Great Trip to Equine Affaire

Well, I just had the greatest time with 4 other women. We took a road trip to Springfield Mass to take in the Equine Affaire and other shopping along the way.

Our trip was planned well in advance. we were leaving 9pm on Tuesday and driving straight through to Freeport Me for some shopping then continueing on our way. HOWEVER...... we hit a little glitch along the way in the form of a deer. Yup BANG hit it just before the Sussex Exit in NB at 2am Wed.
Everyone is fine, however the van didn't fair so well. We ended up hitching a ride with the tow truck and police to the nearest hotel for the night. Took us all morning the next day to get things sorted with the insurance company and find a car rental place that would allow us to take the vehicle across the border. Way laid approximately 10hrs. AAARRRGGGHHH!!!

So imagine this....5 women with baggage in a Dodge Grand Caravan DOWN SIZED to a Jeep Liberty!!! Onward we went stopping every 2 hours to stretch. Cramped quarters to say the least. LOL

We finally made our way to the Hotel in Mass around midnight. We called ahead and told them our dilema. They were very pleasant and helpful. Homewood Suites is a wonderful place to stay, I must say.They told us the hot/cold continental breakfast buffet would be left open later than usual so we didn't have to get up so early that morning. At that point I had been up since 7am Tuesday and this was midnight Wednesday. We only slept about an hour in Sussex for trying to figure out our strategy for the next day. Finally laid our heads down at about 2am Wed.

Got up Wed am around 8 showered, had a wonderful breakfast and hit the road to Equine Affaire.
It was an amazing place.....so much to see and watch. The first day was over whelming for me. The second day I was ready to tackle the place with friends in tow LOL.

Got in touch with Brown from ME through texting. We kept missing each other, each wanting to see different things on different days LOL. FINALLY we met up after the Versatile Horse and Rider Competition on Sunday morning. Had a lovely visit with her and her husband. Very nice people to chat with indeed.

Headed out for a little more shopping at a few booths then headed out for Freeport to hit the outlets that were closed on our way down.

Oh yes......since there was only enough room for our luggage we ended up sending our dirty clothes and small stuff we bought in boxes through the mail. No room in the jeep. We were packed to the roof and couldn't use the rear view mirror, so we pokes our heads out the side windows to look for traffic.

Good time was had by all and YES we will be going again next year. Hopefully no glitches in the form of a deer.

Brown boards @ the same barn as I do and she brought me back a couple of little gifties. I am completely jealous and glad everyone had a good time. Well, as best you could. What is a road trip without a few adventures!!! Glad everyone was alright after hitting the deer.

Yes the Equine Affarie was indeed much more than I expected. Where can you go and see clinicians like John Lyons, Craig Johnson (1 M $ reiner), Johnathan Fields and Guy McLean all in one weekend. I have 4 pages of notes from their sessions.

Poor oldlady newhorse has been my sounding board as I list all the neat stuff and new things to try with our horses for the versitile horse.

I agree that it takes a day just to get your bearings and sort out where you want to go. It is a must see and a shopping mecha for horse stuff.

It was great to meet up with fellow MEer's too.

Later

Yes indeedy people we are doing it again this year. We are heading to Equine Affaire in Springfield Mass. Different strategy this time though. We are leaving 5am Sunday and spending 2 days in Maine. then heading to Springfield Tuesday so we have a day to breathe on Wednesday before heading to the Fair. Hopefully no deer in the road this time!!