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	Wagonteamster

8/16/08 - We’re off - well sort of.

It was pretty tough to pull the big wagon in and out of my place, so I opted to drive the 4 miles to my friends Randy and Hony’s place as a trial run.

This was the first run with the 4-up with the big wagon and only the 5th time they have been run 4-up.


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So how was it? I was a bit apprehensive. We had to start off with a pretty good sized hill to climb. All the horses were pulling good but Dolly. She stepped through her trace chain right from the start. After I squared that away, she tended to hang back and let Doc do most of the work up front. Joyce and Deedee were magnificent. With 3 out of the 4 working good, I still considered it a success. At the top of the first hill we picked up a neighbor lady and her two small children for a short ride. The next 3 miles were fairly uneventful.

Just before I got to Randy’s place there’s a big, long hill to climb. I stopped the team for a rest, prior to tackling the hill. Unnoticed by me, Dolly must have pushed one of Doc’s cross-tie reins into the snap holding his chest strap (I need to tighten Dollie’s side checks and turn around Doc’s snaps). This caused Doc to drive like a drunken sailor going up the hill. Fortunately, good friends Barbie and Missy helped straighten things out.

I’m now camped at Hony and Randy’s place. Randy, I and friend Chris knocked off a few beers while Hony cooked a magnificent supper.

The horses are bedded down in a corral sized enclosure and are fed. They all seem in good health and didn’t get any harness rubs or loose shoes.

Tomorrow morning, we should be pulling out around 9 am. My friend Beth is going to ride with me for a couple of days. After that her father, Fred is going to ride a long for a few more days. Fred makes a great gin and tonic, which is an important asset to have when traveling by horse and wagon.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I would call this day a 9. I’m a little apprehensive, but not nervous. Because this trip has no set goals, I’m not trying to break a speed record. We’re going to start the trip off slow with the primary emphasis being the health and well being of the horses. It will take a while for them to get in top shape and for all of them to pull well together. In the meantime, I have to keep them healthy, otherwise we’re not going anywhere. What a Great Day!