System problems

So here I sit at work, waiting for my slow system to bring up a screen so that I can close out a customer, and I thought I would write a little bit about what's been going on this weekened.

Friday night I went and saw Lord of the Rings for the second time, and each time I watch it, I like the movie better. It's nice to watch a movie that is able to combine computer graphics and reality to such a point that it looks real. I am planning on going to see it at least one more time before it leaves the theater.

Saturday came bright and early with me still suffering from that friggin cold. My mom was entered in her first Endurance race and I had promised to crew for her during the race. When I got to the race, I found my mom's trailer but I had no idea where she was. After walking around for half an hour, I found out where the vet checks were and also located my mom. Just so you know, the races are divided up into legs. Each leg is either ten or fifteen miles, and depending on which race the rider is in, that determines how many times they have to ride that leg of the race. Also, between each leg of the race, the rider is required to bring their horse in for a mandatory 30 or 40 minute rest period and vet check. However, the rest period does not begin until after the horse's pulse and respiration are below a certain point. The more in shape your horse is and the better you ride, the quicker you can begin your rest period and the quicker you can get back out again. It's during the rest period that my mom needed me the most.

By the time I got there, my mom had already completed the first leg of the race, which was 10 miles. She was in the last ten minutes of her break, so all I really could do for her was hold Tzar while she took a nature break. Right after my mom left, my aunt and the girl that she was riding with arrived, so I crewed for them. This consisted of unsaddling the horse, sponging down the horse's chest and legs with cool water to help the horse cool down, and helping out my aunt and the other rider with whatever they needed. We ran out of water, so I got the fun task of toting water from the hose that was on the other side of the camping area (fun!)

Midway through my aunt's break, our friend Cheryl came in for her break. She was riding in the 50 mile race, which is the first time she had done so with the arabian she was riding. I went ahead and crewed for her as well, and really learned what I needed to do when I'm crewing. She was very helpful and gave good instructions, and by the time everyone and come in again, I was getting pretty good at it. Horse and rider come in, saddle comes off, water goes on horse's neck and chest. Lead the horse over to water and encourage them to eat anything they want (wet hay, carrots, apples). Hold the horse while the rider takes a short break, then saddle the horse back up and wish everyone luck. It was definetly a lot of fun.

My mom ended up 27th out of a field of 40, which is pretty good considering it was her first time. She loves it and is planning on attending another race in about 2 weeks, and hopefully I'll get to crew for her again. I really had a good time.