A group of riders ahead of us make a wrong turn. They end up doubling back and are heading right for me and America. This is not good cause my horse is in a gallop and we have a left hand 90 degree turn coming up on a very narrow trail. The riders who made the wrong turn have a right one to correct their error, and we all meet at the intersection. Nobody slows down. Whooosh, man, America came so close to de-horsing and quite possibly decapitating that one lady! This is nuts. America is on fire. I'm breathing so hard and fast I feel myself hyperventilating. My mind speaks to my lungs, "Slow down, not so fast. In, out, in, out, take it easy." The lungs reply, "Yea, right, how bout telling that to the lunatic we're riding?"
I say heck with it all as far as pulling him back, and when we get to that open field, I let him go. We pass all of the riders close to us in a supersonic speed that I'd estimate to be Mach 1.5. As we break the sound barrier, the glass windows in all of the houses within a 5 mile radius shatter completely. Later, on the news that evening, reporters from Atlanta, who traveled to the tiny town of Hahira, along with their trusty cameramen and crews, try and discover what it was that caused this earth shattering phenomena.
Some of the locals suggested alien space travel; another said it was the Government experimenting with warp drive space traveling war ships in preparation for the disintegration of Saddam Hussein, Bin Laden, Iran, North Korea and any other place that was pissing George off at the moment. NASA and the US Military both proclaimed no knowledge of any aircraft or spaceship in the Hahira area that could have caused such an occurrence.
There was one fellow on the TV that night, a local Haharian who'd lived there all his life, who came closest to explaining what really happened. He was kind of stuttering, he was so excited and nervous being on television and all. This is what he said: "I saw it go by, in a flash, along that farm field behind my back yard while I was out feeding the chickens. I gotta real good look. It was a two headed 2,000 pound white jackrabbit, with spots. One of the rabbit's heads, the smaller one, looked kind of human. The head resembled Harry Potter wearing a black space helmet. My kids just love that movie, we watch it all the time. Anyway, this two headed jackrabbit had an afterburner jet engine coming out of it's rear end and it was on fire. I ain't never seen nothing like it. I think the Army is making this thing to take into the desert so they can wipe out Bin Laden and his gang. God Bless America. USA, USA, USA!" At least this fellow got the America part right.
Somehow, there is a group of three riders still ahead of us. I pull back on America because we're getting close to the end of the field and in an area where there are homes, all with shattered windows for some reason, on one side of the trail. Along with these homes there are running, unchained, barking dogs. We make another 90 degree right hand turn in the canter. His movement is so fluid in the turn, I feel as though I'm in a dream. We have circumnavigated reality and America has taken me, with him, into another dimension. Time and speed are not as they once were. We have entered the world of hyper-horse space.
We go like this, call it a gallop if you like (it's really warp drive), for at least 5 miles. I finally get America to slow down into a canter and get a chance to look behind me. I don't see Jen, so, this is where I decide to stop (yea, right) and wait. A couple of riders pass us and America tries to take off on me, again. I put him in a 180 turn, so we can wait for Jennifer. I feel him trying to rear up on me and quickly place my hand above the withers to prevent this while simultaneously yelling at him, "NOOOOOOOOOOOO." I spot Jen, and we trot out towards her. When she's close enough I ask her if everything is "OK", and she responds "You Bet," so I turn him around, and off we go.
The weather is brisk and chilly this morning. Low 50's would be my guess. The sky is overcast and it does feel like rain will be falling sometime during the day. But, for now, the clouds retain their water and there is a cool breeze generated by the speed of our War birds, cantering side by side, two horses who look like brothers: America and War Cry. Even though our noble, warrior President does not ride a horse, I'd like to think he would be quite proud.
Global Warming is vacationing near my house in Florida this autumn, residing in a dilapidated condo on beachside. When I left Florida it was over 80 degrees and it's been that way through most of October, into early November. None of my horses has developed much of a coat at all. I do believe this is why they are both on fire today. War Cry can travel at any speed when he has the flea on his back, but, it is America who is setting the pace today. When no other horse or rider is in site, ahead of him, I finally get him to back off and he goes into an extended trot that covers over 9 feet per stride (yes, I have measured). When it comes to covering ground quickly, in a sport with trails that go on forever, this horse is about as close to perfection there is.
As we continue down the trail, mostly in the canter with an occasional trot, the rain clouds open up. Cold, icy water falls from the sky, above our heads, in buckets. The temperature drops considerably and I find myself wishing I would have packed a rain coat. By the time we pull into the away vet check Jen and I are soaked to the bone. Those three riders who were ahead of us are now trotting their horses out for the vet. I'm quite amazed anyone is riding faster than us today. I plan on slowing down.
I remove America's saddle even though it's not required and start fumbling for the vet cards. The rain is coming down very hard. This is so much fun I'm having difficulty putting it into words what a great time I'm having right at this moment. Susan Kasemeyer comes in, goes by me, jumps off her horse and gets a volunteer to take her horse's pulse. Man, she slipped right by me and Jen. Her horse must have an afterburner, also.
We get thru the vet check quickly. Erica is there helping out one of the two vets. She tells me my vet card is soaked and I have to get a new one. My wife loves bossing me around, especially in public. As we wait for our out time, the horses eat their hay and beet pulp aggressively. I really believe if your horse is not a voracious eater he might not make a good endurance prospect. Just my feeling, keep in mind I know absolutely nothing, but eating's important. After awhile a few more riders come in. I'm not a big fan of away vet checks, especially standing under a tree in the pouring rain, but one thing I do like about them is they help keep the vet lines down. This is a good thing, especially at a big ride.
