Day 4, Let's Go Camping!!....or "Time to Pack It In"

Another semi-early morning.  As an endurance rider, I could get used to getting UP at 6, slowly feeding and taking time to get moving. 

Nahhhh.  LOL!!!

So, another campfire morning as we slowly ate breakfast and talked about having to break camp and head for home. 

Oh, we knew we were doing a final ride before going home.  The injured horses were all just fine, and no one wanted to do a fast trail ride anyway!  So, once again, slowly get the horses dressed.

Yes, not exactly the most flattering picture.  Tilly Pilly all dressed.

So, we all mount up and head out for our final ride.  It was some of the same trail from the day before, but in reverse.  H had some time constraints, but, after discussing it some, she figured she was still fine if we rode a little bit longer.

We took a suggestion from L and G who know the trails better than us, and took off in a different direction.  The dogs were quite happy to go charging off into the underbrush, making a ruckus.  But they were quite happy.

I made sure to take it easy on Tilly and I wouldn't allow her to gait.  I wanted her to stay at a walk and not push herself.  Rationally, I understand she's just fine, but emotionally, there's no need to push her.  Especially with a long trailer ride coming up! 

We're on a nice stretch of trail, and I can hear the dogs off behind us and to my left.  The come bounding out and Tilly squirts forward on me, very VERY unhappy.  And, all I can assume is that the dogs got a little TOO close for comfort and she fired off a shot with a rear foot.

And caught poor Kita in the face.  We all heard the yelp.

I cannot convey how badly I felt as B went back to check on her dog.  Poor Kita was so baffled that she ran from B.  FINALLY she was able to catch Kita, and rinsed her mouth out.  And told us that Kita lost a tooth.

I felt even WORSE at that point. 

B and LM kept saying not to worry.  They weren't mad.  But I still feel awful, you know?  I get it, horses are horses and dogs are dogs, but I still feel bad poor Kita got hurt.  So, that kind of soured the ride for me.

Add on to that, that Tilly started acting like an absolute heinous witch.  Wouldn't mind.  Wouldn't stop and stand still.  Ripping my arms off.  If she wasn't recovering I would have worked her butt.  The overall belief is she was coming in to heat.  Hussy.  Made me miss Dakini who never acted up in heat or not.  LOL!!

Final ride!

Anyway, we make it back to camp and start breaking things down.  H quickly pulls out as she's now running late.

We take a look at B and LM's trailer and one of their tires is basically flat.  On a Sunday, who's going to work on a trailer tire?

Apparently WalMart.  It just needed a new valve stem.  So, I opt to hang out with G and L.

And while we're hanging out, I hear some of the other campers hollaring back and forth "Do you have banamine?" and "I don't think it's colic, but he keeps laying down."

I sigh heavily...not another one?  And somehow end up involved.

Horse hadn't eaten, but the owner didn't think it was a colic because they could hear gut noises.

"Did you hear gut noises in all 4 quadrants?  Is the horse drinking?  How are his gums?  Hydration?"

*blank stares*

So, I ask if I can go in the pen, and, this horse's gums are tacky, he's dehydrated and he keeps going sternal. 

Now, thankfully they warned me before I went and put my hands in his mouth as he's missing most of his teeth.  "He's a cribber." 

I ask L to come check all the quadrents of his guts.

"Sounds like a waterfall on one side, but nothing, or very faint on the other side."

I turn to them and say "It's colic.  Let me get the number for the emergency vet, call him out.  But keep this horse on his feet and hand walk him and graze him."

They keep insisting it isn't colic.  At that point, I get them the number...had asked L if she felt comfy giving banamine, she said she wasn't (later on reflection, makes sense...she didn't want the liability...she's totally right).

Vet shows up, and for the first time ever, I get to watch being a horse tubed.

Because, what do you know?  The horse was colicing.  *sigh*

However, I now know that HYPERACTIVE guts are not good either.  This is also a colic. 

Suffice to say, I was over this whole weekend.  Too many colics.  Too many accidents. 

So, once B and LM got back, they got the tire on their trailer, and we all packed it in.

And, after briefly chasing Rango through camp one more time....we load up and hit the road once more.

He really is a great travelling companion!!

You'd think by this point my emergencies would be over, right?

HAH!!  NOPE!!

I cruise through some towns on the way home, just listening to my podcast, enjoying the scenery.  I glance at my fuel gauge, but, at a quarter tank, opt to keep going.  The prices were stupidly high for diesel, so SURELY I'll find something else in the next town!

Keep on driving.  Lots and lots of hills.

Truck warns me I have 50 miles to empty.

"Oh, I'll just pull over at the next station I see!  No big deal!  I'm fine."

*narrator's voice*
"She was NOT fine and it WAS a big deal."

I kept watching those miles vanish.  And knowing it wasn't accurate because I'm hauling a trailer.

At 25 miles, I start to flail a little.  But, there's a sign that says only 10 miles to the next town.  I PROMISE I'll stop at any gas station there.

Except this "town" was a bump in the road.  WITHOUT A GAS STATION!!!


10 miles left in my tank.  I'm sweating.  ANY gas station will do!!  ANYTHING!!!

5 miles.  Still nothing.

I hit zero and pull over into a small, CLOSED AND ABANDONED gas station and shut off the truck.  I'm shaking.  I have ZERO cell service.  It's starting to get dark.  I weigh my options.

I could pull Tilly and ride to a gas station.  Not sure how I'll juggle the reins and a gas tank.  What about Rango?

Where am I?  I can't call for help.  Will anyone stop for me? 

I finally opt to start the truck up again and drive.  NOT my smartest move, but it was starting to get dark. 

We're still doing hills though.  My stomach is in a knot as we keep going.

I shut off EVERYTHING and talk to Hannibal the entire time.

And we come into a town!!  I KNOW WHERE I AM!!!  There's a gas station just 2 or 3 more miles.  My truck starts to hitch occasionally and I start to panic.

I beg and plead with him "PLEASE Hannibal!!  PLEASE!!  I know it's there!  COME ON BUDDY!!!"

And we make it in.  I pull up to a gas tank and shut him off and almost cry in relief.

Until I realize the tank is on the OTHER SIDE OF THE TRUCK!!!  And, of course, the hose won't reach.

And the other side's two pumps are being tied up....but people filling up with plain gas.  Because there weren't OTHER OPEN PUMPS to use!!!  FYI-This is a pet peeve of mine.  If you drive a gas vehicle and there are GAS PUMPS open, please, for the love, go fill up at one of those.  PLEASE!!!

So, I crank Hannibal up one more time, shaking.  It's a tight and busy parking lot.  I can't exactly whip it around.  So, I have to pull between some cars and attempt to back my rig without taking out a fuel pump.  I'm shivering because my truck is chugging.  And I manage to get behind the small truck pulling a UHaul trailer and wait.  Because I can't get through to the other tank.  And he takes his time.  He can TELL I'm impatient, but he just crawls into his car and stares at me in his rearview.  At that point, I start flailing my arms and cussing "MOVE IT!!  MOVE IT!!!!  COME ON!!!!"


And FINALLY he does.  And I lurch through and shut Hannibal off.  I almost weep with joy that he did it.

He gets a very full tank, before I hop back in and hit the road, thinking this is the end of the disasters.


*narrator's voice*
"It was."

I drive through sporadic rain and swing by my parent's house to get Kaylee.  And then head for home.

Joe is waiting and opens the gate, helps me unhook and let Tilly out.

Suffice to say, TOOOOO much excitement for one camping trip.

I am hoping that I never go through that much "adventure" ever again.

Day 3, Let's Go Camping!!....or "Can't we catch a break?!"

So, let me see here...where was I?

Oh yes.  Tilly.  Busted lip.  Stitches.  AJ, who had colic'd.  Okay then.

So, I had blanketed Tilly overnight as she was coming off her drugs, and was shivering some.  It was a thin sheet, no fill to it.  Just enough to provide some warmth from her own body heat. 

Once again, we all get up in the morning, and LM knows she's not riding AJ in the morning.  She mentioned she was going to just hang around camp, clean pens and relax and read.

I go and take the blanket off Tilly and start grooming her in the pen she's in.  I get one side done, then walk around to the other side....and notice immediately how tight she is near her belly.

"Hey B, can you come look at Tilly?  I think she's colicing."

The general consensus was yes, a very mild colic, but a colic nonetheless.  THANKFULLY we had the syringe of banamine for AJ, which Tilly got instead.

So, while B and H and L and her husband G all went riding, LM and I stayed back at camp, cleaned pens, and just relaxed and chit chatted.  It was really pleasant. We chatted about horses.  Enjoyed the dogs.  It wasn't too long before B and H came back (G and L opted to stay out for a long ride that day).  All the horses were fine, and we decided we'd take AJ and Tilly out for a very VERY easy evening ride.  And, we decided to try Rango out as a trail dog, paired up with B's dog Kita.

Long, leisurely lunch while the evening's dinner cooked in the crockpot in the trailer (smelled DELICIOUS!!!).  Sitting around the fire just chatting horses and about life in general with good friends...those things were wonderful about this trip.

Eventually we decided we would go ahead and start tacking up.

I decided I'd tack Tilly up at MY trailer this time though.  No point in tempting fate, right?

A very gentle ride!!

We had such a great time!  We took it nice and easy, and the dogs did GREAT!!!  Rango strayed some, but always seemed to keep an eye on the horses and came when we wanted him to.  It probably helped that he had Kita to make SURE he didn't stray too far as she was now part of his "pack"

Tilly behaved nicely, didn't seem to be hurting, and was happy to move. 

We opted to circle back though for dinner and more time around the fire.  And to start thinking about ending our camping trip the next day. 

Day 2, Let's Go Camping!!....or "Here's where the wheels starting falling off...."

After having been reminded REPEATEDLY before bed the previous night that, no, tomorrow was NOT 'endurance hours' (get up early, get saddled up and get moving), we slowly and leisurely got moving in the morning.  

Oh, we still got up early.  But we sat around the campfire, they drank coffee (horror of horrors, I don't like coffee), we slowly ate breakfast, chit chatted, let the dogs romp and play and basically.

Now, I had re-rigged my saddle the previous evening as well.  I'd removed the latigos and put on center fire English converters that Trail Blazers Tack had made for me (in purple, natch).  I also removed the fenders and put on biothane webbers (also purple [natch]).  My stirrups are western, but Janet included a keeper that holds them fairly securely.  So, I figured I'd give it a whirl and if I didn't like them, or the stirrups slid to much, I'd put the fenders back on.  No big deal.

I borrowed B's Total Saddle Fit girth and the cover again (bless friends who loan and give away tack to try out!) and put it on Tilly.

Now, the English converters didn't have enough holes, but it seemed tight enough, so, we all slowly got saddled up and for the first time, I got to go experience the Angelina forest at Lake Sam Rayburn.

Our motley crew leaving camp.

Yes, two big butts; hers and mine! 

Heading out of camp down one of the roads.

And after a semi-short seeming ride, THE LAKE!!!

Tilly was a VERY good girl about putting her feet in the water.

B and Little Momma on Gatlin and AJ respectively.

Now, at some point during the ride, someone looked over and said "There is like an INCH between Tilly and your girth!!"  Yeah, not tight enough.  And I already had it on the last holes.  Not a problem, I'll just stay balanced, right?  I mean, she's wearing a breastcollar, so the saddle won't slide off her butt, and if I get off the great big behemoth, I might not be able to get back on.  Best to stay where we're at.

Tilly ears.

Yes, it really is that wooded!!

Tilly has some issues with other horses.  Like whipping around and trying to bite their faces off, so she had to stay away from the group many times.  That's just entirely UNACCEPTABLE behavior!!  So, I parked her at the back of the group and that's where she had to stay.  We need to do more group rides, but I wasn't in the mood to dink with a naughty horse with such a loose girth.

She was happy to go, but a little sweaty.  Not labored.

We all kind of tooled around, played in the water, went back in the woods.  We wound around until we came back out by the water, and, it was deceptively wet, so the horses started sinking.  All I could picture was pulled tendons and lamness issues, so we all quickly attempted to find a way out of the bog.

Straight UP over a log and a hill was our route out.  Everyone asked if I was okay going with my girth, and I was like "Yes, let's get out of here before our horses get hurt.  I'll grab mane and go.  But let's get out of here."

So, we did just that.  Tilly was a champ about it.  Saddle stayed put, didn't slip, didn't move. 

We opted to head back to camp, break for lunch and then go back out later.

Well, that was the plan.

We're sitting at our camp, tack off, when we notice that B's mom's horse is laying down in his pen.  Now, he could have been napping.  And we thought so for a while.  But we got him up after a little bit.  Then he opted to lay down again.

No.  Not okay.  We scrambled to find a nearby vet, and I told B and LM to use my rig since I was still hooked up to the truck and have the smallest trailer and for them to get going.  AJ loaded right up and off they went.

H and I hung out, chit chatted and napped while we waited for news.

Finally they got back.  Yes, mild colic.  He got tubed and oiled and sent home with a syringe of banamine.  So, LM said she was going to stay back at camp, clean pens, but we should all go tack up and go ride that evening. 

So, that's what we started doing.

As my saddle and gear was over near by B's trailer, I took Tilly over there, tied her off and started tacking up.

And no one knows EXACTLY what happened, but as I went to put my saddle up on her, she blew up.  Rearing straight up and she came down hard and hit the trailer.  Just lost her damn mind.

When it was all said and done, she had split her lip.

*sigh*

LM called the vet and said we were racing in with another one.  Now, at this point, it was about 4 pm.  At 5 pm, the clinic is closed except for emergencies, which is a $150 fee to start before anything else.

To say that B drove like a madwoman to get us there is an understatement.  I didn't want to get lost, and I was feeling rattled. 

But, B did it.  Got us there with 5 minutes to spare!!

As I didn't know what her vaccination status was, we went ahead and did our tetanus, as well as the others (minus rabies).  She got 7 stitches in her lip and then we were sent on our way home with a very drunk horse.  And a $400 vet bill.  *sigh*

I would have taken pictures, but, I was a little traumatized at the moment (I mean, let's be real!  Strider, hurt his left rear under my watch.  Socks, jacked up his heels at Armadillo under my watch.  And now Joe's horse, hurt under my watch!!!!).

We got her back in the trailer and headed back to camp. 

She was a little sweaty, so I opted to toss a light sheet on her as the evenings were cool, and then all of us headed over to L and G's trailer for a delicious dinner and casual chit chat.  B and LM headed in to town for more ice after dinner.

We stayed up late talking around L and G's fire as it burned down.  From good horses to bad ones, gaits and bits and saddles to "Nutscaping" (do NOT look that up at work...actually, you can skip it entirely...it's potentially offensive if you're not into weirdness) to religion...just the type of conversations that happen organically when you're with friends who you have no filter with.

Day 1, Let's Go Camping!!!.....or "Good day followed by not so good...."

I'm still mentally and emotionally recovering from what was, overall, a semi-disastrous camping trip.  It's been proclaimed that we need a "do over" trip, and that if we NEVER have another trip like this one, it will be FAR too soon.

So, rewind to Thursday morning.

The plan?

Get up early, load up the truck with the last few things, hook up the truck and trailer, catch the horses, get Kaylee up and dressed, load Tilly then leave and drop Kaylee off at daycare and hit the road around 7ish.

HAH!!  What a joke.  NOTHING went even REMOTELY close to plan.

The reality.

Wake up, start getting dressed, when a small, sleepy faced toddler comes walking into the bedroom. 

"I awake Mommy."

"I see that honey."

And I pitch all of my plans and do the best I can.  Get her dressed and ready for school.  Realize I cannot expect her to be calm and patient while I hook up and catch horses, so just go ahead and drive her to school, come home and finish loading up the truck with everything I MIGHT possibly need (spoiler: I didn't need ANY of the extra blankets I brought...or the portable heater...or the extension cord).

Go ahead and get Rango in the truck (he doesn't QUITE understand what I'm asking for initially so I had to pick him up and put him in).  The look of indignation Pancho gave me when he was put back in the house was funny, and a little heart breaking.  SORRY SMALL DOG!!  Maybe some other time!

Hooked up the truck quickly and then had the unpleasant task of trying to catch the horses.  This is becoming my LEAST favorite part of dealing with Tilly.  It IS on the "To Do" list, but...the time change has my life boogered up.

I get Socks caught after running a merry chase from the back pasture to the front.  He gets put in the barn as I have a mild anxiety attack about him getting hurt again, but realize I don't have another option.  Realize that the other 3 have run BACK into the back pasture, so grab the keys to the ATV and away we go, because I can NOT catch them on foot, and they're all being hellacious turds.

Drive back, walk over to see if I can catch Strider, but he's got a bee up his bonnet, and refuses.  With a huff of annoyance, I go back to the ATV and push them out of the back pasture, and shut the gate.  And away we go as they charge up to the barn.  We end up whirling around and around in the front as Socks casually nibbles the handful of grain I gave him, the other 3 flying and running.  I wince every time Strider does a pivot on that left rear, but, they all realize this isn't fun, so they go to the barn and stop.  I go and open the gate to the other feeding pen and all 3 march in.

My mind flips out thinking of all the possible disasters.  I walk in and tell Strider to NOT kick me.  And give him the "mare glare". Slip the halter on Tilly and march her over to the trailer where she just walks right on in.  She's almost on the brink of self-loading, but, that isn't a requirement of mine.  An easy load is really all I want.  And currently, all of mine are.

Anyway, I leave everyone in the pens as I drive out the front gate, and then let them all loose.  Where they all go charging off.  Realize I forgot to open the back gate, but send Joe a text to tell him it's closed.

Look over at my traveling companion and tell him "Let's go buddy!!"

I skeered Momma.  Where we go?

So, locked, loaded and away we roll.

He figured it out quickly.  And this is how he stayed for the bulk of the trip.  GREAT traveling companion.

Of course, as soon a I get in, I realize I hadn't stopped for gas, and Joe left me a 1/4 tank.  That's not going to be enough to make a 5 hour haul!!!

So, whip in to my favorite local gas station.

And take some photos of my other traveling companion.

Look at this big ass mare!!!

Hello Tilly Pilly!!  You have your happy ears on!!!

What, don't like selfies with me?  I think my feelings are hurt.

I call this one "Resting Bitch Mareface". 

For whatever reason, the gas station was having serious issues with the gas pump.  An error message when I pulled up.  So I went in, and they told me they'd reset the pump and go outside and pump.

Okay.  So, I tried that.  Didn't work.  Go BACK in and leave my card.

And then SLOWLLLLLLLLY pumped diesel into the truck.  The guy next to me said "It's a good thing no one's in a rush.  This is going to take a while."  All in all, took me probably 15 minutes to fill the truck up.  I wasn't impressed.  I've noticed these tanks usually are a little slower, but this was ridiculous!

But, in about 2 hours, I caught up with H at a TSC in some small town.  We picked up a few things, and then hit the road again.  3 more hours to go.  She falls in behind me and we make our way to Lake Sam Rayburn.

We stop at the gas station I always stop at on my way to Armadillo Run.  We let the dogs out for a second potty break, then I ran in to go potty after filling Hannibal up again. 

Rango also makes a great "truck guard dog".  My friend H came out of the store and said "You know, he LOOKS really intimidating.  NO ONE is going to mess with your rig when he's in the truck."

Good thing no one knows that even if he's barking at you, he's probably shivering in fear.  Goof.

But, we get pulled in after one missed turn (took us down some road that did NOT lead to the campground....and cell reception was bad), but I managed to get enough signal to get us to where we needed to go.

Pull in and get settled in quickly.  I let Rango out of the truck and away he runs. 

"Dammit, I think I've just lost my dog."

No, he quickly figured out where "home" was for the weekend.  Our camp. 

Get Tilly set up with water and hay, some electrolytes.  Took a look at her feet and figured since I still had sun, I'd better trim and rasp her feet.  So, I got to work on that.  Butchered them SOME, in my opinion, but they looked better than before.

Once I was done with that, we all just sat around and relaxed for a while.

As the sun sets, B, LM, H and I head in to town for groceries and dinner.  We put Rango in the back of B's LQ and head out.  Lots of laughs and fun and plans for a wonderful fire when we get back to camp.  Junk food load up and late night talking. 

I did rig Tilly up with lights though.  Glowstick on the halter and the flashy bands around her rear pasterns.  I know those pens are solid, but....just in case...(spoiler alert; never necessary, but...I don't regret it!).

I was reminded MULTIPLE times we were sleeping in, NOT rushing to get tacked up in the morning, and that we were going to take a slow, easy pace.

"Plebs...GET UP EARLY AND LETS GO RIDING!!!!"

No.  The answer was a resounding no. 

So, I spent the rest of the evening removing the fenders from my saddle and removing the latigos to put the English converter set on my saddle.  And then begged B to borrow her "Total Saddle Fit" girth for Tilly.  Which worked like a CHARM all weekend long!!!  I love this girth.  I WILL need to get the fleece cover for it as well, because Tilly is prone to galls, but we had used a wool one for the scavenger hunt, and I liked how far back it sat that day, and this one was the same length and worked WONDERFULLY.

But more about that for Day 2.