[RC] Things I learned at Bryce Canyon - Laura Hayes
I just got home from Bryce Canyon XP after two days
of travel and sleeping overnight on a bench in the Denver airport. I
am tired, sunburned and dirty (the bath is running) and feeling extremely
fortunate that I live such a charmed life.
Not only was the scenery breathtakingly beautiful,
but I am blessed with a family who allows me to abandon them for ten days and
ride 2000 miles from home, friends who loan me horses to ride, feed and house
me, and others who drive thier horse trailer into the Las Vegas
airport to drop me off! Life is good!
Thanks to Cathy Grimes who picked me up at the
Denver airport, Bobbi Richine who loaned me the marvelous stallion
"Stanley" to ride for two days, and housed me on cold nights, John Parke
who loaned me my 'birthday pony' Skojldur to ride, and took me to Las Vegas to
catch a plane home, Sue and Skip Dyke who provided me with coffee, a
helmet, a crop and thier friendship, and of course, Annie and Dave who put on
these fabulous rides as well as taking good care of the gypsies like me that
just wander in from so far away.
Things I learned:
1. There are some things more important than
crossing the line first....there were at least two people at this ride who rode
despite HUGE physical problems. They did it because they love the view from the
top of a horse. I was reminded to not take my good health for
granted.
2. Chivalry DOES exist. On day two a
potentially devistating accident sent 7 horses missing on a remote trail. I will
leave the story for someone who was there, but the edited version is that a
horse got loose on a narrow trail and spooked other horses and several went off
without their riders to be lost for as much as 36 hours. All are ok and
found now.... At any rate, when this happened, John Parke's Skojldur was
found not too much later, heading back for camp. Don Funk's Geronimo, a
Mustang stallion, was still missing the next day and John, who is in competition
with Don for National High Mileage horse, took Skojldur out in the forest to
look for Geo instead of riding the ride that day. THAT is sportsmanship
and caring. I learned that I am extremely proud to be friends with people
of such caliber.
3. It is better to ride a slow horse on an
incredible trail than a fast horse anywhere. This is a new concept to me
and I am embracing it.
4. An Equpedic pad makes a good bed on a
bench at an airport. The jury is still out about how it performs on the
horse!
