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9/1/08, Sunapee, NH - I was honored to have another wonderful day as guests of my hosts, Ned and Grace Shinn. Beth and I started the day with a big breakfast, followed by a nice ride on Doc and Dollie.
Unfortunately, Beth had to leave about 10:30 am to go to a practice Fox Hunting session with her horse.
Ned knew Arthur Durgan, so we stopped over at his pulling horse training facility. We looked around for folks, but the Durgans were off at the Hopkinton fair. The Durgan facility was very impressive with some very nice looking pulling horses.
The picture to the right shows a very large (2500 - 2600 lbs.) Belgian that was probably the most heavily muscled horse I have ever seen.
The facility included both indoor and outdoor tracks to pull training sleds.
Later in the afternoon, Ned and I took some guns out to the field for a little target practice. We indulged in one of America’s favorite pastimes, blowing up pumpkins. Not only do these make tremendous targets, it’s also a great way to get rid of surplus pumpkins.
Tonight, we had a tremendous supper, featuring a great silver salmon fillet that Alex Neuwirt gave me a couple of days ago - thanks Alex.
I can’t remember ever having two more relaxing and enjoyable days. Tomorrow, Ned is going to join me as we make our way towards Clairmont. I’m looking forward to the trip with Ned. He’s been driving horses for 60 years and I think it will not only be a fun day, but I’ll also pick up a lot of tips from his years of experience.
Before I hitch in the morning, I have to re-shoe Dolly in the rear - she lost some of the composite coating on one of her shoes.
One of our first stops tomorrow will be to pull the team and wagon in to the local grain store for a resupply of oats.
Everyday of this trip is like opening up a new Christmas present!
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