In which the Cross-State ride begins to blur a bit in the middle parts

There are several days in the middle of this ride that kind of blur together.

Mornings come early, and we often ride straight into the sunrise

Almost every day I would wake up early and post on social media:  "moving further east,
will probably not have cell service tonight."  But somehow, we usually did, even if it
was only on the roof of somebody's rig.

Twenty miles of trail between Warden and Lind:  mostly sage and scabland (and a lot of gates to open).

At this point I wondered if we would ever see blue sky on this trip

Our camping spot in Lind was (as usual) at the base of a grain elevator--but a much smaller space than usual.

A little rain will never stop our party.  We moved our books (and beers) inside the back of  a horse trailer.

After Lind came...uhm...Ralston.  Yes, it's named for the "Ralston" in Ralston Purina -- the town's main industry was growing grain for Purina animal feeds.


After Ralston was a portage to Marengo, then a ride to Revere.

We were pretty sure that the grain elevator marking the Revere camp is on wheels--and that somebody was
rolling it AWAY from us for at least an hour before it rolled towards us again.

Revere sticks in my mind because there really wasn't any cell service except 2 miles down the road from camp, and on the honey bucket trailer.

This is the place if you want to communicate

Revere also sticks out because that's where we were when JIM AND MEGAN DELIVERED MY RIG!!!

They look awfully pleased with themselves, don't they?  I bet they stopped for milkshakes on the way home.

As lovely as it was to hang with lovely people from the ride, it was the BEST to be able to take charge of my own space again.  More complicated, yes--if I wanted to continue riding with the leads, I had to scrounge up a driver for my rig.  

Home sweet rig

But also more simple:  all my stuff was in just one place, and I didn't have to track all over camp to find it!

Early morning = back in the saddle

Obligatory photo of my riding companions in front of Castle Rock

Rock Lake.  Not very imaginatively named, but the deep water was welcome.

Wade right in and take a drink, Max!

In Ewan (pronounced ee-won...I kept thinking of Ewoks) we ran into trouble again.

The bugs didn't get to her

I was already on the camp bus for a dinner trip to nearby St. John when Andrea ran on and grabbed me.

"Fiddle is choking!"

I ran off.  Sure enough, my poor mare had green gooey saliva coming from her nostrils, and a lump of food stuck in her throat.

I did what I always do in times like these:  I called a vet.

Unfortunately, the phone number for the local vet listed in our ride booklet was mis-typed.  No love there.  I called Patty, aka my favorite veterinarian on the entire planet, and she talked me through the crisis.

beautiful, but dry.  It was the dryness that led to the choke.

In case you are ever confronted with this situation, here's what to do:

• Don't panic.  Don't take time for a nice cup of tea, but don't panic.  
• Call a vet.  The horse may clear the blockage on her own, but no matter what you will want professional advice, and if it doesn't clear you will want professional help.
• Keep the horse's head low:  you don't want goo oozing into her lungs.
• Massage or shake (vigorously) the esophagus on the left side of the horse's neck, from the throatlatch to the center of the chest.  If you can find the lump, focus your shaking there.
• Walk slowly if that makes the horse more comfortable, but do not offer food.
• Syringe water into the horse's mouth to try to loosen the lump.
• Give banamine as directed by a veterinarian.

and here's the goofiest, most useful tip of all (courtesy of Dr. Susan Garlinghouse, may sunshine and rainbows follow her forever):

• Squirt the horse's ear with water using a squirt bottle.  Horses hate this, and will shake their heads vigorously in response--sometimes, they shake vigorously enough to dislodge the blockage! 

Fee did finally hork up a wad of beetpulp on her own. 

Patty says that the only-partly soaked bunch would have been fine to feed if the horses hadn't been somewhat dehydrated from the dry environment and the work earlier in the day, and the whole thing can be a learning experience with no long-term harm.

It sure scared me, though!  And, because I had given banamine, and the next day's ride would be another dry 23 miles, I opted to trailer my horse to the next camp and give her the day off.

Waving to my friends as they leave camp without me.

The Dragon didn't mind being left behind:

Food is her favorite thing.

 Look at all the grass she got to eat before the other horses arrived in camp at Malden!

Next up:  Malden, Rosalia, and Tekoa -- a parade and the end of the trail.