Wild West is ON!
| May 24, 2010 | Posted by Melinda under Uncategorized |
Today was the day for making a final decision on whether I would be going to Wild West and riding 155 miles over 3 days. A forecast of rain chilled me to the core (literally) and I had all my excuses ready:
āHer suspensories are still a bit soreā
āHer glands are a bit swollen from giving vaccinesā
āMy knee is giving me problems and I want to give it some timeā
āIām not comfortable with my saddle fitā
All of which (of course) are partly true or at least were true at some point this monthā¦ā¦but mostly they were all baloney. Because my real reason for wanting to cancel?
I donāt like riding in the rain and Iām a wimp. And the last time I did a ride in the rain here I was traumatized.
So itās been with great trepidation that Iāve watched the weather forecast.
The pattern has been 3-4 clear days with 3-4 raining days and then repeat. They were originally predicted rain over the weekend, 2 weeks out from the ride. That meant if the weather system sped up or slowed down, I would have clear days instead of raining.
Gradually the rain got pushed earlier and earlier in the week.
As of today, they are predicting showers on Thursday and Friday, with 0% chance of rain and clear skies (and in the 70ās!) Saturday, Sunday and beyond. With the trend of rain moving earlier, Iām willing to do the ride. If nothing else, the rain will move EARLIER, not later into the weekend. As of right now I get 2 clear days out of 3 for the ride, and I might get that third, depending on the system.
That is an acceptable level of risk.
Iām going to Wild West!!!!!!
Which brings us to Glue on Boots Lesson 2:
When deciding to glue on boots look at the weather.
You may think that Wednesday is a perfect day for gluing on boots if you are leaving Thursday and riding on Friday. However, if the forecast is for RAIN on Wednesday, then perhaps TUESDAY is the perfect day. Especially armed with the knowledge the glue set up is Temperature dependent, you donāt necessarily enjoy drying hooves with a blow dryer, AND you lack a covered space to glue.
Yes, Iām thinking Tuesday looks just fine.
And BTW ā I finally figured out why I need one mixing tip per boot. This was probably obvious to everyone else, which is why no one bothered to answer my question when I posted it various places. Once the glue is mixedā¦.it hardens. If you glue one bootā¦ā¦and work with that boot until itās set on the footā¦ā¦how much to you want to bet that the glue in the mixing tip is also set? LOL. So you must remove the tip and place a new one on for the next boot!!!!!!!! Lightbulb moment for Melinda. Iām posting it hear in case anyone else is common sense impaired like I am.
Stayed tuned for more lightbulb moments. I never manage to do ANYTHING new without some sort of embarassment to myself, and glue ons will be no exception. (we arenāt even going to TALK about what happened at my motorcycle training course last weekend!) Iām envisioning myself glued to the concrete slab by the soles of my shoes.
I havenāt used the Renegade Glue-Ons yet, so all of my experience with gluing boots has been foaming on the old-style easyboots with easyfoam. Same principles apply, though.
Wear really old clothing and shoes you arenāt particularly fond of while gluing, because chances are you will get glue on them. This set of clothing becomes your āgluing clothes.ā (I still have a pair of jeans with blobs of easyfoam on themā¦and I havenāt glued on a pair of boots in three years!)
Be sure to rub a thin line of vaseline around her coronet band hairlineā¦thisāll help keep glue from sticking to her hair in case any gets smeared around. Along this same veinā¦when youāre working in the hind hooves, find some way to wrap/pin Farleyās tail out of the way. Itāll make things much easier for visibility, for one, and two, one less thing to worry about accidentally gluing.
A box of baby wipes is a very handy thing to have around for quick clean-up.
See you at Wild West! I hope you recognize me in my rain gear
Your boot posts make me tired thinking about dealing with them, watching weather as to WHEN would be best to put them on etc., lol
Have a great ride. We are heading to an endurance ride down in the TX Hill country at a new ranch. They have 2 days of 50ās, but Iāll do Saturdays ride, then decide on Sunday.
Oh, Hanks shoes are already on. wink)
Wait, what? Motorcycle training course?
Can you reach the ground ok?
Good to hear!
hey didnāt I tell you to plan on using one tip per boot? DONāT RUSH!
Woohoo! Grats on deciding to do Wild West. Iād wuss out if it were raining too.