Nevada Derby 50

Helloooo everybodies, how are you? I am fabulous. Have you been missing me since Cyd doesn't do my typing so often anymore? Don't worry, I still have fabulous adventures. This one is loooong, so get some snacks, k? I love snacks. Especially emergency snacks. Definitely always keep snacks on hand. I'll wait...

Fortunately for me, Cyd deemed it too cold to wash me before we left on my adventure. It started raining sooner than planned. Fortunately I was already super duper shiny. See?

Not even brushed, just this shiny!

We left on Thursday cos for Cyd having a meeting. I stayed at a barn in Rohnert Park, where I had a pen and free access to a stall. I was a bit scared of the stall so Cyd showed me around. She put my hay in there, and my bucket food, but I still spent so much time outside that my blankie soaked all the way through and got my back all wet. I got put in my pony trailer really early Friday morning, and we drove to a whole different state in the rain. I was in Nevada, at the desert. Spoiler alert: There is not so much to eat in the desert, and it's a very bit windy.

First up, we had to get our camp set up. The water tank in my pony trailer got fixed, but Cyd didn't bring a hose, so she got creative. Mr Jason says this is NOT engineering, hehe. Cyd did camping in my bit of the pony trailer, and I often peek in to see what she's up to, and to check on the cookie sitch.

Next up, we had to get me vet checked to make sure I'm all kinds of healthy and ready to do enduring. I was looked at by a vet I never met before, and I was a bit skittery when she checked me. I got a B on my back score, and we hadn't even started yet. Cyd thinks I was being a bit twitchy and that combined with having my blankie taken off suddenly and being cold made me tense up. I got a B for one of my hydration indicators, but everything else was As, and my pulse was a bit high at 52 but, you guys, it's just So Exciting! Back to my pony trailer to rest up for the night, waiting to see if the sky fell.

The weather was a bit dramatic.

Right before bed time, ALL the rain fell, and kept going all night. I still ate my hay foods, and my bucket foods, and drank a ton of water. I did it by slurping loudly, and pulling the hay out so hard that it shook the trailer where Cyd was trying to sleep, but being kept awake by me being a Good Enduring Pony is not a hugely bad thing. Before we knew it, it was time to get up!

I was a bit wiggly getting my saddle on, but mostly very well behaved. Cyd mistimed our starting, so we got to the start early and had to wait. This also meant I was surrounded by the speedster ponies. Fortunately, it's a very easy trail to pass on, so once we set off, faster ponies just came by me. It was pouring rain, but everybody seemed pretty cheerful. I did a bit of bouncing, but mostly was very well behaved. 

Lately, I've been wearing Scoot Boot go-faster booties for my hard-on-hoof trails. This trail is exceptionally hard on hoofies, with all the rocks EVERYWHERE. Seriously you guys, did you know the desert is totally made up of rocks? The scooters stay on me really good, but after a few miles I flung one off. We were in a group of 9 or 10 horses, and I got a bit wiggly when nobody offered to wait for me to get my boot retrieved, but with patience and some strong words Cyd jammed it back on and off we sailed. Just a couple of miles later, it was gone again, but Cyd didn't notice at the time. A mile or so after that, the other front one was gone. We'd have to slow down a bit now, to protect my hoofies from the rocks. After a couple of miles, I was riding with some others and the peoples were talking about Cyd being paranoid about me getting bruises, and one of the riders promised to tell her if the last bootie came off. Wait, what?! Where was bootie number 3? We were only 10 miles in, and I only had one bootie left. This might be a disaster!!!

I didn't believe in slowing down to help my feeties, or to save energy for later miles. Cyd was most commonly heard saying things like "Duuuude" or "Are you kidding me, horse!" or "Uuugh" and holding my face with my reins. I am Ricky Bobby. I wanna go fast! See where my hackamore is? Hackamores should not be sideways! Cyd likes to do hands free ride photos, but it was totally not safe to drop my reins this day, hehe. I would try to twist my head and have it down low to shield my adorbs face from the wind, but when Cyd would loosen my reins enough to let me do that, I would just chaaaarge down the trail like a raging bull. Apparently doing canter down sandy or rocky hills is Not Appropriate Behavings.

Pro pic by William Gore

Pretty soon, we arrived back at camp for our 25 mile vet check. I walked into camp, Cyd gave the timers our number, we walked to pulsing volunteers, and I was at criteria. I passed my vet check with all As, no sign of the supposed back soreness of the pre-ride check. Cyd was worried they might make us stop cos for me not having go-faster booties or shoes on. She explained to the vet, who looked at me extra close, and said I looked spectacular on the gravel vet check area, so as long as we were careful I could continue enduring without booties.  I didn't eat as much as Cyd would like, but still quite a lot. I did finish my mash when Cyd held it up for me. I was quite distracted by the crazy wind. I drank a ton of water, which was good, because I only had one good drink on the trail, about 22 miles in.  

Before long it was time to go out for loop 2. This one was a bit shorter, 20 miles. It was also terrifying. We know this because I nearly tossed Cyd out of my saddle 4 TIMES! Can you believe that? Of course you can, this is me we're talking about. Teleportation maneuvers are my specialty. I was still raring to go, and Cyd had to hold me back some. There were more big hills on this loop, including a long deep sandy down hill that Cyd had bad memories of when she rode here 4 years ago. Turns out, the rain had made it a lot more pleasant. The sun had come out by now, but the wind was crazy. I just kept on trotting. I did get hungry though. We would be trotting along, and suddenly I would remember that I was starving, and spot a tuft of grass. Emergency Stop! Grab grass while Cyd wriggles back into my saddle, trot off again. Sometimes I tried sampling the sage brushes, but you know what, it's not really super tasty. Soon enough, we were back to camp. Just like before, walk in, give number, walk to pulse box, and ready to vet. Easy peasy. I got all As again!! I only ate my bucket food when Cyd held it for me, but I did eat it. I would pick at it on the ground, but there was just so much to look at. We only had 30 minutes this time, so Cyd was back in the saddle before we knew it.

Got my der-face on cos for wind, VC2, mile 44

Our last loopy was only 6 miles. The wind was still howling, but we didn't have far to go, and this one was all flat. I didn't even hesitate wandering out of camp, and picked up a trot right away. I was finally relaxed, but being a bit silly, spooking at grasses blowing, and giant scary puddles. It didn't take long for us to get around. I crossed the finish line with my new mare friend that we rode most of the second half with, still with a pep in my step. I traded out my saddle for not 1, but 2 coolers, and was ready for my final vet check. Guess what? Totally got all As AGAIN! This was my best score card I ever got. I got a ton of compliments on my snazzy gear and my general cuteness. I was still distracted at eating but did a good job drinking. After some dinner and beer and talking with friends and cheering for everybodies, it was time for bed. 

Until 2:45 am. I finally realised I was super hungry. The wind had finally eased up, and there wasn't much to stare at in the middle of the night. I finished the giant hay bag Cyd had left for me. I ate the whole huge bucket of mash that I had turned my nose up earlier. And I was still hungry. I started dancing around, and wobbling the trailer, and generally being noisy. WAKE UP! It's basically an emergency. Cyd FINALLY got up to give me more food. Rock star ponies get what rock star ponies want, and I'm pretty special. But you knew that. Byeeeeee!

Hat Creek Hustle 50

Hello everybodies, how are you? I am fabulous. I'm sorry for not doing my typing in forevers, but after my last post saying "I'm baaack" (again) then I got hurted 2 more times!!! Can you even believe it? One of the times was a crazy bad abscess, even mentioning maybe I had fractured my coffin bone (obviously I hadn't) so having to take pictures of the inside of my hoofie, and my foot took a long time to get better, and even still has signs of being abscessy for so long. I was so sad. But then I got better! Phew! I did good in all my trainings, and got some good trottings practice, and found a saddle we like for me (again!). We were ready to go to Hat Creek Hustle, and I was going to do 50 miles! Then Cyd's truck blew up, so we had to scramble to find me a ride. Luckily Neighbor T was also going to the enduring ride, and said I could share her pony trailer. I got to ride with my half-brother Indy. We have done kisses over the fence before, and been on a pony ride together, and by the time we got to ridecamp we were the bestest of friends evereverever.

Me and my big bro shared a high line for our weekend digs

Once our pony camp was set up, and Cyd's tent was set, she had to fix my go-faster booties cos for there being a whole ton of rocks at this enduring ride (volcano - duh!). Once they were done, we went for a shake out ride. I was very good to be patient while I got all my things on, and stood quietly while Cyd got on, then held all my muscles super tight ready to sproing while I walked away from my bunkmates. I was quite good except for one explosion, and some bouncing, and being So Loud calling to my friends so they didn't think I was lost forever in the woods. Less than a mile and I did the special kind of bouncing I reserve to having a go-faster bootie malfunction. Cyd hopped off and saved me, and strapped both newly fixed booties to my saddle. We did some walking, some trottings practice, and some canter, then headed to our camp. I stuffed my face, and drank all my waters (I kept running out of of food and waters but there was always more - I love enduring).

The next morning, my friend Ticopony arrived and camped right next to me. We tried really hard to touch noses but we couldn't quite reach. Aunty D and Cyd were making plans for our Big Ride cos for us trying to go together. Apparently Ticopony has to do stuff more slowly and he needs a buddy, so we offered for me to be his buddy cos for us being friends. Me and Tico were good guard ponies for people nap time.

Finally it was time to go and see the vet for our inspection, only healthy ponies do enduring. Cyd totally eff'd up, and took me to see the vet when there were more than 25 ponies in line in front of me! This is recipe for a Bugsy-disaster, but she decided to see how it goes. More ponies came behind me too, and Cyd counted at least 36 ponies that she could see. I was really good, but a bit wiggly. I ate some snacks, and had a really long pee that even made people laugh at me. When it was my turn the vet lady was very nice to me, and I was nice to her. I did my trot out with minimal hijinks (I can't be too perfect yet, Cyd would think I'm sick). I scored all A's, and was told to have a good ride. It was time to finish stuffing my face and to get some good rest.

The next morning, Cyd popped out of her tent in her jammies just before 5am. She gave me a big bucket of snacks, and while I was distracted she put my go-faster booties on. Then it was time for her breakfast, and to put real clothes on before getting me dressed for the day. I was ready super early, and quietly hung out eating hay right up until it was time to go. I was ready to go 50 miles! Cyd hopped on right before 6am, we made sure Aunty D and Ticopony were ready, and we all walked quietly (and me a little nervously) to the start area, and by 6:02am we had crossed the line to start our adventure!

Loop One!
15 miles
I did super good at leaving on a loose rein, walking like a grown up. There were a lot of ponies ahead, and a few behind, but nobody was crowding us. We did walking for a bit, to let us ponies loosen up our muscles. There was some people going by us, which I didn't love but I didn't get crazy. Ticopony went a bit bonkers, and that was our theme for this loop. I tried hard to help him, but he mostly didn't want to be calm. I went in the front, and in the back, and next to him, but I could fall off a cliff for all he cared. I did have a few antics of my own, I wanted to be a badass just like the other ponies. I also got a bit lazy sometimes, and was using Tico-shenanigans as an excuse, so Cyd found a twig, and that made me up my game. It also came in handy when I was doing passing of other ponies, or being passed, to make sure I didn't kick my heels at them. We did tons of passing this whole loop. When we were close to the vet check, my Tico friend got himself in a bit of a kerfuffle, and said his leg hurt him super bad (don't worry, he's fine now!). The people made sad faces, then me and Cyd trotted away from them to continue on our own. I caught up to a whole bunch of other ponies, and we all came in together. I did great at my vetting, getting my pulse down super fast. Back to the trailer to stuff my face, get Cyd more water, and gear up for our long loop of the day.

Mash, hay, water, carrots, people food, nomnom

New friends

Loop Two!
25 Miles
Right when Cyd was getting back on, T and Indypony, and M and Ecahopony were getting ready to leave for the orange loop too. They invited us to join them, and another rider and her pony. We said that sounded like fun and we'd give it a try. It turned out to be a great idea, and us 4 ponies had a great time, and so did our peoples. It was getting quite warm now, so sometimes the people squeezed water on us with our sponges. There were lots of water buckets for us to drink from. We had one really big hill, it was about 7.5 miles to the top, and quite warm. On some of the not steep bits, us ponies got to do canter, and it was so much fun. We alternated doing trottings and some canter, with some walk breaks when it was hot or steep. We zoomed up that hill! At the top was a bunch of waters, and carrots, and two kinds of hay, and snacks for the riders. There was also a handy dandy truck to hide behind for the people to do peeing. We waited here cooling down and getting sponged off for about 15 minutes, and would have stayed a bit more, but quite a few ponies came in and we didn't want to hog all the goodies.

Fearsome Foursome and Ponies

We started making our way down the hill, picking our way around some rocks, a bit more sedately than the zooming up. All the peoples started getting a bit warm. At one point we stopped in the shade for a break. Cyd was so proud of me for standing politely and patiently while she held me and KCpony while his rider sat down for a while to drink some waters. I totally knew I needed to be a grown up, and that doing misbehavings wasn't helpful. Once the people got on it was just a few more miles to camp and our hour long break. I did good at being vet checked again, and was looking and feeling great. I ate and drank and even took a super short power nap. Aunty D (she and Ticopony didn't finish that day, so she jumped in to help me) checked my booties in case there were stones stuck in the tread. Soon it was time to get my saddle back on and finish up this day!

40 miles down and looking good

Loop Three!
10 miles
We all rode up to the start of the last loop together even though we had slightly different times. All the peoples agreed to wait for each other. Once it was time, I finally realised what the fluff, why are we going out for time number 3? I've never done that before. While my friends trotted off, I figured Cyd must be mistaken. With a little heel bomping I got my butt wiggling down the trail and soon caught up to my friends. We needed to shimmy a bit to make up some time, and since all us ponies were feeling good we picked up the pace. The trail was quite narrow and twisted through the trees and didn't have big rocks, so we flew, with our people cheering for us. At the top was some water buckets, where we all took a big long drink. We did some walking and some trotting down the other side of the hill. There was a big hill to go up, so the peoples decided we should walk. I thought this was a dumb idea, and Cyd was really pleased that I wanted to go faster at mile 45 up a big hill. The rest of our loop was uneventful, and we moved quite quickly. I kept asking to go faster all the way to finish line. The people did cheering when we crossed the line - we did it!

I'm Baaaack!

Hello everybodies, how are you? I am so fabulous. I'm sorry I didn't do blogging for a bit, but we've been busy fixing me up. When I last typed, I was re-learning how to do pony riding. I finally am getting back to my real pony riding, and I do some trottings practice and some canter, and we're getting my distance back. We are officially training for my comeback 50 mile enduring ride in April. I need to build up my muscles again. Cyd carefully checks my legs every day to make sure I'm perfect.

Remember how I got a new pony-friend? We had to move house in order for us to live together, and now me and Hazz live together in a new field. We totally love each other, and are besties. Actually, I love him, and he's pretty fond of me. He is a bit protective of his food, but he doesn't get too mean about it. We mostly hang out together in our field, and if Cyd takes one of us somewhere without the other, we sing to each other and the pony that's left in the field runs around like a crazy pony. 

Besties!

Hazz is learning to do grown up stuff too. He is older than me, but he knows less than me. He's a bit nervous about Cyd getting on, and he's not so good at turning yet, or at stopping, but he's got the hang of go.

Hazz's first trail ride

Oscar puppy is growing up good too, he loves coming to hang out with us ponies. He likes to help us eat our food, and he runs around in our field while Cyd does stuff like make hay piles or clean our feet. Us ponies are nice to him mostly, sometimes Hazz makes faces at him, and I'm pretty sure he wants to play tag with me, but Cyd keeps a close eye on us. He's started going on short runs with her, and some longer hikes, but he's not ready to go pony riding yet.

Happy Thanks Day Catch Up

Hello everybodies! How are you? I am fabulous, finally after all this time! Last I did blogging, we had just learned that I had broken my bone in my fat leg, even though I never did any limping. My pony doctor called another pony doctor who works at the big pony hospital, and we scheduled a surgery for me to have the broken bit taken out so it doesn't float around and hurt my soft tissues. I had to stay at the pony hospital for two nights, and when I woke up from my surgery my leg was super bandaged up!

Broken ponies get big bandages

I had to go back into pony prison for two weeks, then my probation paddock for four weeks. I had some kind of bandage on this whole time! The pony doctor at the hospital had heard about all my antics this year, and sent me home with some special medicine to help keep me a bit calmer so I maybe had a chance to heal. It worked, I didn't hurt myself any more, and now all my owies are all better! You know what, though? I'm pretty flabby from all my time off. I got hurt in the middle of July, so all my muscles have got floppy, and I got a bit tubby, and now I jiggle if you poke me.

My weight is pretty good, but I need my muscles back!

Last week, Cyd did something totally strange. She brushed me, that's normal. But then... she put my saddle on me and got her helmet! Um, did she forget I'm retired now? Worked hard for a couple of years, I'm done, obviously. I was so bad that we didn't even go out the field to start with, she even got off me and closed the gate in case she fell out of my saddle! She told me things like 'turn left' and I said "What?! What is this 'turn left' malarkies you speak of? I do not know of 'turn left' I must panic instead". Once I was able to carry her in both directions of circles, I was allowed to walk a tiny bit up the road and back. Once we were done, we both did big deep breaths. The next ride I did better, Cyd says I felt like an unexploded bomb, but I made it all the way around the block, a whole 1.1 mile. Whoop, go me! Then yesterday's ride... Maybe we shouldn't talk about yesterday's ride. I did the exploding. Cyd didn't fall down, but she was so mad at me. It was awful, and she nearly leaked from her eyes. So what do you do when your pony (me!) is super bad? Keep trying! She came up early today, put my saddle on, and tried again. Today, I was Excellent! I did a ton of snorting, and had a lot of suspension in my stride, but I kept my four hoovies out of the sky, and did not go sideways, or spinning in circles. Cyd's no fool, I might be awful again next ride, but as long as I cut her a break every now and again we'll get there! We're going to start gradually increasing my distance, and eventually I'll start doing some trottings practice, and eventually eventually I'll do enduring again. Skills practice in the meantime.

Cyd missed this view!!

I have other news, I am no longer an only pet. I was for a little while. On the same day I got my tooths checked, and learned about my bone, Rocko T Dog passed away. He was an awesome friend, and Uncle J and Cyd were so very upset, and they miss him very very much. 

Me and Cyd and RtD a few years ago

He can never be replaced, but a little face showed up on the internets. Cyd persuaded Uncle J to go meet him, and soon he came home to stay. Meet Oscar. He will be going pony riding and running when he's big enough, but he has some growings to do first.

Me meeting Oscar

Then two days ago, I became not-an-only-pony! There were some ponies a while back that needed homes cos for their person not feeding them good snacks, but Cyd couldn't help cos for me getting hurt all the time. Recently it popped up again, the ponies didn't get homes, and they were looking for new people again. This time the animal police were involved. So this skinny-minny is now part of the family. His name is Hazz, which means luck in Arabic.

I haven't met him yet, but Cyd says we'll be great friends and maybe he'll be a good influence on me and help me chill out some. I don't think I need to chill out, I just want to play play play!

More broken!

Hello everybodies. How are you? I am fabulous and not fabulous at the same time. I feel great, and would like to get back to pony riding and doing enduring practice please. Except I can't. Remember when I got my leg stuck in the gate and broke free from my tiny pen when I was in Pony Prison? Well that poorly leg got all swelled up, and it never went completely leg shaped again, though it did shrink. Cyd figured it might get better when I could do moving. Then a bit ago, maybe 2 or 3 weeks, it got all puffed up again. We did cold hosing (I hate it so much!) and some bandage, and it went down some. Cyd had found some new scratches on my leg, so figured that's why it was swelled. It went down kinda like before, better but not how it used to be. Then on Sunday my hoof trimmer came to do my feeties, and Cyd went "Argh!" My leg was fat again. More cold hosing, and wearing of my ice boots. I got some butes too. No help. It wasn't getting better this time. Still not lame though, so that's something. 

At least I am still ridiculously good looking!

Luckily my pony doctor was coming to check in my mouth and fix my tooths today anyway, so Cyd sent her a message that could we please add my fat leg to the list. She looked at my ouchy leg, and decided we should take some pictures of my bones. Again! That's the third time I had bones pictures taken recently. I'm going to start glowing soon! Radioactive Bugsy! Well, guess what showed up on my xray? I have broken one of my bones. Completely broken, there's a piece just hanging out in my leg all by its lonesome. That's not really ideal. My pony doctor sent my pictures of my bones to another pony doctor who works at the hospital. He wants to see me in person in 2 weeks, and they will take more pictures of me. It sounds likely that I will have an operation to take out the fragment that broke off. Us enduring ponies work so hard with our legs, that we wouldn't want it to hinder me. It sounds like it's usually a successful surgery, and I will end up right as rain. In the meantime I get to have more butes, and I have a bandage snug on my leg. It's unlikely that this will change anything, but it might help make my leg get a bit better. In the meantime, we hope I don't find another way to hurt myself! 

Tooth filing time!

In other news, my tooths look pretty good. They needed some fixing cos for some being pointy, and not being level, and I had a crack that had some food stuck in, so it's lucky we checked. No periodontal disease and falling out tooths to add to my list of maladies, please. Phew!

Yup, Still Broked

Yup, I'm drunked

Hello everybodies, how are you? I think I'm fabulous, but my body isn't quite playing the game. Also, now I am 7!! Basically a grown up pony. I know, I say that every year... Remember I got hurted a few different ways? Then I went pony camping at the enduring ride? Well, I came home, and soon it was time to take out my stitches from my heel owie. I got a mini bandage for a few days and some magic cream and some magic spray and it was healing super good. Finally it was nearly time to get out of my pen. The day I was supposed to get out though, I decided to take matters into my own hoofies and I jumped out! Sproing! Over the gate, from a stand still. Cyd measured it at 4'4". That's a huge jump for me. I didn't quite land good though, and got some cuts and scrapes, and a few days later a giant knee which we assume is related to my jumping. It was huge. We did strapping of frozen peas on me, and that helped. I wasn't lame though but so much swellings. My pony doctor came, and took pictures of my bones. It wasn't broken, thank goodness, but there was some fluids in there. More resting for me. And THEN (you didn't think I was done, did you?) I got a bump. Cyd tried putting icicles on, no help. It was bony, and we took pictures, and sent them to pony doctor, who came and took more pictures of my bones. She says it's my accessory carpal bone. Usually when that gets injured, it's cos for the pony breaking it, which makes them super ouchy and lame, but I'm not super ouchy and lame. In fact, I look great! But lumpy... The pictures of my bones don't show anything broken, which is good, but they also don't show why I'm lumpy now. Oh and I got some scratches on one of my legs that got hot and swelled last week too. My bone pictures are being sent to another pony doctor to double check in case maybe he spots something. In the meantime I get to start going on little walks to make me do some thinking, and then maybe I won't hurt myself again. 

Me and my peas!

The new lump is owie #10. How crazy is that? My first one was getting kicked by Patcheee on July number 18.

1. Patcheee kicked me
2. Wire attack - cuts and bruised tendon

Mystery lump

3. Step in my cut and pull off some heel
4. Chew through power cord
5. Leg caught in gate
6. Body-check the pony trailer
7. Cuts from jumping out my field
8. Fat knee
9. Cuts on my leg, hot and swollen
10. Mystery bone lump

I have had tons of antiobiotics lately, and lots of bute, and now I get to do a round of Adequan, which is good for my joints. My pony doctor recommended a type of pony snack that maybe I'll try. 

Want some good Bugsy news? For Cyd's birthday (which is still 2 months away) her mum got her a pony wash wand. We finally tested it today. It washed the whole Bugsy (that's me, in case you did forgetting) in five minutes! Five minutes! And no soap. I got clean and shiny, super easy, Cyd didn't get wet, and we saved a ton of water.

Dusty to shiny!

One gleaming Bugsy

Hat Creek Hustle - Pony Camp

Wearing a hat. Because.

Hello everybodies, how are you? I am fabulous and also not fabulous. Cyd never finished the post about me being more broken (by the way - I'm more broken...) but that will now come after my pony doctor comes to see me for my check up on today when we have some new news. In the meantime, with all my breakages, it was determined that it isn't fair to ask Aunty Emily or Aunty Davina to pony sit me, and that I would just go to the enduring pony camp and watch the other ponies do enduring while I hung out in camp getting good at that bit. Bonus - there are pony doctors in camp, and not at home, so it made sense to take me along just in cases!

Early in the morning, Cyd packed me up in my pony trailer with my hayfoods, and my buckets, and all my medicines, and off we went to Lassen National Forest where all our friends were. We stopped part way for me to take my medicines and eat some breakfast. It took a while to get there, and once we did there was a line to wait for a camp spot. The nice parking man thought really hard to find a spot where Aunty Elicia and all her ponies could camp next to us even though she wasn't there yet. Though by the time it was our turn to park she had arrived too. I spent a lot of my waiting time whinnying to the other ponies who were also waiting in their trailers. It's important to tell everybodies that you have arrived. I did some wiggling too. 

I was a bit abrupt in my unloading of the pony trailer, but then I waited really patiently tied to Aunty Elicia's pony trailer while the Bugsy Express got parked in a good spot. My hi-tie got set up, and my borrowed testing hay bag got some hay in it, and I was ready to do camping, just like that. The testing hay bag worked super good - I didn't eat enough hayfoods at Cache Creek cos for the holes in my net being too small for face stuffing. I liked this kind so much that Aunt Elicia gave it to me to keep - thanks!! She stood by me while Cyd did the really scary bits of setting up her people camp, but I was pretty chilled out the whole time. Go me!

I was mostly calm the whole weekend, even when Jelly Bean and Amir went to do their vetting in and left me on my own. Cyd only got up to check on me one time during Friday night, cos for me rocking the trailer enough to rock the truck. She couldn't figure it out until morning - I had got my hay bag stuck behind the spare tire so every bite made wobbles. Once she fixed it, there was no being woken up the next night.

Doing Camping on my hi-tie

I was really good when the ponies went to do their enduring on Saturday. I was also really good when Amir got up early to do more enduring on Sunday, but Jelly and Cyd stayed with me. That day the wind started getting a bit windier and the awning started to do flapping, which startled me and I did some bouncing. I was being brave though, until Amir and Jelly and Cyd and Elicia all went to see if Amir was a Best Conditioned pony. The awning flapped more, and I did panicking and broke the clip holding me to the pony trailer and went trotting off. I'm not supposed to do much walking, let alone trotting by myself through camp, but everybody agreed I look fantastic, and I'm already Totally Sound, which is a good sign even though I can't go back to work for still another month! Cyd tied me straight to the pony trailer and I pretended to stand still. After ten minutes our camp neighbours found Cyd and told her I was jumping around like a crazy pony again. She had to hold my rope where I could see the other ponies, and not see the awning, until Aunty Elicia came back to put it away for me. Now I'm going to get a wind sock and a flag to put in my field, and we're going to do more tarp training like when I was a baby, cos for this being Not Acceptable. Silly me!

Getting Not Hurt at Aunty Elicia's

Soon we found out that Aunty Elicia needed to go home that day, but all our neighbour ponies had gone home and we didn't want me camping alone, so Cyd packed up all our things too and we went to Aunty Elicia's for the night - it's closer than my house and it was too late to go all the way there. I got put in a safety pen that Cyd double checked for me to not get hurt in it. I was only there for a few hours of sleeping time, then in the morning it was time to load up again and drive me back to my house. Phew!

I'm really getting good at being a camping pony. I like to sample all the people foods. This trip I had blueberry muffin, sammich, ginger ale, mint oreo, Reese's Puffs (my most favourite now), beer, as well as stuff we know I like - bananas and coffee. Nomnom. I'm going to come back to this camp again next year and be not broken so I can do enduring too!