Brown County, Episode 1

 

 

We had a great weekend at Brown County. It was also the maiden voyage for the new horse trailer, which proved to be damn handy during the major down pour at about 4am on Sunday morning. We’d been pretty lucky in years past, as far as rain goes, but our luck ran out this trip. It had rained a ton prior to our arrival so the trails were pretty sloppy and mucky compared to how they’ve been in the past. One thing that made it cool, though, was that the little river beds were pretty full of water so we had some interesting water crossings and some decent scenery.




Things started off a little rough. The new trailer equaled issues getting one of the horses in. He’d never been in a trailer like ours before, which has an area in the back for saddles and stuff, and therefore allows for only a half door in the back. The trailer we used to have had one large back door that went the entire width of the horse area. So Sam the dummy wouldn’t go into the new trailer. It was my *brilliant idea to put Harley in first, so Sam would be more apt to go in if his friend was already in there.

 

*brilliant is used very figuratively here…

 

With a little fuss from even my easy horse though, Harley was in the front spot. A little more fuss and Sam was in, and we were off. About 45 minutes away from home Brian asked me what boots I brought to ride in. I had already realized this but had failed to 1) verbalize it or 2) come to terms with it… I had left home for a weekend of HORSEBACK RIDING with no boots. Zero, none at all. In fact, the only shoes I had were the ones on my feet, and they happened to be probably the worst possible option for a weekend of riding, in the mud. That’s where the new Black Berry came in handy. I googled a nearby Tractor Supply and after getting bad directions and going 8 miles the wrong way, we stopped and got some decent riding boots. It was actually a good thing, because I bought hiking/riding boots so they can serve a dual purpose. And I needed hiking boots anyway.

 

So without further ado, besides the 40 minute traffic jam, we got to Brown County. We got the trailer backed in relatively easily, and it was time to get the horses out (clears throat). Putting Sam in last wasn’t so brilliant after all. You see, besides doing that and forgetting my boots, I apparently left my brain at home with my morning coffee that I never had. I forgot entirely that Sam doesn’t know how to back out of a trailer. Remember that rear tack I was talking about? Yeah, that makes it literally physically impossible to turn a horse around and walk him out forward. It simply wasn’t going to happen. And he clearly was not going to back out.

Needless to say, we got him out… I was nerve racked and drenched in sweat, but he came out. It wasn’t pretty but no one (me or the horse, or Brian) got seriously hurt. Harley was much easier. He just backs out no problem. I think he was a little flustered from the whole experience. The first ride that evening was ok. The horses were a little obnoxious – not as calm and easy going as they usually are there. But it was still ok. Somehow Harley slipped out of his halter after we bedded him down for the night but it was no big deal. We caught him and immediately put the backup halter over the other one.

We had a few beers that night and got a good night sleep on the new matress. The next day went much smoother. The horses were still a little jumpy the first ride out that morning but settled into the regular mo-jo by afternoon. We returned to camp after about a 2 hour morning ride. Had some peanuts, a beer or two. Then we went out for an afternoon ride. Another 2 hours and we were back. We hung out for about another hour or so, and then went back out for an evening ride. When we got back to camp, we got the horses fed and cleaned up. Then we set up camp for the night. The Porterhouses went on the new campfire grill and dinner was on! Aside from the camp breakfast (eggs, sausage and hash browns all mixed up and cooked together), the Porterhouse dinner is another highlight. We had a really relaxing evening, enjoyed eachothers company, hung out by the fire, and went to bed.

At about 4am, we woke up to a tap tap tap on the top of the trailer. I layed there for a minute thinking, “Was that rain?” Just then, I figured it was definitley rain, and it actually started to rain quite hard. We ran outside and moved a few things around at the campsite and made sure the horses weren’t going to freak out. They seemed ok to stand in the rain – I imagine it probably felt good after 7 hours on the trails. So because there wasn’t a lot of lightning or thunder, or hail, or anything but just a lot of damn rain, they stood outside through it. We sure appreciated a dry place to sleep. With the amount of rain and the manner in which it was coming down, we were positively glad we weren’t in a tent at that point.

Sunday morning brought some mud and a little drying out, which was all bettered by our egg/sausage/hashbrown breakfast. We took the horses on quick easy trail ride (which was significantly muddier than the day before) and packed up camp. The ride home went pretty well (with the exception of the 40 minute traffic back up) and we made it back to the barn. This time Sam was in the front spot, which turned out to not really matter because he still couldn’t turn around. He still wouldn’t back up, but now we had more knowledge, more help, better ideas and more weapons. We ended up hooking two long longe lines to each side of his halter and pulling back on him from outside of the trailer, which was decidedly safer than going at it from inside the trailer, with the horse. He came out a little better than the first time. So it’s something we need to work on.

What did we come away with? A new pair of boots, more knowledge than I ever cared to have about how to get a stubborn (read: stupid) horse out of a trailer, a satisfied appetite, and another memory of a *successful trip to Brown County in the books.

*Figuratively speaking.