After a less than restful night, I woke up to get Maxine's breakfast started. The week before I'd done a little research to see what kind of forage we'd have for Max during the trip. The general consensus was "little to none," so we packed in food our girl.
Each morning she received five pounds of hay pellets, plus her usual bag of grain and goodies. I know that horses can have trouble eating dry pellets, and I didn't want to take any changes out here in the middle of nowhere, so I wandered down to the lake to fill a bucket with water to soak the pellets. After a good soaking, Max eagerly dove in to her breakfast, contentedly munching as we prepared our own meal.
Soon, everyone started to stir and wander to the campfire. Plans for the day were discussed as we ate breakfast. The general consensus was that we should break camp and move another two to three miles up the trail to check out a campsite with superior views and lakefront footage. I was not so easily convinced, but we went along with the group.
It didn't take long before we were on the trail again. Maxine reluctantly left her coveted meadow and renewed her game of "I can walk faster than you!" While she was better than the day before (training works!), she was definitely perky after her good night's rest.
The uphill climb was getting the best of me, as it had the day before, and I'm not the best at keeping a smile on my face when I'm hot and cranky. As we trod up the trail, I became increasingly frustrated as Maxine's manners slowly declined. There was also another problem that most women will understand -- my hormones where hard at work. In other words, I wasn't exactly the picture of mental health as we walked up the trail. I did everything in my power to keep my composure and my patience.
After a couple of hours, we came to the first potential camp site. We arrived just in time to find everyone sitting about, eating lunch. No a bad idea, but there was one problem -- my lunch was at the bottom of Maxine's pack. We hadn't planned on eating on the trail because, as Dad so often puts it: "It's a really easy hike. We'll be there in no time." Therefore, we'd only packed water and our trail snacks in Travis's backpack. Thankfully, you can always count on Mom. She whipped out her next two day's lunches and passed them to us (in trade for two of our future lunches). Thanks, Mom!
Unfortunately, the lunch stop wasn't as relaxing for us as it was for everyone else. Max was obviously bored and decided that it was her duty to dig out and pull down the tree to which she was tied. Not wanting to bother the others or let Maxine get the best of the tree, I spent most of my lunch keeping her amused.
Personal observation: Hmm... It's funny how a mule who can get a perfect ten on a ground tie at a trail show can't stand still for 15 minutes on the trail! Nevertheless, no matter how much see needed schooling on the matter, I didn't feel like we were in the appropriate place to administer an effective lesson at that point.
Soon were back on the trail. The campsite where we'd stopped for lunch was hot and dusty, so everyone decided to trudge on. About 1/2 mile up the trail, we came to a fork that led to campsites in either direction. Our scouts went ahead to check things out. After much deliberation, we took off to the right.
As we came in to camp, I quickly realized that while this site was perfect for humans (secluded tent sites with grand views of the lake and cliffs above), it was not going to be the most attractive site for Maxine. Unlike the last location that came complete with a meadow, this site merely had a bare rocky spot where Max could be highlined. On top of that, there was no place to put our tent in view of Maxine. While we were only about 15 feet away, a line of trees somewhat blocked our view of her.
Still, I was glad to be off the trail, so we quickly unpacked and got Maxine settled. The pack girth had rubbed her sides a bit, so I decided not to ride that afternoon. I doctored her sores instead. Thank goodness for Neosporin! I should buy stock in the company.
After Max was comfortable, I doctored myself with a dose of Midol! Then I set up a chair near Maxine and we dosed in the sun while Travis set up camp. Yes, ladies. He is fabulous!
As the day wore on and Maxine recovered rested from the day's hike, I could tell that she was becoming increasingly annoyed by her forage-free location. After a while, she started a new game... how far can I stretch the highline! Plus, she was giving one of the trees quite a thrashing (even though it was wider in diameter than the legal limit), so I had to adjust things a bit to ensure that we'd leave as little damage as possible.
Another personal observation: As a longtime backpacker and Girl Scout, I know the importance of leave no trace camping. However, I quickly learned that the concept is easier said than done when equines are involved. Nevertheless, I did my best.
Of course, the most exciting part of the day didn't happen until much later.
Content with her dinner, Max was quiet all evening. Around 10:00 p.m., we checked her water, wandered to the tent, and crawled in to bed. At some point, I was stirred by the sounds of a bored mule. She was pawing the ground, dragging her steel shoes across the rocks -- scrape, scrape, scrape. Then she started rolling and pacing.
Ugh. She was really making a racket, so I decided to take a peek to be sure that she was okay. I put on my boots and walked through the trees. There she stood with her innocent "what did I do" look on her face. You gotta love her (thought I can't say I was feeling it at that moment). I made sure she was safe, told her to be quiet (which I know is utterly absurd because she doesn't speak English), and went back to bed.
Not long after I'd snuggled back into my sleeping bag, she started to fuss about. Then, she started to thrash about. "Dammit," I muttered as I scrambled for my boots and flew out of the tent. I may be a novice, but I know the difference between "impatient and bored" horse sounds and "uh-oh there's trouble" horse sounds. This was definitely the latter.
As I burst through the trees, Maxine froze and looked at me with that innocent look again. As I looked down, I realized what the fuss was about -- she'd stretched out her lead rope and wrapped it around her hind leg when she rolled. Silly mule. I quickly unwrapped the line and walked her around the clearing to see if she'd done any damage. Content that her leg was still firmly in place, I tied her back to the highline and dragged myself back to bed.
Fortunately, Maxine had once again humiliated herself into submission and stood quiet for the night. Travis and I, on the other hand, were so frustrated that we were just about ready to pack up and head back down the trail. We weren't sure we could take another night of her antics. I was also coming to the conclusion that highlines aren't my preferred method for tying Maxine for the night, so the thought of camping where she could be safely tied in the trailer was tempting.
Yet another personal observation: I will admit that much of my stress was brought on by the fact that the rest of the group was not made up of horse folks. Because I didn't want them to be annoyed by Maxine, I was super sensitive to her behavior. I've always gone out of my way to be courteous to those around me, even if I have to change my behavior. That's why I'm the one who rarely gets to canter a full circle in the warm up arena. Out of safety and courtesy, I just can't bring myself to cut people off for my benefit. When I do by accident, I just know they're going to hate me forever.
It took a while to calm my thoughts, but sleep finally caught up with us.
Photo: Always a sucker for attention, Maxine smiles for the camera as she waits patiently to be packed for the trail.
1 comment:
You sound like me with my daughter...I always feel like she's being much worse than other people do. People seem to figure, she's two, and if she's not setting their hair on fire, we should all be happy. I tend to have higher expectations for my girl, as you do with Maxine!
Post a Comment