and single track through private property and the views were breathtaking. With our hurry to get ready we didn't pack the camera, but with some of the steep trails we went on, we probably wouldn't have had an extra hand to take pictures. We'll just have to refresh our memory by going to the ride next year. :)

At about the 17 mile mark, Tavi came up favoring his left hind. This was right after a long stretch of trotting after fairly hard ground. We walked for the next 5 miles and Tavi seemed to walk out of it. We found at the final vet check that it was mild filling in his hind legs so a nice week off lounging in pasture should bring him back to normal. Despite fears that we were going to over the 30 minute cut-off time, we came in at 7 hours, 58 minutes and we were within time. This was certainly the longest time we've ridden, but it didn't seem too long with the 2 P&R checks and the brunch break. Isabella was in great spirits and kept wanting to go right to the end. We vetted out and Isabella had a few heat bumps on her back (I realize now that cold water right after you take the saddle off isn't smart, even after you wait a while) and she was a 2+/4 lameness - she was a bit short strided in her right rear although she walked/trotted just fine when we got home. Just a fluke thing I guess.. I'm going to check her tonight again. Tavi had rubs on both pasterns from his Old Mac boots (they're too big for his feet - anyone need size 6 Old Mac's?) and other than the filling in his legs and being VERY tired, he was in good spirits. Bob got a good lesson in how to present your horse to the judge.. Leroy is very particular and I don't think Bob will forget in the future. :)

There was a raffle after the awards dinner and we managed to come away with 4 prizes: a night at a horsey Bed and Breakfast in Acton, a horse brush, horsey socks, and some vetwrap. A guy wanted to trade the brush with a trailbag he won, but Bev was there and saved me by saying, "Your husband probably wouldn't like you trading away his brush.." Hehe.. thanks Bev! (on a side note.. Bob isn't my husband!) :) They called out the awards and were absolutely shocked to find that we got the 4th place Novice Heavyweight Horse award! Yay, Isabella! I'm so proud of her.. she's my "dream" horse I've been wanting all these years and it's just an added bonus she was able to earn an award for us. I really have to thank Bob for helping us get the award. Isabella and Tavi have buddy problems and if it weren't for Bob letting us go first we probably wouldn't have done so well.

The ride home was rough after a sleepless night and a long day of riding. Bob drove and amused me by slapping and biting himself to stay awake. We had conversations I couldn't remember 2 minutes later and both of us were pretty delirious. Next time we'll spend another day before we drive home.

Thank you to everyone there that helped us by giving us advice and encouraging us. We felt so incredibly welcome and we felt like we belonged. The trail was well-marked and the volunteers were so friendly. Thanks to Emma for letting NATRC use her property.. she said that next year would be Swanton's 30th year and that there would be something special for everyone. See you at the Almaden Region 1 benefit next month! I think we're hooked.