Re: A Story Worth Telling

["superpat" <superpat@gateway.net>]

Wow!!! And Wow!!!
What a story and what a fine telling. You are a fine writer in your own
rights, Phil. I would just bet that Equus would love to have it submitted.
Just exactly as it is written. What a tough little horse. Poor fellow was
probably pretty scared. And he has a lot more sense than I bet any of mine
have. Found his way home....damn!!!
Thanks for the tale.
Pat Super
----- Original Message -----
From: <RBluebirdpr@aol.com>
To: <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2000 7:59 PM
Subject: RC: A Story Worth Telling


> It was a week ago this past Sunday at about 6PM and we were having the
worst
> storm of the season.  I got a call from Abbie Saunders, Ride Mgr. of The
> Leatherwood Mountain Challenge.  I could tell she was somewhat concerned
as
> she told me that she and Debbie (I will withhold the last name until I get
> her permission) were out conditioning their horses and that Debbie's
horse,
> Tyrone, had spooked when Debbie had tried to sponge him and Debbie
> bailed/fell off and Tyrone bolted at a full gallop back the way they had
> come.  She said she had tracked him as far as she could but it was raining
so
> hard the tracks just disappeared.  I told her I would meet her where she
lost
> the tracks in 10 to 15 minutes. I was in my Jeep Wrangler and decided to
cut
> across a ridge know as the Daniel Boone Trail (about 2 miles long).  Bad
> decision.  The storm was so bad it had blown trees down across the trail
and
> the mud was deeper than I had ever seen it in this part of Leatherwood.
> Finally I made it through and we started trying to track with no luck.
Now
> remember that Abbie and Debbie had walked and backtracked 6 miles in
pouring
> down rain and lightening to the rental barns.  Both were soaking wet and
> Debbie had blisters that were hurting her so bad that she was afraid to
take
> her boots off in fear that she would not get them back on.
>
> I had ridden with Debbie and Abbie two weeks before and Tyrone was new to
> endurance and trails, fresh out of the dressage ring.  She had only had
him
> for two weeks.  Nice looking horse but real hyper.  Debbie herself is also
> new to endurance and both were learning together.  I was on my horse Romeo
> and was blocking Tyrone for most of the ride because he was trying to run
to
> the front out of control so he got a good taste of Romeo's rear end.  He
> finally settled down and Debbie was extremely pleased with his first time
> out.
>
> Back to the story, no luck with any tracks and the fog was setting in.
Now
> for those of you that have ridden The Leatherwood Mountain Challenge you
know
> that the terrain is very dangerous in the daylight and with no light it is
> suicide.  I bailed out at about 9PM and Abbie and Debbie stayed out until
> about 9:45.  The next morning I called Joan (former wife but we are still
> great friends) and also Mark Williams, our barn manager. They would meet
us
> later that morning. It had poured all night but we woke up to a clear
crisp
> day.  I was on my four wheeler at 6:30AM and along with Abbie, Debbie and
the
> general manager of Leatherwood, we started looking.  We went down every
trail
> we knew in Leatherwood and not a sign.  I mean not a sign of anything!!
The
> only tracks we saw were deer and turkey.  At about 10:30AM I was heading
back
> for gas and met Mark coming down the trail on my horse, Romeo.  Mark
probably
> knows the area where Tyrone disappeared better than anyone.  He and Joan
> condition in that area all the time.  He said he had an idea where the
horse
> may head for but it was a 25 mile trip through rugged terrain.  It's why
he
> picked Romeo because he was built for this type of riding.  Romeo is a
Rocky
> Mountain Horse and very powerful in the rear end.
>
> After refueling I headed back out and went down and found trails that we
did
> not know existed in Leatherwood.  Still nothing.  At 7PM I had to go back
and
> refuel and was heading back out and met my sister-in-law and another
friend
> that lives at Leatherwood and Mark.  He and Romeo looked like they had
been
> ridden hard and put up wet.  My sister-in-law and our friend had picked up
> Mark's and Romeo's trail and thought they were tracking Tyrone.  Still
> nothing.  We stayed out until dark and called more people to look the next
> day, Tuesday.  By this time Debbie is a basket case and she called me at
7:15
> Tuesday morning. She had just gotten off the phone with a physic and was
told
> that Tyrone was fine but very lost and about 15 miles from where he
bolted.
> She described where Tyrone was and Debbie was very excited.  She then
called
> Mark and he told her of a place that sounded like what the physic had
> described.  It was just past where Mark had taken Romeo on Monday.  That
> morning, Tuesday, we had about 20 people out looking and again nothing.
Of
> course by now most people were on horse back and there were tracks
> everywhere.  Debbie had gone to the place where Mark had told her about
and
> said she could pick Tyrone's tracks out and said she thought she had found
> some but still no luck.  Again we were out all day and most of the night.
On
> Wednesday Debbie brought in a professional tracker but the dogs could not
get
> a scent.  Mark had gone to the area where Deb said she saw the tracks and
did
> find a set of tracks other than Romeo's.  By now everyone was exhausted
and
> starting to think that Tyrone was hung up in a thicket.  He was fully
tacked
> with biothane gear, saddle, a running martingale, waterbottles, heart
> monitor, and a 12ft lead rope attached because he had ran away the week
> earlier at another ride area and was gone for two hours before they found
> him.
>
> Thursday we went into the thickets on foot and up and down cliffs (now
> remember this is 5,000 plus acres).  Nothing, nothing ,nothing!!!!
Friday,
> after 2 more physics, another tracker, fliers to every radio station in
the
> area, newspapers, post offices, all law enforcement offices, Debbie was at
> rock bottom.  I have to say I have never seen someone put so much energy
and
> emotion into something as she did this. The weekend at Leatherwood was
fully
> booked for Memorial Day Weekend and there were about 60 riders that would
be
> out on the trails.  All were given information about this situation.  On
> Sunday our worst fears were starting to become a reality. Joan and Mark
were
> riding the area where Tyrone had disappeared and saw the buzzards
circling.
> They rode to the area but could not find anything.  The brush was
extremely
> dense with deep drop offs.  Monday, Memorial Day, we found nothing again.
>
> Debbie called Monday night and said she had a helicopter on standby for
> Tuesday morning and asked my opinion of this.  I told her the foliage was
> just to thick and she would be better off putting the money in a reward
and
> more fliers and start a door to door search beginning today, Tuesday.  She
> said other friends had told her the same thing.  I mean 9 days and
nothing.
> In this heat and humidity and with some of the worst storms we've had in 5
> years.  I said Deb, it's time to start thinking about the worst.  She was
> crying and it about broke my heart.
>
> Well, guess what!!!  This morning at about 9:30AM this damn horse popped
out
> of the woods at a dead gallop with two of our neighbors dogs chasing him!!
> Mark had just left our barn because he had forgotten his daily medicine
and
> had just pulled out of our barn driveway and here comes this horse flying
> down the road.  Mark's first thought was that someone else had been dumped
> and lost their horse.  He said he could not believe his eyes and in fact
> rubbed them twice to focus on this horse.  He stopped the car and stepped
out
> and yes, Tyrone stopped about fifty yards from him and started toward him
> very cautiously.  Now Mark is one of the best horse people I have ever
seen
> and is considered one of the best horse "connectors" (he hates the term
> horsewhisper) in the area.  As the horse approached him he said he turned
> toward our barn and started walking away from Tyrone.  Tyrone fell right
in
> stride with Mark and after about a hundred yards and time given for the
horse
> to regain his wits after being chased by dogs, Mark reached out and took
the
> lead line and walked him right into our barn.  In fact Mark said the horse
> was leading him to our barn.  With the exception of one saddle sore (about
> the size of a silver dollar) and 125 to 150lbs lighter, this horse did not
> have a scratch on him and was bright eyed.  He was fully tacked just as he
> was when he took off and yes Roger, the heart monitor was still in place
and
> working.  The saddle was moldy from all the rain but everything else was
> fine!!  Of course the reunion between Tyrone and Debbie was a tear jerker.
I
> had to walk out of the barn.
>
> NOW, the question is where has this horse been for 9 days?  We do have one
> theory and it's only a theory.  Remember me telling about blocking Tyrone
> with Romeo three weeks earlier.  Is it possible for this horse to have
been
> lost in the woods for a couple of days and then found Mark and Romeo's
trail
> and tracked it all the way out to where Debbie thought she recognized his
> tracks and then took five days to travel the 20 miles back to our barn?
And
> by the way, where Debbie saw his tracks is within a mile of the place the
> first physic had described where Tyrone was.
>
> All I can say is that a lot of prayers were answered and this is one tough
> little horse!!
> Hope I didn't bore you with this story and I'm not a writer like Angie and
> other writers on ridecamp but I had to tell it to people who know and love
> horses like we all do.
> BTW, guess who is sleeping on a cot outside of horse stall tonight!!!
>
> Phil Rash
> Spirit of the Mountain Farms
>
>
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