Longstreet/ lost horse.

[Rides 2 Far <rides2far@juno.com>]

SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   "Z" was found during the race Saturday, by Roscoe
Weeks.  He'd been missing since Wednesday afternoon and considering what
he'd been through looked pretty decent.

I'll just give a few details, and maybe when I get around to writing
something about the ride may remember more.

Roscoe found him several miles down a dirt road headed out of the WMA. 
He went to an area where he'd never been ridden before and was grazing
near a field with cows.  I think his strongest need was for
companionship.

I would have expected the horse to be well fed and watered, just in
danger of being tangled with his tack or caught up in brush.  Instead, he
was VERY gaunt and dehydrated.  Even though he'd been ridden all over
that mountain many times, he hadn't gone to water.  He drained a couple
of buckets immediately when Roscoe caught him, and looked very drawn.

The saddle was over to the side and Roscoe said if it hadn't been for the
breast collar would have gone under him, then who knows what.  The pad
had worked out the back and was gone so it was loose enough to turn.  He
was sore on his withers, and galled between his legs from the girth and
breast collar. 

For those of you who want to use psychics, we may have one of our own. 
Roscoe admitted he'd dreamed the night before that he was going to find
that horse. >g<  Roscoe said the horse looked happy to see him and was
relieved to be caught.  He took off the tack, put some reins on the
halter and came driving up to camp ponying "Z" out the window of his
truck.  The horse wanted LOTS of water, and food, so a vet check was a
good place for him, but then he tried to tighten up and the vets gave him
some Banamine.  He'd been through a lot.  Every time I found tracks that
I felt were probably his he'd been galloping.  He was the pet of the vet
check all day and got tons of petting and fussing over.  Russel kept him
there near the vets until late afternoon and then took him home.

Running the ride without Russel was no picnic.  He's the guy we ask to do
*everything* and even though we knew we were dependent on him, we were
still surprised how bad we missed him.  He was as drained as a guy can be
and in a bit of a daze after 3 days of searching.

Anyway, happy ending.  The moral?  Ummm, I'm glad I ride with a breast
collar and crupper, treat a horse who's been lost like a horse who just
did a 100...very stressful, other riders really do understand and will
keep on looking until the horse is found.  The general community actually
*grasped* the danger of the situation and it was broadcast on radio AND
TV. Maybe I should actually hook those velcro tabs that hold the saddle
pad in place, even if it doesn't usually work back, the horse did follow
the rules given in TB for searching for a lost horse...for about 3 hours.
 He headed towards the way he'd been and downhill, but after that he just
went bonkers and went everywhere.  He didn't seem to return to the place
he'd been (the horsecamp) even though other horses were brought in to
camp and try to lure him in.  He headed somewhere new looking for
company.  Even though he'd been horribly spooked as an entire roll of
flagging was unrolled from his saddle, he never left the trail to run
cross country.  He pretty much seemed to stick to the roads and trails.

Anyway, maybe this will help somebody someday.

Angie McGhee

________________________________________________________________
YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET!
Juno now offers FREE Internet Access!
Try it today - there's no risk!  For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.