This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] List.
OK guys.....shows and evaluations are over and winter is peeking around the corner. Exciting posts will soon begin again about Shoeless or shoes, bittless or bits, blinkers or none, Flyspray that works or garlic,vets or owner diagnosis, medication or herbal / organic, treeless or treed saddles and " Natural " training vs a wump upside the head method. This post was on my Pony List today and I can SO relate to so much of it.....thought it was funny enough to repost here, enjoy ! ( all of you who want to start competing next year, this might be a manditory read. Lisa ****************************************************************************** **** 1a. Trip to Tulsa - long read but fraught with craziness   Posted by: "Shae Butts" [EMAIL PROTECTED] riverbendwelsh   Date: Fri Oct 3, 2008 9:47 am ((PDT)) Diary of two Mad Widows or Hereâs your Sign? Our trip to Tulsa I should have felt it the moment Lisa, my best gal pal, and fellow widow in mourning, dropped that brand new bottle of Piesporter wine on the street in front of the house at 6 am last Thursday morning. Iâm sure it was a sign of Bad Karma, missing MOJO or something else even more ominous. Forget everything⦠.forget the fact that we had spent a week packing for the horse show! Forget that we had a rig that rivaled most tractor trailer drivers! Forty-two feet of Dodge Dully and Sundowner Pro-stock sitting at the ready! Forget that our carriages were loaded along with hay and tons of gear! Why in Godâs name do we pack so much? Showing is not new to usâ¦.we think weâve trimmed way backâ¦and yetâ¦.we are still loaded to the gills! Why did I battle fire ant bites (left over sweet feed) in the overhead of the gooseneck making sure everything was crammed in there nice and tidy? Why did I stay up late washing my ponies and pulling manesâ¦crippling myself on my unsteady foot that Iâd only had surgery on three weeks agoâ¦.all this to âfeelâ that bad karma on Thursday morning? Unpack it allâ¦..right now!      NOT! This was our first trip out of stateâ¦all the way to the State Fair and Central National Welsh showâ¦in Tulsa, Oklahomaâ¦without Mike and Daveâ¦.our dear husbandsâ¦..lost to usâ¦only last yearâ¦and within 8 weeks of each other. In fact, the last show Mike attended with meâ¦.was this show a year ago. I think we were both excitedâ¦and nervous about goingâ¦seeing old friends that we only see at this particular showâ¦and knowing those encounters would bring new sensitivities to surface. Breathe...and just go forwardâ¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦.our newest motto. The one persona that was ecstatic about this trip was Elvis. Elvisâs real name is Gracelandâs Good News. What are you going to call an 11.2 hand stocky pony stallion fraught with punk rock flaxen forelock....except Elvis? Elvis was thrilled because not only was he riding next to his daughterâ¦and he is a very good poppa to all his babiesâ¦but also had as travel mates, three gorgeous maresâ¦.one of which he already had carnal knowledge, Menai my Desire, Lisaâs driving pony! The other two were section Bâs and top of the line mediums, full sisters and bigâ¦I mean BIG! Elvis loves the big girls! If he were not the impeccably mannered soul that he isâ¦.we would never be able to travel in this mannerâ¦.Two carriages up front and dividedâ¦and everyone else side to side all the way to the gate, sans any dividers. Every pony had a personal hay netâ¦.and a comfy floor full of shavings. Even the vertically challenged filly was comfy in her little fly mask and standing next to her daddy for the 10 hour drive to Tulsa.  Brianna, Lisaâs 9 year old was piled atop tons of bags, blankets and pillows in the back seatâ¦.candy and treats at the readyâ¦and a bag chocked full of DVDâ s to watch on her little player. Lisa and I were armed with thousands of Diet Cokes (nectar of the Gods) and packs of chewing gum to rival any grocery store isle. She would drive us all the way through Dallas, and I would take the second leg into Tulsa. A few stops were made for fuel, more junk food, and potty breaks and still we made the fairgrounds in good time. As we looked about for our stalls locationâ¦..I kept hearing some large pony screams emanating from the direction of our trailer! I realized it was Elvis⦠and went quickly to investigateâ¦.However it happenedâ¦I will never knowâ¦but Elvis had become unclipped from his tieâ¦.and had all the mares (still tied) herded into one cornerâ¦.as he was preparing himself to choose which to breed first. His baby daughter was tucked under the throat of the smaller mare peeping out at a daddy whose behavior she did not recognize! I quickly removed him from the trailerâ¦and later on the stunned group of maresâ¦.standing there with their back legs crossed!  The fair folks only allow you two hours to get your rig unpacked and get your trailer to the off grounds parking lot. Okayâ¦we can do this! We throw all the stuff out. Why didnât we pack the tack room carpets and tack curtains in the front and the hat boxes and harnesses to come out last? Ohâ¦and speaking of tack stallsâ¦.I limped all the way up to the office to get shavings and to inquire as to whyâ¦.even though my entries specifically list a tack stallâ¦.I do not have one? No one seemed to knowâ¦but the show management was able to not only give me oneâ¦but one on the same isle way as my poniesâ¦.perfect! We are closing in on our two hour limit and although the junk is all out of the trailerâ¦..it is mostly laying about the isles because we have to re- bathe ponies. The two big girls are grey and have managed to get green stains all the way to the shoulderâ¦and the little filly has yet to have a bath. I find out that the filly is scared of the tack porch rug, water, the chairs, the lounger, the rug, water, the water hose, the rug, the mats, the rug, spigots, the rugâ¦..oh⦠and Lisaâs big mare, who didnât much care for that filly eitherâ¦.so she reached over and in an effort to bite the filly chomped down on my shoulder instead⦠yeow!!!!!!!!!! We finally manage to get everyone bathedâ¦the filly drug back over the mat, the water, the lounger and the RUG!!! Now I can get that trailer gone to the lot! Onlyâ¦.Lisaâs not good at hooking and un-hooking the gooseneckâ¦and Iâve done it likeâ¦zero timesâ¦..so I ask and receive help from Phillip Orear who kindly drives the rigâ¦.and parks and unhitches the trailerâ¦and drives my tired butt back to the fair grounds. Now we must get MY ponies clipped. Since my stallion isnât great about having his ears clippedâ¦.and the filly isnât great about anythingâ¦we need a twitchâ¦.only we forgot it. Crapâ¦.Oh wellâ¦hands make the very best twitches anyhowâ¦and in short time ⦠everyone looks clipped, bathed and well groomedâ¦.on with the sleezyâs and off to the hotel for a quick change, dinner and then a well deserved rest!!!!!!!!!!  Lisa gets into the driverâs seatâ¦.did I mention the Dully is a straight shift? Phillip has left the truck in first gearâ¦(I always leave them in reverse) and Lisa always leaves it in neutral. I am leaning inside the passenger door chatting up Brianna and Phillip is leaning in the drivers side chatting up Lisaâ¦.when she cranks the truckâ¦sans clutch â¦.lurches forward with enough power to take out my left hipâ¦which now has a massive bruise the size of Kansas⦠..Okayâ¦.Iâm ready to go. We get to the hotel â¦..make a couple of quick swipes to our dirty faces⦠change shirtsâ¦wash our purple hands from the blue poo we used on the grey girls⦠.and head to Ruby Tuesdayâs for some nice salad bar. I had a glass of wine⦠but frankly was too pooped to even finish itâ¦.We were so exhausted we could barely choke the salad downâ¦and we headed back to the Hampton Inn and our suite. Once there Lisa jumped into the tubâ¦and Brianna⦠called the desk and ordered our wake up callâ¦.secured the TVâ¦and otherwise took charge as all 25 year olds wrapped up in 9 years of hide will do!   I was busy heading down the hall with the cooler of water and diet cokes⦠.looking for the ice machine to keep everything cool. I finally found it on an adjacent hallwayâ¦but it was the kind that spits the ice out into a bucket⦠.and I had no bucket. I started to leave the cooler behind and run down for our ice bucketâ¦but then decided I could not leave our DIET cokes unattendedâ¦..so I drug the cooler back to our room. At this pointâ¦I am totally wiped out⦠pissed off the cooler is so heavy and the ice machine so farâ¦so I pull the cooler over to the door of our little room refrigerator by itâs handleâ¦open the door â¦.jerk the cooler over closerâ¦right over the TOP OF MY FOOT!â¦..my sore foot!!!â¦my just had surgery!!!â¦been limping on for two yearsâ¦FOOT!! And manâ¦DID IT HURTâ¦â¦I snatched my foot back to lookâ¦and GOOD GAWD!!! I have snatched my right Toe Nail plumb off my toe! Itâs standing up waving at me like a flag! The cuticle on the right side is out of the toe and pressing down like a hammerâ¦.and bloodâ¦.I think Iâm going to faint or puke!!!! I donât want to alarm the kidâ¦.I walk calmly into the bathroomâ¦.sit on the potâ¦..and prop my now bloody stump on the side of the tub telling Lisa, âthis doesnât look goodââ¦..Now Lisa is about to faintâ¦or pukeâ¦who knows? Suddenly Iâm freaking outâ¦.and poor Brianna is back on the phone calling the front desk for a doctor, nurseâ¦help! We need toe nail clippersâ¦.aceâ¦.buteâ¦.banamine and a vicodin! Ahâ¦we at least have the latter with usâ¦.left overâs from my recent surgery. As we stand around staring at my toeâ¦stunned and trying to figure out what to doâ¦.I am overcome with such wearinessâ¦I know I must just lie down and deal with this later. Together we wrap some MacDonald Napkins around the toe and loosely bind them with hot pink (the only color we had) vet wrapâ¦.so it will not get caught on the coversâ¦and we go to bed. Our suite had a wonderfully comfy king size bed and a queen size roll out sofa bed. No way am I sleeping on the sofa bed â¦I am terrified of another injury â¦hitting or touching the metalâ¦.so Lisa takes the couchâ¦and Brianna and I take the bed. Have you ever slept with a spinning, poking, kicking nine year old? Sheesh! Makes me realize how nice it is to be empty nesting. The next morning we awake at 6 am and the toe is now in full throbbing swing⦠.we go to the show grounds. I wait on Dr. Ruthâ¦.our dear friendâ¦.WPCSA Presidentâ¦.and resident vetâ¦..to get there and give me advice on the toeâ¦.while othersâ¦.are telling me to go to the ERâ¦.urgent careâ¦and some less caring individuals are just saying ârip it offâ or I can help you get that offâ¦and they stand there grinning with needle nose pliers at hand. Or the one lady who suggested I just let it rot offâ¦niceâ¦.. Dr. Ruth finally arrivesâ¦reminds me that pulling toe nails out is a form of tortureâ¦..(how does she know this?)â¦.and that I should definitely consider going to have it removedâ¦ohâ¦and get tetanus⦠..I am after all standing in a horse barn all weekendâ¦..finally a voice of sanity! First before anything elseâ¦..I MUST get all the brass cleaned on the in hand bridlesâ¦..Although we had a friend help us to get readyâ¦and she did a great job on the bridle and harness leather (probably the best it has looking in a year)â¦.that dad gum brass has got to be elbow greased one more time before show time. Lisa had already agreed to run all the ponies in halter because of my recent foot surgeryâ¦â¦I at the very leastâ¦must see to all the tack! In the meantimeâ¦the entire support staff for the Welsh show is busy trying to find me an urgent care center to go to. I finish the brass and watch a couple of the halter classesâ¦.and finally I am warned to get that truck out of the parking lot before it gets towed.  Being a widow is definitely NOT for sissiesâ¦and there was no one to drive meâ¦.so I take myself out of there just before I was about to be towedâ¦..and head to town in the giant 6 speed turbo dullyâ¦â¦ looking for a hospital and urgent care. Actually, I found that Tulsa is teaming with hospitalsâ¦..and someone in the hospital ER directed me to the closest urgent care center. Urgent care is THE place to go when you need a minor procedure and donâ t want to spend hours and hours waitingâ¦not to mentionâ¦.hundreds and hundreds of dollars in the ER. I found the Urgent Care post hasteâ¦Parked the dullyâ¦.Terrified of pain to comeâ¦I took two vicodin with a hot diet cokeâ¦..and headed for the doorâ¦â¦.They took me straight from the front door to the table in backâ¦..A little grey haired and very kind old doc came in â¦.and I entertained him with stories of the horse showâ¦as he injected syringe after syringe of lidocaine into my toeâ¦until it felt like a big dull logâ¦..His nurse distracted me with injections of tetanus antitoxin to my shoulder as he pulled my toenail out of itâs bed underneath the cuticle. He wrapped my toe in a very large bandage and navy blue vet wrapâ¦and finished it off with a paper OR shoeâ¦and a couple extra of those for later. By the time I got out of the Urgent care and back to the show grounds it was nearly 2:30 in the afternoonâ¦I had no food all dayâ¦.and the two vicodinâs Iâ d taken before the toe nail procedure were in full force of making me stupid. I parked in the handicap parking and sauntered over to our stalls. I asked a very nice lady, (and whip extraordinaire) Kathy Lindholm, to drive my stallion in the show for me that day. She really likes Elvisâ¦.and she was such help to me last year there when I was trying to do everything by myself because Mike was really too ill to help me. It became pretty apparent to Kathy and Lisa that I had two vicodin too many and needed to go watch the classes in lieu of helping rig the harnesses!  It only took Kathy one class to get a hang of Elvis and his cues and she drove him to good ribbons that evening. There were FIVE stallions in the carriage driving class. The most Iâve ever seen in one driving class! The final class was the cones course. This is something that I really suck at and I was so happy to have Kathy driving my pony in the class. The whips walk the course on foot and leave their pony and hitch in the hands of someone else to watch. That night I was standing there with Elvis hitched and chatting to my friend Todd. Todd has spinal bifida and is wheel chair bound, but can do just about anything the rest of us can and has guts to go around. He had his chair centered right under the front of my ponyâs hitch! Suddenly, I heard clippity-clop clop coming at me very loud and fastâ¦I felt the wind more than saw the little guy go flying by, totally out of control, blinders on his nose. The little pony who was in training had flipped his bridle down over his ears and in fear, was a runaway. Fortunately, Todd not only backed away from Elvis and the charging pony in a nanosecond, but he also took Elvis with him. Elvis who remained unaware anything at all happened. The whip drove the runaway directly into the side of a tack stall. Fortunately, the stalls are portable and the wall moved with the force of the slamming ponyâ¦surely reducing his trauma. The whip was ex periencedâ¦.and no one was hurtâ¦.In fact, most people, save a few drivers were even aware of itâ¦.me and my toe survived another really close call! I quickly found some string and tied the runaway with the tiny ears bridle nose band to his throat latchâ¦and fore lock over his crown piece to his mane. I dared him to get out of that bridle again!  We left that evening with Kathy and the Beecherâs for a well deserved dinner after a big, hard day of classes for them, and surgery for me. Brianna kept asking for a steak and at Carrabbaâs I ordered her a filet medium rare. Her mom and grandma, both vegetarians for years were stunned when she ordered her meat that rare. I know she doesnât get many opportunities to partake in this indulgence, and probably hasnât had one since her dad passed way last October, so I offered up my Auntly duties and cut her meat as she devoured it with sighs of yum and awesome over and over until it was nearly finished.  The food was divine there, the service excellent and the company the best. It was a nice wrap to a stress filled day.     The following day we left our hotel late after having a very large pancake breakfast and headed to the show grounds and then to Target. Main on our list was a new costume for Brianna and the costume contest that evening. We forgot to pack one before we left Houston. Also, I wanted to try out and buy an overlarge house slipper which I could cover my injured foot and drive my own pony! Brianna settled on a Devil costumeâ¦and accessories and $100 laterâ¦.she was set for costume contest complete with a bag of candy to throw to the spectators â¦.and I was armed with a mans size 13 house slipperâ¦guaranteed to not touch my toe in any fashionâ¦ohâ¦and a paisley window sheer that I would pin over my lap robe that would hang long enough to cover the offending house slipper! Although I know Kathy was a bit disappointedâ¦I know she was also happy that I would try and show my own pony in drivingâ¦after allâ¦I spent a great deal of money and traveled a long way to that show and I definitely wanted to at least make one class!!!!!    The classes went wellâ¦and that night Lisa rented a wheel chair for meâ¦â¦and we took off for the fair where we overindulged in greasy fresh fried potato crisp and gyroâs and bought ugly fur top hatsâ¦a good evening.           We didnât realize until then that we would not be packing up and leaving on Sunday morning because Briannaâs over fence classes would not be Saturday, but late morning and early afternoon Sunday. We mentally prepared for a long day Sunday. I slowly packed as Brianna worked on her warm ups and Lisa coached her along with Sally Ross. Finally, we were down to just the bare items, so I moved my chair up to the rail and sat in for some class watching. Brianna did very well but will tell you she got fifth and didnât really move up from there. I think she was fantastic! Lisa didnât ride this show, but mopped up in driving and in halter with her two beautiful sister mares, one winning Reserve Supreme and both winning second as get of dam. We packed the final items, loaded the mares, secured the stallion a little tighter, in and further away and got on the road. We talked and talked about the show as I drove. We were starvingâ¦.another long day without breakfastâ¦.and it mid dayâ¦we finally found a burger kingâ¦and ordered whoppers (double meat) and supersizedâ¦..Man were they awesome!            When we got to Dallas, we switched off and I was grateful that I drove the first leg of the journey home. I donât see well at nightâ¦.and dark came very quick. We had a possum run out in front of usâ¦.but he made itâ¦then we had a pack of dogs run out in front of us in Navasotaâ¦..Lisa quickly moved the rig to the other laneâ¦..and missed the groupâ¦..then we were getting pretty close to Pattisonâ¦still chatting awayâ¦.when BAMMMMMMM! A deer jumped directly in front of usâ¦.the big Dodge sending it cart wheeling into the other lane. Lisa was SICK!....We stopped and jumped outâ¦.the doe had rolled, stood, staggered, dropped, got up, and ran away!!!!!!!!!! I checked out the damageâ¦NONE!....Lisa didnât care thoughâ¦she was on the verge of throwing up! Bad karmaâ¦bad karmaâ¦bad karmaâ¦â¦ I am in the trailerâ¦..she yellsâ¦why are you in the trailer? âIâve gone to peeââ¦Iâve been telling you that for an hour!.....Oh great friend I amâ¦Iâm peeing in the trailer..and sheâs out on the road looking for an injured deer. What were we going to do if we found it? Give it some banamine? There is something about hitting an innocent animal that just kills you. I mean at least those of us that donât hunt or kill things. I remember a little red bird committing suicide in the grill of my dodge a year agoâ¦.I still feel queasy when I think of it!!!!!! Poor Lisa. Poor Bambi! We made it home in one pieceâ¦..The carriages got unloaded yesterdayâ¦.four days laterâ¦.my toe is feeling betterâ¦and we are already planning our next show in two more weeksâ¦..Iâm already getting ready for that costume contestâ¦as this show will be my twin granddaughters debut!  http://www.riverbendwelsh.com and http://gulfcoastwelsh.org ************** New MapQuest Local shows what's happening at your destination. Dining, Movies, Events, News & more. Try it out! (http://local.mapquest.com/?ncid=emlcntnew00000001) Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw Classified Ads: http://tinyurl.com/5b5g2f
