2013 Canadian Nationals

I can now officially say I have been to three different countries. The US (duh), Mexico (I crossed the border into Mexicalli for a day trip when I was younger) and now Canada. I even had to get a passport for this trip. 

The reason we went to Brandon, Manitoba, Canada was to go to the Canadian National Arabian Horse Show. Preston has one particular horse that he has in training that is owned by a lady from Canada. The horse is one of the best we have in training. His name is SH Cool Dude. He is a half Arabian reining horse. He has had a good show career so far and we were both looking forward to having Diane and Preston show him at Canadian Nationals.

We got up at about 4:30 am on Saturday, August 10 and left at 6:00 am. We drove for 22 hours through Utah, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and Manitoba. We took turns at the wheel so we could let the other person get a break and hopefully sleep a little. We did really well until we got to North Dakota and it started to get dark. We ran into a fair amount of road construction and also fog. It was terrible driving along at 40 mph in some spots. North Dakota is filled with crops, industrial areas and oil pumps. To tell you the truth, it looked a lot like District 12 from Hunger Games. There were very few people on the roads and we apparently weren't driving in very populated areas cause it was pretty barren. There was no moon that evening which made it more difficult to drive on unfamiliar highways because of how dark it was. 

We finally got to the border crossing at about 2:00 am. We were the only ones around except for one Canadian guard. We pulled up, rolled down the window and were asked "Where are you headed? How many horses do you have? Can I have your passports? Can I have your horse's health papers?" We gave him all the necessary paper work and he walked back inside the building. He didn't even look to see if we did only have two horses in the four horse trailer that we were hauling (we must look trustworthy). When he returned, he gave us back our papers and told us we were good to go. He then was very nice and asked us what hotel we were staying at and if we had been to Canadian Nationals before. We chatted for a bit and then we were back on the road to Brandon.

We thought we had experienced fog before hitting the border. We were wrong. That was only light, patchy fog. Canada was more serious about her fog. It was thick. We had to go about 40 mph. One of the first things we saw after we crossed the border was a speed limit sign that said 100 on it. That's 100 kph, not mph (we realized quickly). We drove and drove until it was painful to stay awake. Preston drove and I didn't want to fall asleep because I felt like I needed to keep him awake. So we blasted the music and rolled down the windows and continued on. We finally made it to Brandon around 3:30 am.

When we got to the Keystone Center (the show grounds). There was no one in sight. We didn't know what to do. We didn't know where our assigned stalls were and we didn't know where to find someone. Preston went into the main building and looked at a map for quite a while, trying to find our name on some stalls on the map. He finally gave up and came back out, and closed the door behind him. Which apparently was locked because I got out of the truck and we both tried to get back in and couldn't. Talk about frustrating. We were so tired, it was pretty cold (around 50 degrees) and we had no clue what to do. 

We finally saw a few of the security guys standing on the other side of the building and one of them came and helped us find our stalls. Thank goodness. Once we poured shaving in the stalls, tied water buckets, feed hay, unloaded the horses and drove to our hotel, it was 6:00 am. We were exhausted. Luckily the Colonial Inn was right across the street from the grounds. Our hotel was old and a bit musty smelling but at least it was clean. 

We woke up around 2:30 pm on Sunday. Talk about completely throwing off or sleep schedule. After getting some food we then unpacked the entire trailer and got everything settled at our stalls. The show grounds are quite interesting here. Almost everything is inside. The majority of the stalls, two arenas, vendors, food area and show offices are all under one roof. There are more stalls and a warm up arena outside. That evening we were invited by the Comeau's to eat dinner at their camper trailer. The Comeau's are our clients. Diane is the daughter and she is the one that rides and her parents come to most of the shows. The weather was beautiful. It was about 70 degrees with no wind. They made some of the most delicious steaks we have ever had, a lovely salad, yummy potatoes and other side dishes. 

After dinner Diane and Preston rode CD and he did great. After the ride however, Diane noticed a little bit of swelling on both his front legs so we gel casted and wrapped them for the night. The vet came and looked at him and suggested keeping the wraps on all night. So we did and they looked pretty great the next day, just a little swelling on the back of the leg. Diane and Preston rode again on Monday and CD was even better than the day before. Again they iced and wrapped his legs for the night. The next morning his legs were more swollen than before but still not too bad. Preston and I had gone to bed late the night before so we were late getting up. Diane texted Preston and told him about the swelling and if she should have the vet look at him. Preston said to have the vet look at him but we weren't too concerned. The next thing we heard from Diane though was not good. She told us that he had tendonitis, that the vet said she needed to scratch him from the show and that he could have up to a 4 month recovery. We were all devastated. We hoped she was joking. Preston got over to the show grounds as quickly as he could to get the whole story. We were all disappointed but the Comeau's still had a great attitude and they were glad that we had caught it early before he got injured further.

Preston and I could hardly believe what had just happened. We just drove 22 hours for nothing? Not to mention the months of preparation for the show and how excited we were to show at Canadian Nationals. Preston and I decided we thought getting a second opinion was a good idea before making any final decisions. We called up another vet and had him come look at him. He told us about the same thing but he didn't think he would have to have quite as long of a recovery which was good news. He was optimistic about CD, but of course he was not sound enough to be shown for a while. One of our main concerns, besides the health of the horse, was that we have US Nationals that we were planning on going to at the end of October which isn't too far away.

Preston and I also thought that since we no longer had a horse to show, we might as well drive home. After the vet assessed CDs condition though, he suggested staying at least a few more days so that we could wrap his legs and get the inflammation out. We were definitely willing to do that for the horse but it is still frustrating when there are so many things to do at home.

So we sit. We have watched a bit of the show, gone out to eat and hung out at the hotel so far. We are still waiting to see what will be decided with CD. Whether or not he can be shown at US Nationals and whether or not he will be coming home with us or going home with the Comeau's to recover for a while.

On the plus side, we have gotten to try Tim Horton's which is a coffee and donut chain in Canada. Everyone told us we had to try the donut holes, or Timbits. The food was pretty delicious we must admit and it was also pretty cheap. We have eaten there twice.

We also went shopping at Wal Mart and got some Kinder Eggs (chocolate eggs with toys in them), Kinder Bueno (amazing chocolate), Fudgie-O's (cookies similar to Oreos), Duo (hazelnut and vanilla spread) and Smarties (they are chocolate, not powdery like the candy we have in the states).

 We have also had to get used to the fact that we can't use our phones very much because it is so expensive. We only bought 80 mins of talk and 50 texts for Preston's phone. That means I can't talk or text on my phone at all. I can only get on the internet when wifi is available. 

It is interesting to see the thermostat on the wall in our hotel room that is in Celsius rather than fahrenheit. The Comeau's showed us some Canadian money which is very different from the US dollar. Their money is colorful, has a clear/see through section on the bill, and the smallest bill is $5. Everyone also of course has a bit of an accent and they call a few things differently than what we call them. For instance, their bathrooms are called "washrooms." Something really odd is that their first place ribbon is red and second place is blue. Totally opposite from the shows in the US.

We have also noticed the maple leaf almost everywhere.