Like Wet Rats

This past weekend, I along with two assistants and Tammie (my mother) ventured to Harmon Field for a hunter show. We took three horses for students to ride and WallE for me to ride (if there was time). We were prepared for a beautiful, sunny weekend. The horses were happy, riders were happy and the barn crew was happy for a little get away. We traveled to the Tryon area with little difficulty, got the horses settled into their stalls and headed to our AirBnB. 

Arriving at our AirBnB we discovered it was in a prison of vines and forest. We went inside and though it was moderately clean, it was old, needed maintenance and had one restroom which was up the stairs and all the way at the back of the house. The stairs were uneven, so each time you went up or down and overstepped, you had to grab onto the railing so you did not fall to uncertain injury. This was strike one. 

We expected three bedrooms and one pullout couch. What we discovered was the 'living room' with the pullout couch, was the third 'bedroom.' This meant that Tammie and I shared a pullout couch with a less than fully stuffed mattress. Strike two. 

We headed out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants in Tryon, Harpers Pub. Every time we have gone, we have walked right in and gotten a table. Unfortunately, this past weekend the first available table was at 8pm. Strike three. 

Alas, determined not to drift too far from our plans, we took the later reservation and journeyed back to the barns to take the horses on a walk, give them extra hay and tuck them in before dinner. The horses were happy to walk around and nibble on grass. We put them away headed back to the restaurant where we had a nice dinner. 

When we returned to the house of horrors, we all took turns showering in the nightmare of a clawfoot bathtub. It had a squishy mat to stand on, low water pressure and shower curtains that touched you if you moved...enough said. After that experience, we all settled in. The two high school assistants in their plush queen beds and Tammie and me on the less than plush pull out couch. 

In the morning we awoke to the sound of pouring rain. Begrudgingly we got up and headed to Harmon Field. I had left my barn shoes in the back of the truck, so I was in Toms (cloth elf shoes) until I reached the horse trailer to get a pair of paddock boots. On either side of the barn, there were rivers of water running rapidly. We waded through the rivers to feed the horses and tried our best to clean the stalls. 

Just as hope for a nice day was becoming lost, the rain cleared and we were able to head out to the practice arena. As we walked out, I got a call from one of the riders stating they had gone to the wrong showground (did not read the email). Luckily, the showgrounds are minutes apart. After her rider mounted, Fergie the pony went into the show arena with a smile on her face and sass in her step. 

Bonnie went in to be led around until her rider arrived and started going wild (very out of character). One of my assistants got on to school and she continued her erratic behavior. At that point we made the decision to switch her riders to Iris for the day. Despite neither of them having ever ridden Iris before, she was the safer choice for the beginning rider.