Name of Show: BTS Summer Retreat
Date: July 21-24, 2000
Hosted by: Claire (midnite452@hotmail.com)
Hosted at: Blazin' Trails Stables

It is 6:23 am. The sun is shining through some light clouds as it's warming 
rays wash over the hills. Claire is standing and watching, and jumps a 
little at a soft, "Hello."  She turns around to see Keelin James standing 
there. "Oh, hey. Sorry, I was just watching this. I'm never up this early, 
so I never really see it!" They laugh a little, and Keelin walks up to her 
trailer. "Oh, is that Tundra?" Claire walks up to the trailer and looks at 
the pretty mare. "She's gorgeous!" She looks at her clip-board. "And she's 
the one who likes to play in water! I've got a few stops scheduled so we can 
play around." The two start talking, but Claire has to excuse herself as 
Karyn and Freek arrive, trailering James and Stud Muffin. She greets them 
cheerily, and help them unload their horses. "James is the one who likes to 
have company at night, correct? We'll do what we can to keep somebody near 
him so he doesn't get lonely." She smiles at Karyn and turns to talk to 
James. She pats Stud Muffin on the neck, and then introduces Keelin to Karyn 
and Freek. As they four of them stand and talk, Carlie and Dan's Top 
Priority pull in, Meghan and Keva close behind. Claire helps in the 
unloading and talks with Carlie and Meghan as they do. She calls Karyn over. 
"This will be the horse we use to keep James company at night." She points 
to Keva. "He'll be on the left side of him at night, and you can stay in the 
tent closest to him. Wait, let's make sure they'll get along."  Karyn leads 
James over, and the two horses get along great. The three smile. "Awesome," 
they all three say at the same time, then laugh. All of the riders that are 
already there get together, and more introductions begin. Everyone is 
standing around with their horses, and Claire's mom (who just walked up) 
finds this a funny sight. She runs in to get a camera, and while she's 
finding it in the office, Hillary arrives with Crabtree's Lady. By the time 
Claire's mom gets out with her camera, Ashley has arrived with Blackarabi 
Batman and Lindsay has arrived with Trixionaire, and they are all unloaded. 
They all give "Mom" their cameras, and everyone squeezes in (horses and all) 
for a picture. Once all of the cameras have the picture, they get ready. 
"Hey ladies. Lindsay here is our lifesaver!" Lindsay smiles, and gives 
everyone buckets filled with the following: 1 bag of carrots, a six pack of 
regular or diet soda or water, 1 lead, 1 medium bag of Doritos, and a bag of 
M&M's, Skittles, or Granola Bars. They all smile and thank Lindsay, and 
Claire gives everyone a walkie-talkie (the kind that goes for three miles) 
and two sets of extra batteries. They all also get 3 extra water bottles and 
another bag of candy. "Is everybody ready?" When she is greeted with a 
chorus of yes'es, she turns to her mom who has brought out Flamin' Trails 
and Cadillac's One Request. She mounts Flamin' Trails, and everybody else 
mounts also. They do a quick head count, and set off. "Just lettin' yall 
know, my boyfriend is up the mountain waiting with his truck. He's got all 
of the feed and gear, but he needed a horse to ride. That's why good old 
Cadi is coming." She pats the other mare. "But I just wanted to warn ya! 
Anyway, let's sing a little." Even though it's only about 7:15 am, everyone 
is wide awake, and they sing everything from songs on the radio to the 
Beaver Song, which Claire teaches those who don't know. The climb the 
mountain to a nice flat area. Claire looks at her watch. "Well, it's lunch 
time." Everyone is surprised that time has passed so quickly, but glad to be 
eating. Claire hands out sandwiches to everyone, and they eat. As they eat 
they talk. "So Claire, tell us more about this boyfriend," Carlie prompts, 
and Claire kinda blushes. "Well, you'll have to wait and meet him. We've 
only got a mile til we're at the spot where we're all meeting, and there's a 
nice creek for the horses to play in. But he's really funny, and you all 
will probably get along." Everyone talks a while longer, then they mount 
again and take off. A mile down the trail, a blue pick-up truck appears, and 
the view is gorgeous. "Wow! You can see straight out!" Meghan exclaims, and 
Karyn replies, "Yea, and not to mention straight down!" They all laugh, and 
the guy near the truck just looks at them like they're crazy. Everyone 
dismounts, and Claire walks up to him. "Hey Todd. This is the group." He 
laughs at the vague introduction, and teases, "Really? Well, it's pretty 
easy to remember everyone's names then. Kinda a wierd coincidence that all 
of you have the same name." He kinda laughs, and they all laugh and 
introduce themselves. Keelin asks, "Is anybody up for some splashing?" She 
quickly mounts Tundra, and they trot into the water. Everyone laughs (again, 
lol) and mount again to go play in the water. Todd mounts Cadi, somewhat 
apprehensive, and trots over. They all splash around for a while. Ashley 
suggests a game of tag, and everyone agrees. The rules are you can only 
canter on the grass, and no more than a trot in the water or you 
automatically become It. Since Ashley suggested the game, she is first to be 
It. She trots after Carlie, who urges Dan into a trot and leads him out of 
the creek where they start to canter. Ashley catches up though, and tags 
Carlie who sets off after Keelin on Tundra. Tundra splashes across to the 
other side of the creek, and Carlie and Dan chase after Claire on Flamin' 
Trails. Flamin' Trails doesn't move quick enough though, and they get 
tagged. Claire decides to go after Freek on Stud Muffin. This chase lasts a 
while, and once she tags Freek, everyone cheers. Freek chases Hillary and 
Crabtree's Lady. Once Hillary is tagged, she scans for an easy target, and 
her eyes settle on Todd. Realizing he's about to be chased, he urges 
Cadillac's One Request into a trot, getting out of the creek. He's stil 
pretty uncertain on horseback, and is easily tagged, as Hillary expected. 
Todd chases Lindsay, and almost gives up when Trixionaire proves to be 
extremely quick. He keeps up though, and finally tags her. Lindsay laughs 
and runs to tag Meghan, who is right next to her. The two laugh, and Meghan 
goes after Karyn on James. She surprises everyone by darting suddenly 
towards Keelin. But when Karyn thinks she's in the clear, Meghan charges, 
and Karyn is tagged. They realize that everyone has been tagged, and the 
game stops. They let the horses rest a while, then keep going up. Cameras 
snap as the view gets prettier and prettier. Chips crunch, and hoofbeats are 
the only sound for a while. A raccoon is cleaning his food in a large 
puddle, and everyone takes pictures. The stallions are all behaving 
extremely well, and everyone is proud of their horses. Then Todd surprises 
everyone by calling them on the walkie-talkies and telling them they should 
stop, it's 6:30. The ladies all kinda laugh, since the time went by so fast, 
and they catch up to him in his truck. He has already set up the tying 
posts, and they all untack their horses and tie them with the lead rope to 
the posts. The tack goes in two huge tack trunks that Claire packed in 
Todd's truck. Once the horses are settled, everyone pitches in to set up 
tents. They all notice that Ashley looks kinda flushed, so she sits down and 
drinks some water. Claire makes sure nothing is wrong, and Ashley is simply 
a little overheated. Once the tents are set up, everyone takes a sleeping 
bag from the truck. "You can all keep the sleeping bags and pillows. They're 
in BTS colors, and I thought it would be a kinda neat souvinier. Besides, I 
told you only to bring your changes of clothes, and it would be kinda mean 
to make you all sleep on the ground while I've got a sleeping bag and 
pillow!" They kinda chuckle at that, and they decide on tent arrangements 
for the night. So it isn't so hot in tents, it'll be two people to a tent. 
It works out that Karyn and Freek stay in the tent closest to the hitching 
post, where James is tied on the end. Ashley and Meghan share the next tent, 
and Carlie and Lindsay stay in the next. Keelin and Hillary decide to share 
the next tent, and Claire and Todd are staying on the end. Once the tents 
are settled, the group meets around the large picnic table. Todd lights a 
few lanterns, and Claire passes out silver and blue flashlights to everyone. 
"The extra batteries will be in the cooler if anybody needs them. We're 
having tacos for dinner tonight, and there will be sandwiches for anybody 
who doesn't like tacos." A group starts the fire, and everbody helps with 
the cooking. When dinner is done, they form a circle around the campfire and 
talk as they eat. They talk about their camp experiences before, and 
everyone has a great time. After dinner, they do the dishes and clean up a 
little, then feed the horses. After all is done, they sit back around the 
campfire. Everyone is yawning, more tired than they realized. They talk and 
snack until about 10:30, when it's getting harder and harder to keep their 
eyes open. They retreat to their tents, and fall asleep.


The next morning many clouds have rolled in. Nobody really worries about it 
though, because it's the same everywhere: If you don't like the weather, 
wait ten minutes. We all wake up at 8:45 and pack up the tents. Then Carlie 
and Ashley make breakfast, which is eggs and bacon. Everyone sits and enjoys 
the meal, and they talk about yesterday. "The water tag was so much fun!" 
"It was pretty funny when Todd realized he was gonna be tagged don't you 
think?" "The view is so pretty up here in the mountains." "I better save 
some of the pictures for the rest of the trip. I've taken almost all of them 
already!" Those are examples of some of the conversations. Once everybody is 
done eating, they feed their horses, and pack all of their camping gear in 
the back of Todd's truck. Claire passes out tack from the tack trunks, and 
they groom and tack the horses. Then one by one they mount their horses, and 
a head count is taken. They set off, climbing higher and higher. So that the 
horses and riders don't get altitude sickness, the group stops when anybody 
gets the slightest bit out of breath. They meet up with Todd at a clearing, 
and make lunch. "Sorry guys, only sandwiches this time." Everybody pretends 
to moan, and they all dismount. Lindsay and Karyn volunteer to make 
sandwiches. When everybody is done, Claire and Freek clean up. Once all of 
the cleanups are done, everybody mounts and they set off. They are now 
almost two miles up the mountain.
But back at the barn, Claire's mom is watching the news. When the weather 
man comes on, he looks grim. "A big storm is rolling in tonight. There will 
be thunder and lightning, and a lot of rain. All campers are advised to 
reschedule their plans, as tonight is not a safe night to be out." After 
this message, she tries to radio the group on her walkie-talkie, but has no 
luck. She tries to get Todd on his in the truck, but still no luck. So she 
just has to sit back and wait...
Meanwhile, on the mountain, the group notices some big clouds. Carlie radios 
Todd, and asks him to listen to the weather on his truck radio. He hears 
news of the storm, and everybody is pretty shocked when he tells them about 
it. Hillary suggests getting down the mountain as fast as they can, which 
could mean galloping for short periods of time. The group discusses this, 
and decides that soreness would be nothing compared to what might happen if 
they stayed up on the mountain. Everything they are carrying extra goes in 
the back of Todd's truck, and ponchos are passed out to all. "You guys, this 
could be dangerous. The path is pretty smooth, but if the rain starts, it 
could get slick. We'll go quick, but take it careful. If anybody gets hurt, 
we're stopping and finding a cave or safe place to stay overnight, and then 
we'll head down tomorrow morning. Does everyone agree?" The group nods their 
heads, and they get ready to take off down the mountain. It will be hard, 
making up the two miles that took two days. They start out at a trot, then 
move to a canter. The horses show no signs of wearing out, and Keelin says 
that they can probably sense the storm coming too. The group trots the 
horses for a while, then they set off at a gallop. The clouds have gotten 
darker now, and it starts to sprinkle. They stop, and everyone dismounts and 
puts on their ponchos, then mount again. "Hey guys, we've gone a mile 
already. We're halfway there!" Claire says,and they cheer. But they have to 
start moving again, before it gets too slick. The trot a few minutes, then 
start cantering, and then galloping. They gallop for about 10 minutes, and 
walk for about 20. Then they trot for a little while, and canter again. It's 
gone unsaid that there will be no more galloping, but everyone understands 
this. The rain comes down harder, and the take the cantering more slowly. 
Finally, Meghan says, "Hey guys, I think I see the barn!" They all look in 
the distance, and Keva says, "Me too!" They start to canter more quickly, 
and in no time they reach the barn. Todd is already there, and Claire's mom 
has gone into town. "Alright everyone. Let's get these horses into the barn, 
and we'll party down here for a while," Claire says. They are busy untacking 
and cooling down their horses. They are stalled in the Mare/Gelding Barn, at 
the un-used end. "Hey, we could continue our party in one of the indoor 
arenas," Ashley suggests. They all think that is a great idea, but they have 
to clean the arena first. "I'll do it, guys. I should have cleaned it before 
we left anyway." Claire cleans the arena really quickly, and they decide to 
lay hay down on the floor of it. They put a CD in the stereo Claire keeps in 
there (for dressage to music and stuff like that) and dance for a while. 
Then the sleeping bags are taken out, and they decide to sleep in the 
stands, under the skylight. After the sleeping bags are set up, they take 
out the camping stove and cook dinner. They have hamburger and/or hot dogs. 
When dinner is over, they clean up and go check on their horses. Everybody 
meets back in the arena and about 20 minutes, and they all go lay on their 
sleeping bags. Claire says, "If you guys want to stay here in the arena for 
the next two days, we can. The storm is supposed to keep up, and maybe get 
stronger. If you want to go back to your own barns, that's fine too." 
Everybody talks about this for a minute, and they decide that the trip has 
been tons of fun, but very tiring. They all are going to head back to their 
farms tomorrow. Claire falls asleep first, and everybody else is close 
behind. Hillary is last to fall asleep.

They all wake up early the next morning to prepare for their trips home. 
"I'm really glad all of you came. I had a lot of fun, despite the storm." 
They talk as they pack up and load their horses. Eventually, the last horse 
is loaded, and they say their good-byes. One by one, the trailers leave the 
BTS, and Claire runs in to the barn's main office, to get out of the rain. 
She has had a great time, and hopes everybody else had as much fun as she 
did.