As a friend to Tina and someone who's continuously popping up in the storyline of this blog, I've taken on the responsibility of telling this portion of our story. Let me introduce myself, I am Rachel, mom to Tango and Henry, trainer to Jessie and Zach, and good friend/riding partner to Tina. I may post here and there when I'm called upon for a differing view or if I feel the need to make a statement to one of Tina's comments (sometimes our opposite point's of view lead to lovely heated debates, some may call them arguments, but no grudges are ever held so I feel they're debates :) )
So, as I was saying, I decided to take my sisters on a New Year's Eve ride at Stubb Stewart State Park. They had yet to go trail riding with me even though they have both ridden but I felt the experience would be a nice bonding time for us. We matched everyone to their comfort level with the horses, I would ride Tango; Justina would get Turbo since she's a little hesitant about the horses due to having an abnormal amount of "untimely dismounts" with previous horses, and Michelle would ride Drover since she's lighter then the rest of us and has her own horse with plenty of riding experience.
After picking the girls up, Tina called and informed me she coaxed her way into getting the rest of the day off work, so she would join us on this trip and get to ride Brownie. Now, at this point I must inform you that Brownie and I have a fond dislike of each other, we don't see eye to eye. I want to ride peacefully on a horse that does what I say, and Brownie doesn't feel the need to listen all the time and is stubborn as hell when it comes to getting his way, which you can imagine has led to some scraps between us. Neither has won in our ongoing fight but I've chosen to never put myself in the position having to ride him.
Anyway, back to the story. We loaded up and headed off to Stubbs. The day was beautiful and even though there was still snow in the ground up there we chose to go on with our ride. It was a bit tricky getting the truck and trailer up the steep him to the parking area and we didn't even making it to the designated horse area but we found a pull-out to stop at and we saddled up.
The ride was gorgeous, the hills were beautiful and the views were great, we were able to get up to Unfit Settlement view where the snow capped mountains went on for miles. We had some issues getting Drover over the mini creeks that had carved their way down the side of the hill in various spots but the rest of the ride went perfect.
As we were returning to the trailer we made our way along the ice covered road. We were almost to the trailer when disaster struck, Drover slipped and went down. My sister came off but wasn't hurt in the process. We all jumped off to see why Drover refused to get up. After several attempts to get him to stand up he got too close to the edge of the bank on the side of the road and he slid down into the crevasse, there he lay, completely stuck. Several cars stopped to help and the park ranger finally called the banks county fire department. Everyone made all the attempts to help him up but it wasn't enough. After every attempt he would collapse and lay back down. A vet was finally called after about 30 minutes of rescue attempts and the vet gave the ominous news, Drover had either dislocated or broke his hip falling down. His only option was euthanasia. This choice is the hardest decision for any horse owner, making the decision to give peace to a loyal friend. Even though Drover wasn't with us long his final months were with good pasture buddies, really good food and a final beautiful ride that made up the last chapter of his life.
We will miss you Drover and won't forget your sweet personality and friendly nickers for everyone.
-TBtrailrider
So, as I was saying, I decided to take my sisters on a New Year's Eve ride at Stubb Stewart State Park. They had yet to go trail riding with me even though they have both ridden but I felt the experience would be a nice bonding time for us. We matched everyone to their comfort level with the horses, I would ride Tango; Justina would get Turbo since she's a little hesitant about the horses due to having an abnormal amount of "untimely dismounts" with previous horses, and Michelle would ride Drover since she's lighter then the rest of us and has her own horse with plenty of riding experience.
After picking the girls up, Tina called and informed me she coaxed her way into getting the rest of the day off work, so she would join us on this trip and get to ride Brownie. Now, at this point I must inform you that Brownie and I have a fond dislike of each other, we don't see eye to eye. I want to ride peacefully on a horse that does what I say, and Brownie doesn't feel the need to listen all the time and is stubborn as hell when it comes to getting his way, which you can imagine has led to some scraps between us. Neither has won in our ongoing fight but I've chosen to never put myself in the position having to ride him.
Anyway, back to the story. We loaded up and headed off to Stubbs. The day was beautiful and even though there was still snow in the ground up there we chose to go on with our ride. It was a bit tricky getting the truck and trailer up the steep him to the parking area and we didn't even making it to the designated horse area but we found a pull-out to stop at and we saddled up.
The ride was gorgeous, the hills were beautiful and the views were great, we were able to get up to Unfit Settlement view where the snow capped mountains went on for miles. We had some issues getting Drover over the mini creeks that had carved their way down the side of the hill in various spots but the rest of the ride went perfect.
As we were returning to the trailer we made our way along the ice covered road. We were almost to the trailer when disaster struck, Drover slipped and went down. My sister came off but wasn't hurt in the process. We all jumped off to see why Drover refused to get up. After several attempts to get him to stand up he got too close to the edge of the bank on the side of the road and he slid down into the crevasse, there he lay, completely stuck. Several cars stopped to help and the park ranger finally called the banks county fire department. Everyone made all the attempts to help him up but it wasn't enough. After every attempt he would collapse and lay back down. A vet was finally called after about 30 minutes of rescue attempts and the vet gave the ominous news, Drover had either dislocated or broke his hip falling down. His only option was euthanasia. This choice is the hardest decision for any horse owner, making the decision to give peace to a loyal friend. Even though Drover wasn't with us long his final months were with good pasture buddies, really good food and a final beautiful ride that made up the last chapter of his life.
We will miss you Drover and won't forget your sweet personality and friendly nickers for everyone.
-TBtrailrider
