Aziim's Big Adventure - AKA - Maple Ridge LD

So the day finally arrives and it is time for Aziim's first competitive ride and like all things at Tidal Treasures, there is nothing individual about it.  The team gathered at the stables Friday morning for the weekend adventure.

Gary discreetly roamed from person to person softly offering advice and assistance as he always does, reminding us of the little things we may have forgotten or helping us through the uncertainty of the moment with the calming presence of our guardian.  The only way to truly explain the selflessness of a person like is Gary is to note that he says, "You're welcome" approximately fifty times for every time he says, "thank you" and he never forgets to thank you if you do something for him.  You can't understand how inspiring he is until you have him in your life.

Lynn is running about preparing Paris for her first 50 mile endurance and as always she is confident and focused.  Lynn's goals are simple, do the best you can do, she does not think you always have to be first, but you should always be working towards that.  In her world improvement at any level is a win and as long as you are trying, you are winning.  Like a teacher, mentor, sister or friend, she wins with every one of us and pushes us to reach our potential.

Shelley is also doing the 50 mile endurance, but in this combo it is the rider who will be enjoying her first time as Spirit has been here before and is a proven competitor.  Months of hard training and preparing have come down to this weekend and she is ready.  She has literally changed her life to get ready for this ride; her fitness, riding skills, horse knowledge and mind set have all come together to make her ready and honestly, she has already won on a level that no ride will change.

Todd will be the pit crew for Lynn and Shelley and at this point I feel for him as there is a tremendous amount of information flying at him and as fast as he can absorb it, more would come flying his way.  Despite all the teasing and carrying on I do with Todd, if I was not going to be there to help my little sister through this day, I knew I could trust him to take care of business and with no surprise, he was awesome.
That concludes the list for the 50 milers and although I have heard the stories of their adventures, I will leave them to tell them.  Suffice it to say they did well and as always, I am proud of their accomplishments and the great example they set for those around them.  Congratulations to Lynn, Shelley, Todd, Paris and Spirit, you were a great team.
The 25 mile LD was myself on Aziim, Tammy on Wind and Kathleen on Ali.  We leave the farm for an uneventful drive to New Glasgow where Betty Dwyer and her husband Eric host this ride.  Unfortunately, Eric is currently deployed and was not able to attend, but I am sure he was not surprised to hear his beautiful wife did an amazing job.  She welcomed us and made sure everyone had what they needed and calmly went about what was a massive undertaking to face without her loving partner there to help.  She handled it with grace and made it look easy with the strong support of Roy and her team of volunteers, but this group is pretty familiar to strong women, they surround us at every ride and those long distance phone calls through the day from hubby overseas were the finishing touch that made it all run smoothly.
So let the adventure begin, we unload the trailer and somehow Aziim has managed to break his hay net down and tangle it in his back legs, let the stress begin... we get the net out and the horses off and into their paddocks and the getting ready starts.  Filling water buckets, planning pit stops, checking trails, feed and hay and the list goes on and on.  It is at this point that you realize how lucky you are if you have some help.  For us that help came in the form of two small and mighty packages known as Carrilee and Marie, the Eddy family duo who are such an important part of our little family. 
Carrilee helped all of us, she was running around from spot to spot assisting as required and her presence made the entire process so much easier.  She knows horses and she knows people so she was able to help "do things", but more importantly, she added direction, encouragement and support in just the right amounts and just the right places.  Having her there to share the experience and join us in the adventure made it an all round better weekend and we sincerely thank her for that. 
Marie was my savior; she somehow seemed to be there every time I needed her and she did a thousand little tasks, but the real help came from the bond between her and Aziim.  He trusts her and she understands him and that is something special.  When he was excited, she calmed him, when he was scared, she calmed him, when he was evasive, she caught him and when I was a mess she focused me.  Running back and forth across the field all day, grab this, pass that, can you please do this and not one word of complaint...did I mention she is 11.  This young lady has the confidence and understanding of an adult with a work ethic that exceeds most adults and for her I am thankful. 
Ride time, we mount, we circle, a couple of pops and we are off.  We get out on the first dirt road and take our formation; Tammy and Wind leading, me and Aziim in the middle and Kathleen on Ali in back.  Tammy has been riding Wind for a while now, but this is her first big ride in the lead and she is focused on taking care of me and that means that she has to keep total control of Wind, no easy task when he is excited in a competition.  A year at the Gym and countless laps around the outdoor arena are paying off because she handles him like a professional and Aziim trots calmly behind as I watch her posture constantly changing to slow him down, speed him up and move him around.  It is clear to me that he is challenging her every command, but she makes no exception to who is in charge and I sit back busting with pride as I watch her, "handle" what I know from experience is a hard situation to handle. 
Behind me I hear Kathleen and Ali having their own conversations about his boundaries and like Tam, she suffers through trying to hold him back so that I can move Aziim along at the right speed for him.  Every few minutes she calls out a few words of encouragement, "he is doing great Troy", "you look good Troy", etc... And then she goes back to quietly fighting him to give Aziim space and protect me.  15, the girl is 15 years old.  I know they are both suffering silently and as we ride along I can only think of how lucky I am to have this kind of support and hope they both know how proud and thankful I am. 
I knew there would be a lot of firsts for Aziim; roads, bridges, huge hills, water and mud, but what I didn't expect was a deer to come flying out of the woods and jump across the road right in front of Wind.  All three horses spooked, but Wind reared and spun and then dropped and spun back and despite a display of outstanding riding for the worst of the event, the last spin and drop left Tam falling to the pavement.    I could tell she was hurt and started trying to think of where we were so I could get a trailer for the horses and get her back to the ride site.  After a couple of minutes she starts trying to walk and although limping, she was mobile enough to get back on the horse and continue the ride, who was this woman in front of me, so determined to get me and Aziim through this ride, she refused to quit and I was impressed almost to tears with how hard she was trying to protect me. 
We moved on a few more miles and a killer dog came leaping down on us from the side of a cliff, Aziim lost his mind and started spinning, by the third spin he was in the ditch and shortly thereafter I was picking dirt out of my teeth.   Well if Tam can do it, I guess I better man up, wipe the blood off my face, straighten up the old bones and get back on.  OK, so maybe it was a little fluffy white dog running down the side of a small hill, but who notices these little details, that over sized white rat was terrifying to Aziim.  I had to laugh when Kathleen realized me and Tam had hit the ground and this meek voice comes from behind me and says, "every time we get moving something happens and I don't like the way this is going".  Fortunately for us that was the end of the falling and we were soon at the first check point where a very concerned Carrilee and Marie waited for us.  They helped us get situated, offered some support and sent us off on our merry way. 
We made it to the half way point and the horses all pulsed down quickly and passed the vet checks without any trouble.  We gave them food and water and then sat quietly for a few minutes until it was time to go out for the second half.  We were all pretty much exhausted from the morning's ordeals and the stress of the day, but we climbed back on and had a wonderful second half.  Kathleen led the second loop and was amazing, constantly checking on me and adjusting for what I needed, but what was truly amazing was a conversation about time.  I explained to them that we had not passed a two mile to go sign and only had forty minutes to complete or we would be disqualified and would not receive our completion.  I told them this because if Kathleen wanted to speed up or even leave us behind, she could potentially make it even if we couldn't.  She didn't speed up or leave us or display any dissatisfaction whatsoever about the fact that she may have done all of this only to be disqualified and instead reassured me that even if we didn't get a completion that me and Aziim had done a great job.  We made it to the finish with no time to spare and all successfully completed.  I was proud of the entire team and although I felt great satisfaction with having completed on Aziim, Tam's ride in pain, Kathleen's constant battle, Carrilee's exhaustless efforts and Marie's unwavering dedication were much more impressive than my completion.  

Kathleen and Marie's support and help made it possible for me to complete my first competition on Aziim and for that I thank you, but a ride is a ride and more will follow.  The exceptional young ladies they are becoming is the real story, for an 11 year old girl to come to a ride and be that supportive with no horse to ride or a 15 year old to stay completely focused on the team when she knows the team needs her, but she doesn't need the team are the real wins here.  I hope you both know how lucky you are to be surrounded by such strong and determined women as role models and how proud you should be of yourselves.  It is not the things you own, the way look or who you hang out with that make you special it is your actions, how you treat others and your character that make you special and you are two very special girls and for that I am very proud of you both.

Love Ya