WSTF Fun Ride III

[JCMaretti <JCMaretti@aol.com>]

       Thank you everybody for the kind phone calls and letters. I am John
Maretti, the extremely lucky rider who fell off the cliff at the WSTF Fun Ride
III.  Kahlua and I had some pretty good guardian angels on Saturday.  She is
going to recover 100%.  Although she is still understandibly a little sore, if
I would allow her to be put out with her usual buddies in the pasture, I am
sure she would be romping and playing as usual.  Without a little luck and a
lot of help from fellow riders, this story could have had a very different
ending.

     Linda from San Francisco brings up a good point about what emergency
supplies to carry while riding.  I am a Chico Firefighter/EMT and consider
myself to be well prepared for most emergencies. I regularly ride sweep for
Tevis and other rides. I always carry my ham radio, easy boot, hoof pick,
water bottles (even on a day where you don't think you will be thirsty, they
can be used to clean a wound.) wire cutters, swiss army knife, parachute cord,
veterinary thermometer, stethoscope, 2 ace bandages (vet wraps get old and
stick together), medical tape, bandages, Bute and Banamine.  When I am riding
sweep for Tevis I add some thin rappelling rope with the appropriate climbing
hardware in case some poor fool falls down a cliff...  Unfortunately, on the
day in question I was trying out my wife's new saddle and did not bother to
switch all my safety gear.  Thank God I carried my ham radio!  Fellow riders
were extremely helpful - literally offering the shirts off their back to use
as dressings. I had already taken mine off and was using it on the most severe
of her wounds. You hate to be paranoid and you can't bring everything with
you, but it sure helps to prepare for the possibility of an accident. I just
always thought that I would be using my emergency supplies on somebody else!