J'aurais ben l' goût d' sacrer mon camp jusqu'au printemps!

We unloaded Luba at Horses of the Sun around 9pm on Tuesday after a day of white knuckle driving.

The worst was when Deanna had to expertly thread the truck, camper and trailer through a mess of cars and trucks spinning out around us on black ice on the I-81 at mile 25 in New York State.

This is after Deanna safely guided us onto the shoulder after the truck hit black ice and we had no brakes!

As we round the corner, we see more cars in the ditch.

Endless stream of ditch pigs for about 2 miles….

Luba none the worse for wear, having a bite to eat when we stopped  for gas after the I-81 madness.

All the way back, we kept thinking about comments on Deanna's FB from her friend, Linda. "You should take Team Luba and head to Disney!" "Find another B&B and stay there until spring!"

But at the end of the day, there is no place like home. Luba was very happy to be turned out with Mama Sera. She danced into the quarantine paddock as Sera called out welcoming whinnies. First order of business was a big roll and a shake. Then she gobbled up a pail of warm sloppy beet pulp, soaked hay cubes and electrolytes. Sera got some leftover soaked hay cubes too.

Here is Luba, sporting the newest winter turnout colour - turquoise - hiding behind the round bale as Sera watches over her.

I laughed and laughed when this song, Lit vert by Plume Latraverse came on the radio. 

Roughly translated, the chorus says:

"It's cold,  even if winter is beautiful. I should get the hell out of town until spring!"

Pheasant Field B&B

We overnighted at Pheasant Field Bed and Breakfast near Carlilse, PA.
Warm and friendly welcome.
Just what we needed.

There is snow here and we got a dusting last night too.

Just finished breakfast. Poached pears with cranberry and walnut, mushroom, spinach and cheese fritata, sausages and pumpkin pancakes with maple syrup. Yumm.

Day 3: Homeward bound!

Multidays

I have learned to treat a long distance trailer trip like a multi day ride. We drive from gas station to gas station with a nice 30 minute hold at each one to rest, eat and drink. We have a routine that we follow to the letter every time, so Luba knows exactly what to expect. She eats like a horse every time! And then we do it again the next day.

Today is Day 2: We left Florence Horse Centre at 8:30 this morning. Destination today is Carlisle, PA at Pheasantfield Bale and Breakfast, a trip of just over 800 kms.

Ziggy, Kim, Mike and Stephanie are planning to stop there too, so looking forward to arriving around suppertime and having the evening to relax with a glass of wine. Tried to buy wine last night, but they do not sell alcohol on Sundays in Florence, SC.

Here are a few pics from this morning. Bright crisp morning with frost on the grass!

Live to ride another day

Luba and I gave it our best shot. Sometimes you eat up the trail and sometimes the trail eats you. Pulled after 35 miles for mild lameness. Luba is fine and we live to ride another day. Very proud of my mare and the way we represented Canada East. Grateful to everyone who supported us along the way. Congratulations to all our teammates for accepting the North American Endurance Team Challenge!

We are on the road home and finally have real internet access at the hotel in Florence, SC. Luba and Ziggy are safely settled in 70 foot round pens at Florence Horse Center. We are taking three days to drive home.  Hopefully the weather holds once we get further north!

The Eagle has landed

After our lovely Georgian morning, including a ride on the sandy trails in the woods around the farm, we carried on to the Sunshine State on Monday afternoon. The temperature gauge on the truck reading 29 C.

We arrived around 3:00 and found our way to Cabin 4. Each cabin has 4 stalls attached at the back, but we set Luba up in a lovely shaded paddock with many of the other Canada East horses.

Luba looked visibly relieved to see all the electric fence pens. “Oh, this is ride camp! I know how to do ride camp.” And she promptly set about eating hay. She must have wondered what the heck was going on for the last two days.

Kara and Deanna are sleeping in the cabin and I am cocooning in my camper.

First order of business was clipping off the winter coat. Luba had a surprisingly thick winter coat. She is a “flea-bitten” grey, which means she had darker flecks like freckles in her coat. After clipping, she looks like a leopard! 

Then Dr. Hie adjusted Luba. She was quite sore in her hind end from working so hard in the trailer. He also adjusted me later in the day. I was quite sore in my hind end from sitting in the truck and in my shoulders from travel stress. Traveling in truck and trailer for over 2400 kms is not for sissies!

All horses had to be on site by 12:00 yesterday. The FEI officials came by to check the FEI passports to make sure you brought the right horse, to take the horse’s temperature to make sure they were not sick, and gave us numbers to attach with zip ties to the horse’s tack for ride day and to the halter.  Luba was wearing her ratty old barn halter, so I sprinted over to the trailer to get a nice leather one. This is the big league!

Afterwards, seven of the Canada East team members went out for a stretch out ride in the Goethe Forest. We walked about 5 miles. Saw a deer! Then Wendy M and I took our horses for a short canter just to take the edge off. I felt all the accumulated tension of the travel flow out my fingers, my toes and the top of my head. 

This is what we came for. Baby, we were born to run!

One "P" short of a load

Long day yesterday. Luba gave us a scare - didn't poop all day! Eating (E), drinking (D), peeing (P) but no pooping.  Horses that are feeling fine do all for EDPP. Luba was one "P" short of a load!

We finally stopped for supper and unloaded her at a truck stop near FL border around 7pm and she finally pooped! Hallelujah! Stopped at the Rojeck's with Dessia and Stephanie for the night.

What a lovely farm. We are so grateful for their hospitality! Only a few more hours to drive today and we are there!  Also grateful for all our OCTRA friends who kept checking in with us throughout the day. Here are some pictures of the Rojeck's lovely farm this morning.

One more sleep…..

We are ready! 

Uwe helped me get the hay tied down and covered. He hooked up the trailer and has it pointing down the driveway. He made a special effort to make sure that Luba could load on the only patch of grass showing beside the lane way. 

Deanna arrived this afternoon. We all had a lovely dinner at Agave. 

The truck is all safe and ready for the big trip, thanks to:

Bob Peter's Garage

2046 Scott Street, Ottawa

Proud supporters of our Excellent Adventure in Florida!

Let's get this show on the road!

Rig is ready for early morning get-away,  pointed down the icy driveway.

Frozen sand

We got our first real dump of snow last week. That plus some cold weather and me running away from a cold started to get me worried about a classic recipe for tie-up.

Sonja and Horses of the Sun save the day again! I get a text that says "Will aim to work Luba each day for the next week. Pronoia! xo". Don't let old man winter kick you in the butt!

I got out to ride yesterday and today.  Today maybe for the last time before we leave for Florida.  The footing is great - powdery snow - just like frozen sand. It was too cold for the flash to work on my phone's camera, so everything looks pretty blue.

Now that we have the hay loaded in the trailer, most of the big jobs to get ready to go are done. Just washing horse gear, polishing up my saddle and installing the back up camera in the trailer, so we can watch the Luba Show en route.

This time next week, we should be arriving at our destination in Florida, the  Sunshine State. Here comes the sun!