In which the Cross-State riders dawdle around Malden on our rest day

It seems only fair that I share a little bit more about Malden, since we spent two days there.

View of Malden from the top of Jerri's horse trailer
(maximum cell phone bars up there!)

The first thing to know is that the only retail outlet in town is (literally, no exaggeration) the Pepsi machine outside the library.

The second thing to know is that, even though the town is barely a wide spot in a narrow road, it has a library.

Summer Reading stuff at the Malden Public Library

Malden has about 203 people (2010 census numbers, it probably hasn't changed much since then), so when roughly 80 riders and 60 rigs come to town, it's a big deal.  Malden loves this ride and these riders, and the club shows them love in return.

Both mornings we were in town, the community church held a fundraising breakfast  (most of us bought tickets to these in advance, as part of the meal package that also brought food trucks to camp).  To let us know that food was ready, they rely on an unusual summons:

They play cowboy music on the church belfry speakers.

When we heard the likes of Gene Autry crooning to the town, we trudged up the hill for breakfast.  It's not a bad way to begin the day.

To make sure that Fiddle's wheels were pointing forward again after her choke episode, I took her out for a quick spin on the trail, trotting backwards from Malden towards Lind.  It only took a mile or two to determine that she felt FINE, she felt GREAT, and wasn't it WONDERFUL to be out on the trail again...and after that, we just trotted along a few more miles to enjoy the day.

These yellow roses grow wild along the trail.

We saw owls, wild turkeys, and a heron.  Wildlife sightings on this trail are so different than we have at home--I'll dig around and find the photo I took earlier in the ride of a coiled-up rattlesnake that was none-too-happy to have us on his trail!

Elsewhere in camp, we relaxed.

My parents came to visit camp in Malden, and they stayed for Jerri's birthday lunch.  

Storytelling at the camp talent show.  Mom took the picture.

Early in the evening on the 2nd day, we were surprised by the weather.

Fiddle's feed pan took on at least an inch of water in about 3 hours.  It was quite impressive, especially considering that the forecast called for "blue skies and sunshine" for the day.

Leaving Malden, we had green grass beside the trail.  No wonder, if that kind of rain happens often!

Two gaited horses ahead, behind them: Auntie Dragon teaching young Max how to extend his trot.

This was really a beautiful stretch of trail, with better footing than we'd had for several days. 

The trail from Malden to Rosalia

When we arrived at Rosalia, I had a decision to make:

Fiddle's newly-acquired Great Big Walk wore out her front shoes.
I compared this to the shoes of other horses in camp: 
the wear pattern matched the wear on shoes of gaited horses!

I am really picky about my horse's feet.  She's a big mare, and bad shoeing can be more harmful than worn-out shoes.  We only had one more day of riding remaining on the ride....

BUT

The last day of the ride was a mile or more on pavement (the Rosalia parade) followed by 22 miles of the same kind of rock/sand trail that had worn out her shoes in merely two weeks.  

I bit the bullet and asked the !!young!! man with the farrier tools to come replace Fee's worn-out front shoes with the just in case set that Mel had sent along with us.

I needn't have worried.  Ian was perfectly competent, and the Dragon decided that he was some human version of a baby horse.  She stood patiently, wearing her "Auntie Dragon" face, while this two-legged foal tacked on her shoes.  And the next morning, she moved out as comfortably as if Mel herself had put those shoes on.

So, off we went that morning:  to the parade, and one more day on the trail.