[drivingpairs] Moorpark 10/30/04 (LONG)
- From: "Jay Hubert" <jhubert@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Pairs List" <drivingpairs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2004 21:12:46 -0800
The weekend of October 30/31 was slated to be filled by the traditional
Halloween Hustle
pleasure driving show on Saturday, followed by a Traditional Day of Driving on
Sunday.
Circumstances converged on best laid plans and significantly changed the
weekends
activities.
A week after entries closed it was clear that there were not going to be enough
entries to
warrant holding the pleasure driving show (Halloween Hustle) but there were
enough folks
signed up to go ahead with the TDoD. Organizer Jody Cutler, made the decision
to cancel the
show but go ahead with the TDoD. Since I had already blocked out the weekend,
I hitched up
a borrowed four horse trailer and headed on down to Moorpark on Friday.
Arriving safely
after the usual 7 hour drive, I got the girls settled into Jody's barn. This
was planned to
be the last formal outing for my tandem of Sammy and Filly, as Sammy will be 20
in January,
and she will be headed for a well earned retirement.
Instead of the show on Saturday, we played with ponies. We put Chris Downings
½ Welsh Cob
in a pair with one of Jody's wheelers to see if this combination would help
settle down
Chris's mare. After Jody ground drove her with Max, it seemed like it would
work, so we
hitched them to the light wagonnette, and away they went. Gregg and I
alternated as
ballast/back step rider, while Jody and Chris rode the front seat. After about
half an hour
of easy work Jody decided to quite on a very good note so we put them away.
Next up was to
be the tandem.
After a good lunch of home made Chile Verde (Nobody leaves the Cutler's
hungry!) we got out
MY girls and put them to. Helper/groom Patti Carson, who had made the trip
down from
Tehachapi to be my groom, had her granddaughter (Brandi) and a neighbor teen
(Lahri) along
to help, and we made short shrift of getting going. After we played around on
the dressage
court and made a couple of laps around the trails close in to the main
buildings, Jody got
up and drove so I could see how they looked. I do not get the chance to see
them in action
very often, so it was a treat. I had originally planned on trying out Oak Run
Crystal in
the wheel for a bit, as I am hoping to fill in with her until I can find a
permanent
replacement for Sammy, but it was suddenly time to head for Tierra Rejada Ranch
to set up
for the TdoD.
Upon inspection, it turned out that the farm roads Jody had planned on using
for the drive
were way too muddy to drive on. It seems the 5 inches of rain earlier in the
week had NOT
treated Tierra Rejada gently, and farm operations had really messed up the
roads. This farm
is also a functioning commercial pumpkin patch, and we had hoped to expose the
public to
some carriage driving. Two years ago when we held the first event there, it
was very well
received. Alas, 'twas not to be.
Back to the drawing boards. Quick conferencing and a few phone calls
determined that most
of the folks wanted to do SOMETHING, so we put together a course around the
back side of Oak
Run Farm. Jody, Patti, and Lahri started out in a golf cart to lay out the
course and Mike
Downing, Brandi and I followed in Mike's Mule with signage and posts, drivers
and drills,
etc. By dark, we had pretty well laid out a 3.8 Km course. Brrrr!
Did I mention that one eats well at the Cutler's? Jody had a leg of lamb (home
grown) in
the oven, Chris Downing added some spuds and we chowed down again!
Sunday dawned bright and clear and we finished setting up a cones course as the
"competitors" came on in. We ended up with around 8, I think, and everybody
had a great
time. Jody filled in as Judge, and scored us according to the TDoD criteria.
I guess the
cones course that Gregg and I set up was too easy, as everybody went double
clear, but
deducting the penalties accumulated on the Drive, we all earned a score.
Ribbons were
awarded at late lunch (did I mention the food at Cutler's?) and EVERYONE got a
blue ribbon!
Jody created some very interesting categories in addition to the normal show
type placings.
As we wrapped up and the last trailer pulled out. Patti and I headed up the
hill to pull
down the course markers. As we were finishing, the wind was starting up and it
began to get
quite cool! Thankfully, it held off until AFTER the event. By Monday morning,
when I
headed for home, it was blowing HARD, and wind warnings were posted all over
Southern
California. As I was headed North, I quickly drove away from the wind and had
an
uneventful trip home, with two more ponies than I left with, Oak Run Crystal
and my
stallion, Coffing Oaks Sea Storm (Lucky). Lucky is returning home from lease
and Crystal
will be living with us for a while.
All in all a very fun weekend, even if it was not what was originally planned.
The Cutler's
are wonderful hosts, and the Southern California driving crowd is a fun bunch!
Thanks to
Jody and Gregg for hosting, Chris and Mike Downing for pitching in at the last
minute, and
special thanks to Patti Carson, Brandi and Lahri for helping ME and also for
pitching in and
helping get things set up and torn down.
See y'all at Ram Tap NEXT weekend!
Jay E. Hubert
Coffing Oaks Welsh Ponies
Galt, CA
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons,
because you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.
And I STILL drive too fast to worry about cholesterol!
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