Re: A Story Worth Telling

["GESA BRINKS" <gesaeqfx@pe.net>]

Wow, Phil..what a story.  Im so glad that Tyrone is o.k.  That was quite a
horror story.  Thank goodness everything turned out fine.    I did a double
take on the name..it looks a lot like Tyler when ya first glance at it.  How
is the big boy doing?
The area where you live and ride sounds so beautiful.  Hopefully some day I
can come out and ride your ride.  That would be sooooo cool.   It sounds
like your ride was a great hit too.  Look forward to reading Tyler's name in
the ride results in the next few years.  Good luck to ya'll and give my
regards to Mark and your wife and Mark's sister.
gesa n clovis n sky
-----Original Message-----
From: RBluebirdpr@aol.com <RBluebirdpr@aol.com>
To: ridecamp@endurance.net <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Date: Tuesday, May 30, 2000 8:01 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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