Summer Slam in Sylvester Georgia 2013

Well, we had an offer to split the cost of going to the Summer Slam, which is a good 4 1/2 hours from us, with the lovely Molly and her beautiful endurance boy Gentry... So we did! Awesome time with the carpooling, and the ride. This was a fundraiser for the Boy Scouts, and was a "bare bones" ride, which means no frills, or no extras that you get at a bunch of rides. This is what I LOVE, as I don't generally eat the dinners at the ride anyway, and I really just want water, hay, well marked trails, and horsey extras if you can... oh, and a nice place to camp out :) and that was exactly what we got at this ride, there was even mashes to go with the hay they provided at the vet out areas and at all the water areas for the horses :) PERFECT!

So I needed to get to Molly's place by 6am, just how I like it, get in early and relax in the afternoon :) But it was 35 minutes to the barn, plus another 35 minutes to Molly's... so it was a REALLY early am ;) I was so happy on the way there though, excited about the weekend of fun, and it was a giant full moon with nobody on the roads... perfect again :) So by around 6:30 we were loaded up in her rig and headed out for the Summer Slam! While this location normally has a February ride, they were doing this fund raiser in the summer, which meant we also had the benefit of a pool at the vet out area for the crew to hang out during their breaks... crew... what is that? Anyway, nice ride for those with fam that might want to come join as there is fun for the whole family :)

We get in, vet in, and I am happy... Most Loved Marco had an awesome vet in, all As... and a 36 heart rate again :)

So I had decided to listen to... well, almost everyone, about letting Marco go a little instead of holding him back the whole ride. This was a flat non-rocky ride, so I decided to just do it, and it was a BLAST! He literally cantered the entire first 40 miles :) We were apparently somewhere close to the top ten for most of the ride, and had a group behind us who Marco was happily pulling along, his self motivation is a rarity, especially for long periods of flat boring trails/roads, so I am pretty sure he was much appreciated by those who got to use him as motivation for their own horses :) Nothing like a fast moving horse up front to get your pony going no matter how lazy, or what mood they are in! Competition gets everyone's blood boiling ;) I think he was called "the rabbit" by somebody, I like that nickname ;) My favorite part was when he was getting really frustrated with two horses that were in front of him, but he was a good boy and stayed back from them and did not try and do anything silly. He kept getting annoyed because they would slow down for EVERY single little thing like mud puddles. Finally they separated for a BIG ASS mud puddle and he went for it! As they each went for their perspective bank, he bolted full canter through the middle of the mud splashing EVERYONE, including me, with a ton of mud. I mean he really went whole hog so to speak :-D Well, after the first lap, which was 25 miles, he was one happy camper! He got to do his favorite thing for a really long time... canter :)

 

So at that vet check we had all As (except for gut sounds) and after the 50 minute hold went on to canter the entire 2nd loop too! Another 15 miles of happy cantering pony! He was still happy as could be, but was finally slowing down though by the end of THAT loop. He actually got some A minuses, add that to his slowing down, the heat getting to around 90 degrees with full sun and high humidity, and I decided the big brain was going to take over... no more cantering for Mr. Marco. I actually held him for an extra 10 minutes to get some extra grub that he was heartily still eating when our out time was up at our hold, probably costing us the top ten status. It was a fun ride so far, but time to take care of the pony and make him slow down whether he wanted to or not. There were three horses who already had to be treated, and I did NOT want Most Loved Marco to be the next one. It also did not help that the last loop was all dirt roads in the sun, so that really cinched it for me, slow going for the last 9 miles it was.

Well, we ended up in 13th place with a time of 5 hours and 34 minutes, that 13th spot we are getting used to ;) I was THRILLED with the entire ride, with how well my awesome Paso Fino did up against a bunch of Arabians on dirt with the heat coming in mid-day... pretty impressive for a breed meant for the mountains, and who actually lives in the mountains too, not bred for the desert that this ride was more closely resembling ;) While we did get some Bs at the end of the ride, I was slap happy and so was Mostloved Marco. He ate like crazy (he loved Molly's slop for Gentry! especially when Molly made it instead of me (butthead)), drank like a fish, and flirted with all the other horses, while of course giving me snotty faces :) Lol, par for the course, he may be the Most Loved, but that does not mean I am ;)

This ride was GREAT, if you get lost on these trails, you are legally blind! You should not have driven there much less ridden there! Nice camp site, great ride management, and everyone was happy as could be, and so was I and Mostloved Marco.

Once all was said and done, we all slept really well, and then packed up on Monday (Memorial Day) to head home. No more of the Spanish Moss, back to the mountains we headed. Lovely to change things up a bit and challenge ourselves with whatever we are confronted with. The people in endurance are top notch, non-complaining, happy and adaptable folk. You can't lose with a weekend in that kind of atmosphere, even if you are just there hanging out. I hope some of my non-horsey friends will find that out soon... as I REALLY need a crew for some rides ;) Hasta mañana!