Yellowhammer 2009

Endurancerider blog
April
Nashville, TN

Monday, October 19, 2009

I will tell you up front that I had the best time at Yellowhammer this year. Everything just seemed to flow and I can't imagine having a better time.

Sunday, September 27

I'd been working on and off all the week before to get the camper and trailer ready to go to Yellowhammer. Tony, my farrier, came out at 9 AM to shoe the horses. He is going to fire-fighting school during the week, so had to schedule my appointment on Sunday to get us in. We had planned to put new shoes on the horses, but the shoes looked so good, he just did a reset. I figure Tanna is too busy doing airs above ground to actually touch his shoes to the ground and wear them! Daniel and I took turns holding the horse being shod and chatting with Tony. The other one was busy prepping for our trip.

Tony left around 11:30 AM and Daniel and I continued to fly around getting ready to go. We finally left home at 1 PM. I was driving our small Tacoma and Daniel was driving our Chevy 3500 dually pulling the horse trailer. The Tacoma is a welcome addition at Yellowhammer as we can just park our Chevy with the slide in camper and use the Tacoma for running around. We have friends that borrow the small truck as well, so it gets plenty of use during the week and certainly justifies the expense and slight inconvenience of driving separately.

We stopped at the local store to put gas in the trucks, get ice and bread and fuss around. Finally, we got on the way.

The time passed pleasantly as I listened to my audio book and followed my beloved husband and horses down the highway. The rain that had plagued us for 2 weeks had stopped and the weather was perfect. I stopped several times for breaks, but Daniel kept moving right along. I would pull off for a rest stop and then catch up since we only drive 65 mph max with the rig. Worked quite well as I generally am the one pushing for breaks.

We arrived at camp just as it was getting dark. I quickly unloaded Serts and Tanna, hoping to avoid Serts peeing in the trailer, but alas, he already had. Tamra Schoech (ride manager) and Susan Kasemeyer (all-around helper and regional AERC director) came over to help Daniel with the corral panels and invite us to eat with them. When we got the horses and cat settled, we did join them for dinner, bringing our yummy Subway subs over and greeting Sarah Engsberg (TEVIS 2009 WINNER!!!!).

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