Canada!! At Last!! But a Sad Ending!!
Written by admin on September 26, 2008 – 1:01 am -Monday, September 15th, 2008
I got up this morning, not knowing what bad issues were to follow. It was a nice, brisk morning, but warmer than the previous 3-4 days. I went outside and untied Soldier from the trailer and retied him to the camper, to get him ready for the days ride to the border. I was going to ride Soldier, because he is the only horse that has gone with us all the way since the start. I went around on the other side of the horse trailer where I had Blackie tied to check on him and get him ready to give him some hay. That is where the heart sickening event started. I noticed he was standing still on 3 legs and had his left rear leg “hiked” as if resting it. Then I noticed some blood on the ground and went over to check the foot. He reacted in pain when I tried moving the hoof. I knew there was a serious issue and told Paul and Kathy about it. I then got into the pickup and drove to the local vet, who was just a quarter of a mile on down the road (I had spotted it yesterday on our exploring trip). It was almost 8:00 and no one was there when I got there, but instantly, the vet tech drove up. I told her of our issue and would like for her vet to see the horse. She said her vet wasn’t there and was closing down his business, but she would try to get someone else. That is what she did. She contacted another vet that was 30 miles away and indicated that he would be there as soon as he could. He must have disregarded the speed limit because he was there in less than 30 minutes. He took one look and said it was “broken”. Wow!! You could have hit me with a sledge hammer and done less damage that what my heart felt like at that moment. I wouldn’t take his word, and asked if he could take an x-ray. The local tech said she had a portable unit and would go and get it. He took the pictures and they had them developed in less than 10 minutes with the results. Yep….you could clearly see a compound fracture (it had broken through the skin in one place) and the vet said there were a lot of fractured pieces in with it. I really felt sick when I saw that x-ray. Blackie had been such a great trail horse and you can tell by my previous blogs just how well he traveled the trails. I called Robyn (my daughter) and she called Mark (my son-in-law) to see what he wanted to do. Mark asked first if I was O.K., then said that if needed, go ahead and put him down (which the vet recommended). I said O.K. and then told the vet. He said to try to get Blackie back in the trailer and take him to his office, 30 miles away and he would take care of him for us. Blackie was still very strong. He learned instantly not to put any weight on that leg and with a little effort, stepped and jumped with his back single leg into the trailer. We then trailered him to the vet’s office and once there, Blackie hopped out of the trailer with just a little coaxing, still trying to please his rider. I couldn’t stay to see the vet put him down, so Paul and I left with a lead rope, halter, and a few pieces of his mane which the vet cut off for us (I later gave to Laekyn, my granddaughter who had requested it). It was definitely a “black Monday” for us.
There wasn’t much we could do but to mourn our loss, but I decided that we have to go ahead and complete what we had started so about 2:36 p.m., I crossed the Canadian border riding Soldier. I first drove to the US customs side and visited with our customs agents and told them what I was doing and requested their help in trying to complete it. I didn’t want to break any rules or regulations. They called the Canadian side and explained the task to them. He said the Canadian agents said to “come on across with your horse”. I then drove back to the trailer, unloaded Soldier and rode the last few miles to the border. Kathy and Paul had already driven back and were waiting for me. I rode up on the US side and showed him my passport. He waived us all across. The Canadian agents were waiting on the other side and when I got there, I handed him my passport. He took the passports inside and then came back out. I asked him if we could take some pictures and then we would head on back to the US side. He said “no problem” and even went with us to take our pictures underneath the “Welcome to Alberta” sign. After that, I left Kathy ride Soldier back and on to the trailer while Paul and I cleared with the customs agents, again. The Canadian agents gave us some Canadian flag pins, a box of doughnuts, and one of their Canadian Custom soldier patches. The US agents gave me one of their US Agents soldier patches and logged us into their computer.
Blackie was still on our minds, and that took away a lot of any celebration that we had planned (champaign, etc.), so we just loaded up and started our drive back home. We reached Antlers, Oklahoma 2050 miles and 3 days later. Even though the ride is over, it seems like it hadn’t even happened, except for the absence of Blackie. I made it back with Pepe and Soldier, both in real good shape. Mark helped me sell Zena while a stopover at their place in Clayton, New Mexico to a local who needed an easy going horse for his job of riding the pens at a local feed lot. Daisy was healing well and stayed on at Mark and Robyn’s place. Kathy and Paul are staying with me for awhile in Antlers, just being able to relax and recouperate from the long ride. Some logistical statistics. We drove over 6,000 miles per vehicle; the total cost was almost $14,000 of which almost $8,000 was in gas, alone. The rest of our costs are broken into other categories (food for horse and selves, other misc expenses). I rode over 1,500 miles and the trip was 3 months long. I’m planning my next adventure. See you on the trails.
Posted in Continental Divide Trail |Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
