New Mexico Renegade ... the bad day.

["Steph Teeter" <step@fsr.com>]

Wednesday dawned cloudy and cool - nothing nasty, actually
less stressful riding weather for the horses.  We started late (8am) after
Tuesday night's foray into Mexico. Snip and Fantastic felt great,
nice working trot, loose rein, walked when asked to. We were
travelling along the border most of the morning. The US Border
Patrol is building a road along the border - widening,  putting
in culverts, ect. and they were going at it as we rode. We came
upon the first big dozer and truck full of army-clad workers.
Fantastic scooted around them, and then Snip scooted - but
scooted even farther when a few of the guys waved from the
top of the truck. He scooted into a string of construction/survey
tape and panicked when it wrapped around his hind legs. He
pretty much went ballistic - John hung on for a while, but the
saddle slid to the side and he came off, and couldn't hang 
on to Snip - who went flying back down the border with the
saddle flopping sideways and under him. Our mare, Quicksilver,
was back at camp and that may have had something to do
with his determination to head back - but he was definitely
going. A few riders tried to catch him but only managed to 
send him away from the border and across the desert in 
a straighter line to camp. (a very lucky thing, since he managed
to avoid the fences this way!)

What a horrible feeling! We were at least 8 miles into the ride,
Snip was in panic mode, blazing away from us - saddle flopping
under him - and lots of barbed wire fences between him and
basecamp.  After I got Fantastic calmed down we figured I'd
better boogie back to camp, see if Snip made it - and in what
shape he was in. John started walking and I took off at a
barely controlled trot. Passed a few folks on the way that
had seen Snip, but couldn't catch him. He still had the saddle
at that point.  I made it back to camp in about 40 minutes 
(almost got spooked off halfway there!) - saw Snip's tracks 
coming out of the mesquite and onto the dirt access road - 
somehow he managed to avoid the fences and concertina
wire (yes this is border country!).  When I got back, there
was Snip, tied to a trailer - and there was John! He had gotten
a ride from a border patrol guy - and beat me by 15 minutes.
Snip was ok - inside hind legs dinged up, but nothing major,
amazingly enough. But no saddle. 

By then it was 10:00 - two hours since we started, and we're
back at camp in Columbus. We figured we still had 12 hours
to do the 60 miles, so heck, why not try again. There were still 
a few trailers in camp (most had already been moved to the next
base camp) and we managed to find another saddle in Jim Barnett's
rig. We figured Jim wouldn't mind, so saddled up and away
we went again. We planned to search for the ill-fated Ortho-Flex
on our way back out. As we were leaving, the border patrol guy
drove back by - we asked him if he could drive out and help
find the saddle - no problem! Nothing better to do. He drove
out, we rode and found his rig parked by the edge of the field - 
and saw him way out in the distance carrying the saddle over
his shoulder. What a great guy! The saddle wasn't totally trashed,
but ... close. The stirrups and leathers had been almost torn off
the tree - they must have gotten hung up on something. The billet
leathers were what finally broke (they were already in need of
repair, and their weakness was probably a good thing since Snip
was finally able to bust out of the saddle). Btw - since then John
has received advice from Les Carr to always use a breast collar to
prevent a saddle from slipping under the horse's belly. Good advice!

So now it's 10:30 ... sure, we can still make it. We're feeling
better, the horses feel remarkably good - we make it past
the first danger zone, start to relax, pass a few more scary
dozers and then Snip went lame. Hind leg - probably where it
got dinged up - maybe wrenched something trying to lose the
saddle. So ... what now? It's 11:30, and we're wondering if
anybody will even be left at the vet check (which was only 22
miles into the ride). John is going to have to walk Snip in the
remaining 12 miles. We figure our best bet was for me to ride
fast for the vetcheck and make sure there was still a rig there
to trailer Snip in the rest of the way. So, once again, off we go!
Fantastic was .... fantastic. He sensed my energy and just 
took me there. A few spooks at construction sites when guys
popped up out of ditches to see what was flying by - but mostly
he was all business. 

We got to the road into the vet check (another 2 miles in) just
as Jim Barnett was driving out. Told him the story, and he headed
back to tell everyone not to leave. They had assumed we would
pull back in Columbus and were packed up and heading out! 
I got there just before the last riders (Trilby, Sandra and Julie) 
were headed out on the final 38 mile loop. Les Carr had pulled
his horse (mild colic) so offered to pick up John and trailer Snip
in. Randy and Jim drove out to try to locate John and let him
know they'd be coming for him. Fantastic had been on the trail,
working pretty darn hard, for 4 hours, but really looked pretty
good. So I decided to give him the hour hold plus a little extra
time to fuel up and then try to catch up with Trilby et al.  Kat
Swigart's father, Jack, stayed around to help me - it was cold
and blowing and I really appreciated his help!  And thanks to
Nancy (vet) for waiting an extra hour to make sure Fantastic was
ok, and help me find my way out of the maze of corrals and
gates and back onto the trail.

So 2:00 - and I'm headed out to do another 38 miles. Gonna be
a long cold night I'm thinking... I got out in the open range and
could see Trilby's group at the base of the pass - headed up the
mountain. Snow/hail showers on the horizon in every direction, but
somehow they managed to miss us. I got to the next cow tank - 
water stop - about 10 minutes after Trilby. ... more cows all 
around :(  Fantastic was really thirsty, so drank well despite
the hundreds of eyes on him. Most of the cows were lying down,
so not very threatening. I was leading him away from the water,
decided to lead him through the cows and mount after we left
them. Got right in the middle of them and they all stood up at
once! Poor Fantastic - it was too much and I didn't have a good
enough grip on the reins - so off he goes! Shit!!! Fortunately he
had seen the other horses up the side of the mountain so ran
straight for them. Julie grabbed him, he really didn't want to leave
them anyway, I caught up with them, got back on and Sandra
noticed that he had lost an easyboot. Must have twisted off
when he bolted. So ... they waited while I walked back and
found the easyboot - put it back on - and FINALLY got going
again. 

The remainder of the day/night was long, but uneventful. This
was my first time ever to ride with Trilby Pederson. In case any
of you don't know Trilby, she is 65 years old and has 47,000 career 
miles! After her racing days, she settle down to become the mileage 
queen. She rides tail end, several thousand miles a year, and almost 
always on the same horse. Incredible style and horsemanship. So even
though I really really hate riding slow, I decided it was time to
ride with Trilby, and didn't think heading out on my own was a
very good idea considering the day's events. Trilby has a million
stories to tell, Julie and Sandra (from northern CA) were great
company - lots of fun, we actually had a great time. The sky
cleared, stars came out, beautiful sunset - and riding slow enough
to enjoy it all.  We arrived a little before 9pm - hooting and hollering,
and FREEZING! I don't remember ever being so cold. The footing
was too rough to get off in the dark, so we just stayed mounted
and walked in the last couple hours in the dark.  13 hours after
we started, and only one 60 minute hold - Fantastic's pulse
was 40 - he looked terrific - and I'm now totally bonded to this
horse. Looks like I'm going to have to take him home with me :)

Well, that was the big day ... but there's still a little more bad
luck to come! - later,

Steph





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