Thursday, June 3, 2010

Jo Tate Memorial Pictures

Here is Boomer right after we vetted in on Friday.  I think this picture does a good job of showing what good shape he is in!

Here is our rig.  I loved the camping set up.  It was a tight fit and we had to back in, but it was so nice to have the shade of the trees!

Letting the in-timer know we are at the start line:

Coming in from loop 1, day 1:

Chowing down on our first vet hold:

Charley and John waited at the road in to camp where all of the loops converged!  It was so nice to see them as I came around the corner!

Here I am coming in after loop 2, day 1 with my riding buddy.
Boomer really liked having his face scrubbed with a wet towel between loops!

John and Boomer hang out before we leave on the last loop of day one!

Yay!  We finished 50 miles!!!
He drinks!!!

Finishing loop 1, day 2:

Headed to get our in-time, pulse down, and vet in:

Coming in from loop 2.  Our buddy had a minor shoe issue at the beginning of loop 2, so we rode this alone but he ended up only about 4 minutes behind us when he got to camp so we got to go out together for loop 3.  I had assumed they were going to pull and had no idea they were catching up to us!  Turns out he just needed to trim back his pad and then he came back out and was about 30 minutes behind. My friend said that his mare could hear us on the trail ahead of them and she was calling for Boomer. 

Vetting through after loop 2, day 2:

John is such a great crew!  I got to sit down and eat cheese burgers while he tended to the horses!

We ended up mixing their mashes together because they wanted to share.  It was the cutest thing I have ever seen!  Boomer and Prima, sitting in a tree....

We finished!  100 miles in two days!  All of the other rigs from our camping area had left (there were 4 of us at first) and we turned Boomer out to graze and walk.  I gave him a nice head and ear rub.

Here is the best picture I could find to compare him before and after the ride.  Doesn't look like he lost any weight at all!  He learned to drink along the trail and ate much better once the bit was out of his mouth for the last 2 loops.  I think those things made a huge, huge difference in his recovery.


3 comments:

Shanster said...

He looks incredible! GREAT job! You have to be just beaming... I can hear it in your post!

Unknown said...

Wow - you guys are incredible. I work with your mom and keep up with your rides. I can't imagine. My horse and I do ACTHA and we are worn out at the end of a ride. Sabumi looks fabulous - you both have obviously worked very hard. Congratulations!

Heather said...

Thanks!
Shanster- I have been grinning like a fool for almost a week now!!!

Land Run- My mom has told me about you and your hypo-allergenic horses! They sound so cool! I think there are quite a few ACTHA rides around our area in Kansas, if you ever come up this way- let me know and we can show you around the trails! You should try to get my mom on a horse sometime!