Subject: RE: [RC] [RC] [RC] LA
Gumbo Ride-horse lost for 29 hrs found
I was right behind Mary Ann when she went down. She was
out of my sight, but her horse was definitely moving fast when he left and
took a side trail. We would have gone after him ourselves, but he was
going that fast and, on top of the fact that my friend was riding a stallion,
we really thought that when her horse figured out that no one else was going
with him, he would head back to find other horses. Unfortunately, we
were wrong. I am still feeling guilty.
My friend and I
practically rode drag- coming in from the 55 after dark and claiming
turtle. We saw not a trace of evidence of this horse as we rode 17.5
miles of trail and were the last out that night.
I really hope that the
horse is fine after such a horrible experience and I know that Mary Ann was a
wreck- who could blame her?
The ride was wonderful except for
sink holes that would form in firm looking trail- one of which my friend and
her horse flipped over in- possibly breaking Jen's ankle- thank god not her
horse's. I think that is what probably happened to Mary Ann on this
trail- a sink hole upened up under the puddle she was going through. You
could see the bottom of most puddles- many of which you HAD to go through- no
way around- one of which is the one she went down in. In her defense,
she was not blindly walking through things- we rode with her for a
while.
I rode this entire ride with my heart in my throat- it is
horrible to feel like you might go down at a slow trot when sturdy-looking
ground just disappears out from under your horse's feet. My gelding and
I ate dirt twice- thank goodness we did not flip all the way over and he did
not break or hurt a leg. Mary Ann is a strong person to be able to
handle all that she did and I hope the best for her.
