ADT #4

The 4th ADT of the series was Saturday up in Prescott at the Flying B Ranch. I had been sick as a dog all week, looked like death warmed over and felt like hell on so many levels. After several bottles of Powerade for electrolites, a couple bottles of coke to settle my stomach and keep things down, eating ibuprofens like m&m's for the fever, hot showers, sleeping under blankets and sweating it out... I felt good enough to drive up there and make a go of it. I still sound like crap, still coughing up a bunch of junk, but I'm on the mend. A few people I know, were shaking their heads and wondering WTH? when they asked if I was still going and the answer was a resounding YES!

I had gotten a late start due to a morning appointment, but since I had taken Friday off, there was no major time constraints for leaving and getting up there. The drive up was uneventful, we arrived about 5pm and I had plenty of time to find the stall, get Kat settled in, unhooked the trailer, unload the cart and our gear and go walk the courses.

Dressage- I barely got to take a good look at the test on Tuesday. Lucky for me it was one we did before. Not much I needed to refresh in my mind and walking it, it all sank in so I was good to go. Cones had two multiples, 4 & 14 and like many of the courses we've done so far, it just flowed. There was only one hairpin turn between 12 & 13 that there was just no way to take it in a straight, fast line. So it goes. Hazards- while I was confused as to the in between the hazards, that wasn't so much the issue later on. Again they just seemed to have a nice 'flow' about them. Getting from one gate to the next seemed easy to do.  The only one I really questioned was the water hazard #4. There were 3 times to be in the water. Getting from gate A to gate B, getting from B to C and then of course D was IN the water. I wasn't sure how Kat would handle the approach, if he was going to balk and refuse to go in like he did in Sonoita, or what was going to happen. I guess we would find out when the time came. No sense in worrying about it until then.

Although the hotel was a ways down the road, away from where the ADT was to be held, I am so glad I got a room! Having a hot meal, a shower and a bed, versus the alternatives? No comparison. Then when I found out the wind blew like hell again, all night long.... I'm just glad I didn't have to suffer thru it. It blew like that in Sonoita last month and while I don't mind a strong breeze, gusty wind that never lets up is a different story. Add in the powdery dirt and it doesn't make things any more fun, let alone bearable.