Beautiful weather, Joy and I were so sick of arena riding so we planned to go to a fun little poker ride. I wanted to get there by 8:30 or 9:00 am to get good parking and let Joy settle down. Our last little outing was the late July trip for a moonlight ride ( that wasn't) at Celebration Park. That trip was a disaster.
We should have been warned by the solid bank of cloud cover to the southwest as we loaded up at the barn. I hitched my trailer but didn't get the latch sleeve on right. I meant to fix it at the tack shed but forgot. You can guess where this is going. The truck was not tracking and it felt like the trailer was wandering all over the road on the curves. The park "road" to the trailhead was very rough and suddenly the trailer bounced off of the hitch. Poor Joy was dumped forward into the manger and the back was way up in the air.
We had to unload her from that precarious position first before we could rehitch the trailer to the truck. Shaylyne led her up to the other horses Jaz and Blackie. Joy was saddled up with difficulty and we set off on what I thought would be a smooth wide path trail but it was nothing but. The road was rock hard,stony with lots of big holes. A English setter not under the control of his young owners ran at us and was jumping and snapping right in Jazzy's face. We got past him and started on the lava rock strewn trail to the falls. And darkness soon fell.
No full moon total cloud cover rising wind and the threat of rain. Joy kept dropping into holes and I could see nothing at all below her shoulder. The big boulders we brushed past would knock my feet back and twist my knees. We couldn't find the trail out and Jazzy was ready to just go cross country to the parking lot. At this point I was ready to dismount, hunker down and wait it out till dawn. God sent a couple fishermen on foot to lead us out safely. I did not enjoy riding in the dark, I was terrified that Joy would get seriously hurt which brings into question if I ever will be an endurance rider. All 100 mile rides and many if not most 50's require being on the trail at night. Maybe they have a 100 mile ride in Alaska during the summer, too bad hauling up there would be impossibly expensive :-). Joy loaded back up but was jumping around in the trailer before I could get to the cab and get us rolling.
So with a late start yesterday for the ride I found all the parking lots filled and had to park at the very edge of the lot right next to the main road. The Drill Team had run out of entry forms before the event started there were so many people. Joy unloaded and was all bug-eyed and high at all the commotion. She had seen her bff Jazzy leave the barn before we did and was calling for her gal pal who wasn't there. Jaz and Carrie went to the Boise front to ride that morning. I tied her to the trailer to let her calm down. The lot and event grew even busier.
By now there were lots of loose dogs, motorcycle riders, atvs, occasionally even loose horses. I saw a few SWTDR people I knew but no one who was riding a slow turtle walker like Joy. The poker ride turned into a lunch and let's train on staying tied to the trailer lesson. Actually she did very well after the first 15 minutes. Joy was still very alert but soon would only call to people who rode by right next to her. When I would check on her she would delicately paw the ground but didn't dig any big trenches like she did in Oregon at the 4H clinic. That day we just put some hobbles on her and I had already shown her I was packing the nylon web foreleg restraints. I had a BBQ lunch and visited with friends of a friend, won a silly little raffle trinket my mom will love and we loaded up to go home after about 3 hours. I had to back up to get out and couldn't turn back the way we came in so headed further up the road hoping I could find a turn out. All the space I could see was filled with other trucks and trailers. I asked a lady on a palomino if the lot she was at the entrance to could be navigated by my rig to get turned around. She says yes as soon as we move our truck and we are ready to go. I should have wondered how she could be ready to go with her still mounted but pulled in anyway.
The road out was blocked and I was parked on a slope so I couldn't leave the cab because even with the emergency brake I would roll back unless my foot was stomping the brake to the floor. The group was nowhere near leaving and Joy began flipping out in the trailer. On her third tantrum she climbed into the feed manger and someone in that group finally jumped into their truck and backed it up enough to let us pass and get out. Joy unloaded so fast at the barn she didn't even do her little spin and walk out forward trick. She was happy to be home and back with her precious Bonnie.
