2009 chesapeake-3-day-100 September 18,19,20 I

Our parameters where great so we continued on..the next 15 miles. Mostly rolling hills, I preferred the trails, they were technical, switch-back like and steep. The rolling hills became mind numbing, though the occasional jogger, bike rider and dog walker broke the monotony.
With only 5 miles to go, my partners horse started to trot lame. we slowed down and walked a spell, then we trotted on and the horse was fine. It turned out to be intermittent and we continued on. We came in on time and went to the vet check. My horse's back was a bit sore, he had managed to have a horse in the pasture bite his side and bruise his lower left back, near the spine, defiantly in the saddle area. Other than that JJ was fit to continue so I waited, while feeding him, for my partner. Unfortunately for my friend it was not the lameness that got her horse pulled, it was that the horse, while standing in front of the vet, kicked herself on the rear right leg which promptly started to swell and she was definately lame now.

Chesapeake 3 day 100, September 18,19,20

This event is held in Elkton Maryland on the beautiful grounds of Fair Hill. I had competed earlier this year at the Fox catcher 25 Limited distance and finished in the middle of the pack..lol. This is a picture of JJ's beautiful quarters, with straw and alfalfa..I am use to him being by our trailer kept in by an electric fence. So even though I could see his stall, I missed having him with us..I got all the stuff ready for the next day, we put up the tent for the hold stop, filled all the buckets and made sure the sponges, scrapers and heart monitors/electrolytes are ready to go. The ride meeting was at 6:30 pm and by this time I am starting to tire..also the days are getting shorter and it was dark by 7:30pm. Friday dawned early at 4:00 am and I quickly changed and got outside. The stars still showed brightly and it was quiet except for a very loud owl. I fed JJ, he was happy to see me..cleaned up his poop and brushed him down. I then went back to the trailer. My husband Larry could open a RC resturant...he made an all white omlete with mushrooms, red and green peppers, & cheese. Nina, our 11 yo shetland sheepdog, hovered around and sat next to her next victem looking as pathetic as possible. Fresh coffee was served (I couldn't drink it as my stomach was in knots tho the omlette went down just fine.
My friend and I had been chosen to ride as point riders, mostly because she had allot of experience so we needed to leave 15 minutes ahead of the rest. Pt riders are there to make
sure the trail markers have not been moved..and the trail is ridable. 6:45 am we took off, I was soooo excited. We had a 10 minute hold in 10 miles and the miles went by quickly.