Both Velvet and I were on an emotional High. We were AVA winners in a SPEED event. Just wait till folks back home heard about this. They were the ones that snickered at the horse who wouldn’t canter the whole way around the arena. This news would knock em off their horses!
We returned to the trailer and went about getting Velvet comfortable. I took off her straight jacket saddle, and got her robe and slippers…uh..er I mean she got fed her special grain.
I turned on my switch to my water tank and nothing came out. I shook it, got the tube down lower and still nothing came out. Huh! I looked at the water tank and it was almost empty! This is a 35-gallon water tank and I had not filled it completely up. I imagine I had 25 gallons of water to start the day and now it was empty.
Well, this made my decision of whether or not to camp in this space really easy. The only water I knew about from a hose was at the end of each horse barn. I have a 35 gallon tank in the trailer. It didn’t take me long to figure out that I had to move the pickup and trailer.
As all good women who abhor backing do, I scouted out the track. Hmmm doesn’t look like I can go forward. There is no through place where I can turn around. Yech! I was in a spot where I could almost turn around. So, I loaded Velvet into the trailer after I got everything put away and we turned around. I love it when the trailer moves sideways and the tires skid. It only took me 10 or 15 minutes of extreme scary effort to get turned around. At least the truck has air-conditioning, so I was enjoying the weather.
We finally made it to the end of a barn and I filled my water tank almost to the top. We drove around the barn at top speed of –5 mph and headed back to find a camping spot. There were no big huge gaps in the back camping area for a pickup and trailer. I pulled into a parking spot and got Velvet out. I was famished. I got Velvet’s hay and water bucket out and tied her to the trailer so she couldn’t get her foot over the lead rope. She was happily munching on her hay, and I left her.
I got a sandwich and went to chat with Charlotte Blackwell and the internet stand. We chatted happily and I got to see the Out West Vacation pictures. My internal “worry-about-Velvet alarm went off and I made a graceful exit. Back at the trailer, Velvet was glad to see me. I decided it was time to find a camping spot, so back into the trailer went the obliging Velvet.
We went down the really steep road that goes to the south of the campground. There were a whole three campers parked down there. AHA! Said I. We drove to our very own tree and parked. I got out and surveyed the flatness. It was ok! I asked the Princess of the Pasture to come out of the trailer and she clambered out to survey the quality of the grass. She wasn’t thrilled, but started to eat anyway.
I got out the air mattress and attached it to that wonderful cigarette lighter air tank and filled it up. I got the tent out and staked it really well. I put my air mattress, pillows, books, and suitcase in the tent. It was ready. It was getting to be about time for the evening horse show to start. I decided that I couldn’t leave Velvet alone down in this place. There was no one around. I didn’t have the strength to get the saddle on Velvet. I got out the bareback pad and tied the lead rope into reins. We went up to where the action occurs.
Charlotte was gone, so she didn’t get to see Velvet. I tired to shop on horseback, but I couldn’t really get close enough to see the merchandise…although we went along the road beside all the merchant tents. We had to dodge some cars and people as it was time to start finding seats for the Friday night championships. Of course, Velvet being so beautiful, got lots of admiring looks and people stopped her to pet her. We enjoy that kind of thing and love every minute of it.
Finally one of the officials told us that it would be better if we got back to where the cars couldn’t get so close, so we went back to our favorite place to stand. We discovered this place last year. It’s right between the cook shack and the arena. It’s a triangle in the road with a garbage can. We just fit in the triangle and were out of the way of both pedestrian and car traffic. However, we were highly visible, so we got a lot more visitors to pet Velvet and tell her how beautiful she was.
One woman screeched to halt as she walked by and came over to talk to us. She was amazed at riding in the halter and stunned by Velvet’s perfect body! We chatted about her blood lines and the training that Velvet received to be able to be ridden in this kind of congestion with only a halter. She left. Not long after that, she brought her friend over to meet me. They were from Michigan. They had purchased some young horses from the DreamMaker auction. They wanted to know if they could get another Velvet! I told them probably. I also told them about Larry and Mona Dollarhide’s horses and how wonderful they were trained. They wanted to know about the Parelli training system. Of course, I had no purse..no addresses..no nothing to give them. We arranged to meet the next morning at 7:00 am at the cook shack.
They left and Andy Odor, came over and to chat. He asked if I had heard my name on the loud speaker? “Huh?” My name was called on the loud speaker about 2 hours ago, and I was to report to the Internet area. Of course, it was now closed. I flipped my hair and said, “Maybe it’s an Internet boyfriend wanting to meet me!”
Velvet told me that she was tired and she was tired of me sitting on her backbone. I decided that I was tired of sitting on her backbone, and I was worn out. We left and returned to our new tent home. Both of us were scared going down the hill as it had almost turned dark.
I got Velvet lots of hay and some more nice water. She wasn’t very happy, but I thought she could survive. The ground wasn’t a lush pasture. It was more like half chopped off sticks. I climbed into the tent and got my sleeping clothes on and found my book. Velvet crunched on the hay and pawed the ground. I couldn’t read very long and turned off the light. Velvet was still eating her hay and pawing the ground. I woke up when the neighbors returned about 3 hours later. Was it my imagination that I felt the ground through my air mattress? Oh groan. I occasionally don’t get the little plug in good enough and the air leaks slowly out.
I got out to check Velvet. She had pawed a solid rectangle of black dirt standing place and was starting to feel better about a place to lie down. I fixed the air mattress plug so it wouldn’t leak anymore and climbed back into my suggestion of a soft bed. Groan.