Away Mission for the Ponies-RIP Truck

It's Thursday, I think. I am just recovering from the weekend. Unbelievable.

I planned on a attending a play day at Roger's in Oakdale. What is it, maybe 80 miles away? Anyway, I went. CiCi's student Francois and his wife Wendy met me there on their way to Tahoe. Francois was a carriage driver at home in France. I met him accidentally when he asked if my pony was an Icelandic. He found out I had two carriage ponies. I hooked him up with carriage driving stuff. He didn't know there was any here.

Yndi was great and Pepper stood calmly at the trailer eating hay. I drove Yndi while Francois rode groom, then Francois drove, while I rode groom, then Wendy too my place and rode groom. Then we switched ponies and Yndi stood calmly at the trailer while I drove Pepper and Francois rode groom. Great ponies. Both have come so far.

So We did the playday and I came home in terrible traffic. The muscle in my shin was cramping painfully from hovering over the brake.

I got home to disaster. Elaine's horse and broken her hip. The mare had silicosis and subsequent osteoporosis and UC Davis wanted her body to study this disease. She had to be euthanized and she had to be loaded into a trailer for transport before she was put down. Elaine has a trailer but no truck. Many people had been trying for hours to find a truck. Then I showed up.

So I unhooked my trailer, everybody helping to put my stuff away(and putting Yndi in Pepper's stall and Pepper in Yndi's, which upset Yndi tremendously) and we got the mare in the trailer and put down and parked in the shade. It was tricky because I had to back it up as close as possible because she could not walk far.

SO the next day we got up early and drive her to UC Davis and came home. We were unhooking Elaine's trailer and noticed greasy stuff on the chains. Then I hooked my trailer and pulled it away from the fence it is backed up to so I could open the gate and get me cart out. Then I put the trailer back. almost. The transmission died while I was doing it.

I left the truck there overnight and we got it in the morning, adding transmission fluid to drive it to AAMCO. Dave and I are having one of the most epic disagreements in 27 years about what king of truck we need to buy to replace it.

In the meantime, we just got it back yesterday, repaired until the next problem. It's 20 years old. It's officially for sale. Now it needs to be cleaned up and listed on Craig's list.