August 18-20, 2009 Medora
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 We moved trailers first and left a saddled horse at the point where we ended the ride on Monday. Bob’s horse, one of the three horses that have ridden every step of the way has muscle and nerve damage in a shoulder and can’t be ridden. I am sure Bob is disappointed! He can ride other horses and still be a long rider. Now we have 2 horses that have gone every step of the way from Mexico to here: James Brown’s Paint, Rocker Man, and Bobby Horton’s Vegas who was bred by the previous owner Johnny Warmbrod of Belvedere, TN. Johnny has a reputation of breeding and promoting the old style of Tennessee Walking Horses prior to the “big lick” show horses. Vegas ha a short back and is a “short lick” TWH. So we continued on to the Logging Camp Resort. We parked our trailers in a huge field and were taken in trucks back to our horses. We finally got started on our ride about 11:00. Then we had our 50 minutes lunch break after an hour of riding. This left the rest of the 22 miles…. Dakota let me know he was hurting when he had to go up and down into the ditch and out. I decided not to ride him farther. But what to do? I didn’t want to end my record of riding every step of the way. We worked out that Terry – who joined us late – would go with Janis back to camp in the water truck and get my trailer and Cisco. Jim had the bright plan to stay with Dakota who was left tied to a pole. Bobby rode Jim’s horse and I rode Vegas, Bobby’s horse. When Terry returned, he passed us, picked up Dakota and Jim and met us again. He parked at the top of a hill where Jennifer, a local rancher and our guide, was waiting to take us across pastures. Jim had the saddle off of Dakota and on Cisco before we got there. Thank you, Jim – and Terry, Bobby, Janis and Dale who drove my trailer back to camp with Dakota. Jim rode with us back into camp.
Dakota probably has a sore muscle in his left hip. I rubbed Absorbine on all legs and up to his backbone on that sore leg. I will give him a few days off.
Our camp is full! Bud has returned! And he brought Bonnie, his wife, with him. Welcome back! Candy and John have returned bringing another horse for Candy to ride. Nate and Chris returned yesterday. And David returned after being gone a few days. It is great to see old friends again. And we have more puppies. Tammy’s pup is really growing, Paula got a puppy, and David showed up with a puppy from the Stearns ranch. We may end up with more dogs than horses!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 Dakota walks straight okay but is gimpy when I turn him. So I gave him some Butte – horse aspirin – and more Absorbine. I got Cisco saddled just before Tom drove around telling us that the ride will start at 8:30 to let the drizzle move out. So I put Cisco in the horse trailer to keep my saddle dry.
The rain quit and we left the Logging Camp Ranch on dirt roads. The scenery was spectacular! Deep canyons, steep hills/mountains, nice valleys. The tops of most cliffs are pink/orange/red. Apparently eons ago there was a layer of coal under the top and this coal caught fire and burned for many, many years. The heat caused the top layer to turn colors and baked it so it is like ceramic and called scorbia. It is the material of choice for road building.. Very interesting….
We got to a point about 11 or 12 miles from Medora and were met by the horse trailers. All but 2 of the horses fit on the trailers. Tammy had missed about 10 miles a few days before and was planning on riding extra miles to make this up. So she and Bobby rode into town. They ended up riding almost 30 miles that day! Jim, Wayne, and James drove out to the Logging Camp and brought the 2 riders’ rigs into Medora. See, we take care of each other. We are staying in a field near the City Park and swimming pool.
I am ending this so I can post it. More on Medora next time.
Happy Trails,
Nancy
I am sure after so many towns etc it is not easy to keep track of where you really are….So FYI you are not in nor near Medina. You are in Medora. Medina is in the eastern part of ND. Good luck with your ride and horses.
You are so right. I realized my mistake and have planned to correct it but I have not been able to get on the internet until today. Thanks for pointing this out.
N.
Nancy, so only two of the original core horses have made it so far. . . ? I’m surprised at that! That tells me then that for a ride of that distance a core rider would need (say) two horses dedicated to the ride. Is it possible for a core rider to have “sponsors” to pay for all of your expenses? But even at that, each core rider would have to have some kind of $100,000 RV rig just for a place to eat and sleep . . . Right? I’m thinking of the possible future ride into the Yucon. Happy Trails, Austin.
Austin,
You are right that only 2 horses have been ridden the whole way from the Mexican border. Nancy J, Julie, and I brought 2 horses. I felt like I had put in time money, effort, etc and planned to do the complete ride. I didn’t want a saddle sore or anything with my horse to stop me. As it turns out, people ride other’s horses. Many people only ride on the days with beautiful scenery or short rides near camp so they let others ride their horses. Some have left injuried horses in a pasture or boarding facility along the way. They will collect these horses on the way home. Others have bought new horses. I sold 2-Bits to Tammy and bought Dakota. I still have Cisco. It has worked well for me to be able to alternate horses.
Some people have sponsors. One guy has Purina coupons to help with feed costs. Julie has several sponsors. I wanted sponsors but live in a rural area. The feed store might have been able to give me a bag of feed. That is not much so I just do the best I can and save money as I can. I feed more feed and a better quality feed – Purina Stragedy – and alfalfa hay instead of grass hay so my feed costs are somewhat more. My food is simple and I brought beans and grains from home so my food costs are less than at home – even though Duke is sometimes appalled at my Wal-Mart charges.
We were all required to have full living quarters for this ride – no tents. One came with only a weekend package – small refirgerator, no bath,etc. Life was hard for them. Another 2 have come with a livestock trailer. I don’t know how they survive. Some invite them to use their showers. I barely make it with water so I have not offered. I bought a used 2000 trailer and have enjoyed it. You don’t have to spend 1000K for a fancy trailer. I looked for an 8ft wide, 3 horse slant, with a 6.0 cu ft refrigerator, a dinette for my pc, and a full bath room. There are deals out there….
I may do a seminar about equipment, tack, etc that works for me on this ride….
Happy Tails,
Nancy
I’m Liz and Kathy Baldwin sister in law Please let them know were excited to hear all about their trip. Have fun the next two weeks. Take care
Love Sarah & Jim Baldwin
The Dakotas sound like a very interesting part of this country. Too bad about the horse that had been the whole way until now having to be pulled. I’m sure that is a huge disappointment to is owner. But all in all, it sounds like the fun is still going on!
WOW! You guys are almost there. Sorry to hear about Dakota. Makes you wonder about the old days and how they got to where they did on a daily basis. Keep on the Sunny Side and keep posting.
I applaud all of you for your courage in this trip.
I especially applaud Paula Nobles-Fraley ( from
Heltonville, IN.) for her courage at 57 yrs. old.
All of us at that age dream of a trip like that, but
SHE actually is doing it! WAY TO GO PAULA !!
Thank you also for your service in the Army Reserves.
Have a safe trip ( may God watch over you all and your horses )!
Paula is not the oldest female on the trip. Sandy Gifford and I are 69 and Liz is 71 or 72. We are all pioneers!
Hey Nancy,
Thanks for filling us in on your ride. Sorry about Dakota. Give him a beer.(Willy would). Say hi to my sisters Kathy Baldwin and Liz Malcome and don’t play cards with em, they cheat. And don’t give em Gin, they get crazy and start telling woppers. And I’m gonna stop now and duck cause I can already hear Kathy’s ufanisms (sp?) coming my way for imparting such wisdom your way.
Stay in the saddle, shake out your boots in the morning, and don’t drink Kathy’s coffee.
Jimbo