I decided to participate in the Maine Equine Super Showdeo this year. After looking over the event list, I decided on trying the Trail Trial put on by the Maine Trail Riders Association. It sounded like it would be a more low key event held on a course outside of the arenas. My friend Susie also wanted to go. For weeks before the event, I could not decide who I wanted to take. Back and forth I went, Louie, Marie, Louie, Marie and so on. Though I’ve never done an obstacle course with Marie, I figured she would do reasonably well. She is just such a good, willing horse and at 20 years old, is not bothered by a lot of things. Louie was an unknown. I have done one obstacle clinic with him but that was when I was trying to get over my fear of riding him after “the wreck”. So, the focus at the clinic was more about me getting on him and riding then any actual obstacles. And I have not practiced any obstacles since then. But, with the training I put into him over the winter while boarded at the indoor arena and all the wet saddle blankets I’ve put on him this year so far, I thought he might be able to handle this course in a reasonable fashion. In the end I decided to take Louie and just see how it went.
I was to pick up Susie at 7:00 am. I was up by 5:30. When I went to hook up my trailer, I noticed I was nearly out of gas. Well, as much as I could tell anyway as my gas gauge doesn’t work. I go by mileage and I know that when I get to 300 miles on the trip-meter, I’d better hope I’m wearing a good pair of walking shoes. The trip-meter was at 286 miles. I decided to run up to G&G Store and get gas before hooking up the trailer. I knew they opened up at 6:00 am. When I got there, I discovered they do indeed open at 6:00 am. Every day but SUNDAY! They open at 7:00 am on Sunday! ACK! So, I head to Pat’s store. 292 miles on the trip-meter. STORE CLOSED! Double ACK! My only choice now is to cross my fingers and head another 3 mile to Exit 46 Quick Stop. You can get gas there with a credit card whether they are open or not. I did make it and they were open so I also picked up some ice and drinks. I rushed home, hooked up the trailer, then quickly made a cup of coffee and a couple sandwiches to take with me. Louie was laying down when I went out to get him but quickly got up when he saw me coming with the halter. He loaded good but right away started fussing once in the trailer.
I got to Susie’s about 7:15 am. She was all ready to go. We loaded up her tack and her horse Cody and we were off to the show. It was a beautiful day. High 70’s maybe low 80’s. but, not humid and with a nice breeze. Parking was no issue once there. We got a nice spot under some trees so Cody and Louie would have shade. Louie was REALLY pitching a fit in the trailer when we arrived. Pawing and throwing his body around. Gurrrrrrrr! As soon as he was off the trailer though, he was fine and quite relaxed. We tied them to the trailer with their hay bags. We got signed up for the ride then came back to groom and tack up. Susie and I had entered both the Senior and Open division. We had plenty of time so did not hurry. A woman came over to check out Louie. She said we had met a couple years ago at a rest stop on the highway. She remembered I was coming home from a ride with a mule named Ruby.
Louie generated the usual amount of curious interest. Once Susie and I had them tacked up, we rode them around the fairgrounds to warm them up. They were holding a barrel racing event today also. The barrel horses were warming up in the arena so we went into the arena also. Louie was pretty good. He got a little jazzed up with all the horses zooming around in the arena. And he was a bit startled when they tested the sound system. Susie and I decided to leave the arena before either Cody or Louie got TOO jazzed up. They both settled right down once out of the arena.
For the Trail Trial event, riders would go out one at a time at 5 minute intervals. There was a time limit of 1 minute to complete each obstacle. Each obstacle would be scored on a scale of 0 to 5 with 5 being the best. Susie and I discussed which one of us should go first. Susie didn’t really care as Cody is not a herd bound kind of horse. I did not know how Louie would react to separating from Cody. I never really go out riding alone as I never need to having many friends to ride with. I decided I’d rather go first and have to possible push Louie a bit to leave Cody then be following Cody and have Louie possibly trying to rush through the course trying to catch up to Cody. I was anticipating trouble with any obstacle that involved having to get close enough to objects such as poles or barrels or mailboxes, etc. At the one clinic I took Louie to nearly a year ago, he did not want to "side" up to anything and I have not practiced having him do this at all. But, I was here for better or worse, so I got in line and soon it was time for us to go.
#1. First obstacle was to lead Louie up to a judge to have my tack checked. My tack need to fit well and be in good condition and Louie was required to stand quietly and he did. Score of 5.
#2. Pick hoof. We had to pick out one hoof. Louie gave his foot immediately and stood quietly. Score of 5.
#3. Mounting. You were allowed to mount from the ground or a mounting block. I used the block and Louie stood like a rock. Score of 5.
From number 3 we had to ride across a field to the next obstacle. Louie was a bit hesitant to go. I had to really put some leg on him to convince him to go and he kept walking sideways in hopes of turning around. This was not judged thankfully and Louie didn't make any truly serious efforts to go back. But he did make his feelings known that he'd rather not leave the other horses.
#4. Back between poles. Louie did this beautifully and quietly. Score of 5.
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#5. Go over "hill". This was just a mound of dirt. Louie didn't hesitate. BUT, I was supposed to check my girth before any hills and I forgot. So, we got a score of 4 on this one. My bad.....
#6. Walk over a pile of brush. Louie didn't hesitate at this and another score of 5.
#7. Bridge. The bridge was narrow with plenty of room to go around. I pointed Louie straight at it and I could feel him wondering why we should walk on it rather then around it but he did not hesitate and went right over. Score of 5.
#8. Weave through bags. Right after the bridge was a row of large white filled plastic bags on the ground and we had to weave through them. Louie kept an ear on them pretty hard but he did not hesitate. Score of 5.
#9. Stand for count of 5. Beyond the bags we had to stop at a log marker and Louie had to stand without moving at single foot for the count (slow) of 5. Louie stood like a rock! Score of 5.
#10. Cross tarp. We had to cross a tarp laying on the ground. This Louie has done numerous times at home so was no problem. Score of 5.
#11. Gate. The gate was made of 2 upright poles with a rope between. Each end of the rope was just looped over the uprights with jump cups to keep the rope from sliding down the poles. You had to open one end, walk through and put the loop back over the upright. Here is where I was anticipating problems. Well, Louie surprised me and was willing to "side" up to the pole so I could get the rope. I lifted the loop off the pole and all was good until Louie saw the rope wiggling. It bright yellow and he didn't like it. He didn't flip out at all but he backed up a few steps and it was just enough so that I couldn't hold onto the rope and dropped it. DARN! Score of 1.
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#12. Step-down banking. No problem here and I made sure that I checked my girth and that the judge saw me check it. Score of 4.5. (Not sure why we lost 1/2 point there.)
#13. Trot around edge of clearing. Once again no problem. Louie was now very relaxed and trotted quietly around the clearing. Score of 5.
#14. Trivia question. WHAT! What a strange thing to have as an "obstacle". The trivia question was, "what are the two breeds in the ancestry of the Paint horse". (not sure of the exact wording). HA! I had no clue. SCORE OF 0! (sorry Louie) And I've already forgotten the answer. Thoroughbred and.........?
At this point we had to cross another large open area to get to the next obstacle. Louie could see other horses from here and was a bit "bouncy" crossing this but didn't do anything much. He was mostly looking around for Cody.
#15. Road crossing. Louie had to whoa and stand quietly before crossing a road. No problem. Score of 5.
#16. Log drag. ACK! Louie was slightly reluctant to approach the pole that the log drag rope was looped around as it was near a telephone pole and we had to ride very close to the anchor cables. I was able to grab the rope but as soon as the log started dragging behind him, he got spooked. He spun half way around to look at it, then started going sideways. I chickened out at that point and dropped the rope. Score of 0.
17#. Pie tin alley. We had to go between two lengths of rope that were about 4 feet height with pie tins and all sorts of shiny, glittery and spinning things hanging off the ropes. After only an initial surprised look, Louie went right through with no problem. Probably just glad to get away from the mule eating log drag....... Score of 5.
#18. Rock bed. This was a ditch full of large rocks to walk through. Louie gave it a thorough inspection as mules will do then walked right through. Score of 5.
#19. Rain Coat. The raincoat was hanging on a pole. You had to get the coat, put it completely on, take it off and hang it back up. This was something I was SO hoping they would not have. One of the things that Louie has had to overcome is his fear of strange sounds coming from a rider in the saddle. Zippers, velcro, cranking of plastic bags, etc. I seriously considered just passing by and not trying this obstacle. I had visions of me half way into the coat with my arms confined and him bolting off across the fairground in sheer terror. After a moments thought, I decided to give it a go. Louie went right up to the pole and I was easily able to get the coat. When I took it off the hook, Louie got nervous and side stepped away. I hung onto the coat and just talked to him softly and rubbed the coat on his neck. He stopped and stood. I then proceeded to put on the coat. Louie was quite anxious with this but was VERY good. He tried to walk off twice and I had to ask him to whoa and stand. He listened and did finally stand. His ears were hard on me but he decided to trust me. GOOD MULE! I was able to get the coat on and off with him only moving 10 or 15 feet during the whole thing. And he want back up to the pole and let me re-hang the raincoat. I only got a score of 3 for this one as he did move around a little. For me, accomplishing this obstacle was like winning the lottery! It was humbling to see how much Louie has come to trust me!
#20. Walk through balloons. There were two poles with balloons on them you had to walk through. Louie didn't care for this at all. The poles were quite close together and the wind was really blowing the balloons. Louie hesitated pretty hard but he did finally go through. Score of 2.
#21. Mailbox. You had to open a mailbox, take out the mail, hold it up, put it back into the mailbox and close it. I was blown away when Louie lined up at my cue and stood completely still while I did this. Once again his ears were hard on me, but he stood. Yippee!!!! SCORE OF 5.
#22. Wind chimes. We had to walk between two large wind chimes on poles. Louie didn't mind this one at all. Score of 5.
#23. Stroller. We had to walk along quietly while someone came at us with a stroller. Louie eyeballed this and side stepped just a little but no big fuss. Score of 4.
#24. Trash carry. We had to ride up to a barrel, pick up a large white full garbage bag, ride around a cone, then ride back and place the trash bag back on the barrel. Louie was quite good about this. He went up to the barrel well. He was a bit nervous right at first at the crinkling sound of the bag but quieted right down and did fine. I almost dropped the bag when putting it back on the barrel but managed to catch it and get it on. Score of 4.
#25. Side pass over a pole. This one was such a funny one for me. I have been teaching Louie to side pass at home. Not under saddle but at liberty from the ground. I have not done much work with Louie side passing under saddle. At home I've been using a physical cue as well as the verbal cue "side" and he has gotten quite good at it. I use a PVC sewer size pipe at home for training this. Well, that is just what they were using here. Louie saw the pipe and I could feel him perk up like, "Hey, we have one of those at home we play with!". I lined him up and cued him with leg and reins to side pass. He hesitated and was not quite sure what I wanted. I then gave the verbal cue "side" and he got all excited at now understanding what I wanted and flew sideways down the length of that pole. I couldn't help but laugh. Louie was so proud of himself. Score of 5!
#26. Walk through cardboard box. This was a box that was no more then 3 feet square with a 6 inch (+/-) edge around it. Louie did NOT like this at all. He was so nervous he was trembling but he didn't turn away from it. We circled it a few times with him putting a foot on then backing away. But, he finally screwed up his courage and did it getting all 4 feet on it! Once again I was awed by his trust in me. The judge said she was impressed with how hard he tried for me. Score of 3.
#27. Walk through streamers. This was on a single track woods trail. It was a curtain made from surveyors tape. Louie thought this looked pretty strange and hesitated a little but not bad and walked through quietly. Score of 3.
#28. Step over logs. No problem here and score of 5.
#29. Bag on pulley. This was a large, full bag with a rope on it, The rope went up over a tree branch with the end of the rope hooked on the tree. You had to get the end of the rope and pull the bag up a specified distance, lower it back down and hook the rope back up. The bag was placed just a little way from the tree so when you lifted it, it swung towards you. I easily got the rope and then cued Louie to back up. I didn't want to turn him and have the bag swinging towards his hind end figuring he'd simply head out of Dodge! When the bag lifted and swung towards him, he was startled but as he was facing it, he just froze. It took a second to get him moving backwards again to lift the bag but he did and we managed to complete this obstacle. Score of 3.
#30. Dismount. Louie was required to stand quietly while being dismounted. This was right next to the bag that we had just lifted but he was fine with that. Score of 5.
Yippeee!!! We had completed the course and Louie had done just wonderful. Far exceeding my expectations and going beyond what I feel is his training level! I was just grinning from ear to ear. Louie was simply the best mule ambassador. Even when he was unsure of things or scared, he never lost his head and never did anything wrong at all. He NEVER acted "stubborn" as people expect. He just gave 100% at everything I asked. We ended with a score of 120.5 out of a possible 150
Susie finished the course right behind me and said Cody had also done very well. He ended with a score of 124.5. There was a 3 hr. gap between the Senior division and the Open division. I was walking on clouds I was so pleased with Louie. But, I really didn't want to make him do the course a second time. He had just given me so much and done so well that I wanted to end it there on such a good note. So, I got the bright idea to take Louie home and picking up my horse Marie to ride in the open division. I mentioned this to Susie and she was up for it and decided to get her other horse Spark and give him a try at it. I only live 15 miles or so from the fairgrounds so there was plenty of time to make the swap.
Marie seemed more then happy to be included on the days adventure. She is 20 years old this year but fit and in great condition. I've never done anything like this with her before but she is a very steady, quite, dependable girl and I really thought she could do quite well. She sure did not disappoint me. Even she surpassed my expectations. I will not give another run down of each obstacle as she got a perfect score of 5 on 25 of the 30 obstacles. The only one she had trouble with was the gate. I was surprised this bothered her. But, she did the same thing as Louie. When she saw the bright yellow rope wiggling, she backed up and I dropped the rope. She did not care for the looks of the cardboard box either but only hesitated for a moment before stepping through. I goofed up on the pulley by dropping the rope instead of hanging it back on the hook. My bad. But she mostly just did one obstacle right after the other calmly, quietly as if she did this everyday. I even got a 5.5 on the log pull she was so quiet about it. .5 point bonus! Marie won the open division and had the highest score of the day for any division by a full 3 points. GOOD HORSE! This was so awesome for me to have Marie do so well as I raised and trained her myself.
Needless to say, it was a wonderful day and I am blessed to have two such wonderful equines. Not to mention such a great friend to go with!
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