Set the alarm early so that we could "test drive" an early morning followed by a long ride in preparation for the upcoming Ocean to Lake trail ride at the end of the month. Took a quick side trip into Indiantown to pick up breakfast at the Burger King before heading out to Dupuis WMA. Managed to get saddled up and out on the trail shortly after 10:00, still a bit later than we had hoped, but at least it gave us plenty of time to do the mileage we wanted. As always at Dupuis, it was a great ride! Love this place! Ended up being out until almost 4:00, doing at least 17 miles, with lots of jogs and trots and some lovely canters. The horses were brilliant, as usual, and managed to keep up until the last few miles when they finally got noticeably tired. We got them unsaddled, watered and loaded up in the trailer, then headed back into town to fill up the gas tank. Then, just as we were leaving town, the motor on the van suddenly quit. We had just come off a high bridge, and we coasted another half mile before I finally had to pull off and stop. I didn’t want to pull off too far with the trailer, so we were still out on the road a bit, but enough where people could get by. We tried several times to get it going, but it just wouldn’t start again. We ended up having to call a tow truck, and we also called the sheriff’s office so they could post someone behind us to slow traffic down. It took almost an hour for the truck to get there, getting darker and darker all the time, until he finally arrived just at the end of dusk. He was good, though, and had us loaded up pretty quickly, with the van up on the flatbed and the horse trailer in tow behind. We arrived back at the house about 7:30, and we were quickly unloaded and settled in, with no great drama, other than the fact that we were exhausted after the long ride and the late evening. Not the best day to break down, but then again, no day is a great day for a break down! Chalk up another job on out list of "things to do" (as if we didn’t have enough already!)
Set the alarm early so that we could "test drive" an early morning followed by a long ride in preparation for the upcoming Ocean to Lake trail ride at the end of the month. Took a quick side trip into Indiantown to pick up breakfast at the Burger King before heading out to Dupuis WMA. Managed to get saddled up and out on the trail shortly after 10:00, still a bit later than we had hoped, but at least it gave us plenty of time to do the mileage we wanted. As always at Dupuis, it was a great ride! Love this place! Ended up being out until almost 4:00, doing at least 17 miles, with lots of jogs and trots and some lovely canters. The horses were brilliant, as usual, and managed to keep up until the last few miles when they finally got noticeably tired. We got them unsaddled, watered and loaded up in the trailer, then headed back into town to fill up the gas tank. Then, just as we were leaving town, the motor on the van suddenly quit. We had just come off a high bridge, and we coasted another half mile before I finally had to pull off and stop. I didn’t want to pull off too far with the trailer, so we were still out on the road a bit, but enough where people could get by. We tried several times to get it going, but it just wouldn’t start again. We ended up having to call a tow truck, and we also called the sheriff’s office so they could post someone behind us to slow traffic down. It took almost an hour for the truck to get there, getting darker and darker all the time, until he finally arrived just at the end of dusk. He was good, though, and had us loaded up pretty quickly, with the van up on the flatbed and the horse trailer in tow behind. We arrived back at the house about 7:30, and we were quickly unloaded and settled in, with no great drama, other than the fact that we were exhausted after the long ride and the late evening. Not the best day to break down, but then again, no day is a great day for a break down! Chalk up another job on out list of "things to do" (as if we didn’t have enough already!)
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