Rocky’s Web

Archive for September, 2008

Canada!! At Last!! But a Sad Ending!!

Monday, September 15^th, 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.

Final Camp

Saturday/Sunday September 13,14^th 2008

We traveled through Valarie and into Cut Bank, Montana.  Another front came through and it rained most of Saturday night.  It was 40 degrees this morning (Sunday) with a chill factor of in the 30’s.  We used the delay to scout ahead and find a place to stay at Cut Bank.  We had lunch at McDonalds (in Cut Bank).  Don’t stop there for lunch!!  It took us over 20 minutes, after we ordered, to get a couple of hamburgers.  Everyone was complaining.  We prepared for out last leg into Canada Monday, September 15^th.  We were able to park in a vacant lot going north out of town to the border crossing.  Saturday night we stayed in Valarie and rode the 27 miles into Cut Bank. 

Onward……

Friday, September 12th, 2008
I left Choteau at about 8:45 this morning and plan on doing 22 miles. It was 48 degrees this morning, so it is starting to warm up a bit. I’m riding Blackie (I didn’t realize it would be the last time) and he is doing good on the shoulders of the road. He still wants to reach down and try to eat grass every 20 yards, but I keep trying to keep his head up and keep him going until I want him to eat. He still gets the best of me (ha). I’m riding on Hwy 89, headed towards Bynum, where I’ll meet the crew for lunch. About 11:00 I passed another Colony (the katural Colony). If nothing else on this ride, I got educated on the Colonies of Montana. They have a web site and it is quite an education reading about them. When I got to Bynum, Paul and Kathy had already visited with John (who runs the local museum) and got permission to stop on his parking area to wait for me. It seems John’s wife was the Palentologist that discovered the dinosaur egg that Egg Mountain was named after. There is a lot of historic digs going on in this part of Montana and a lot of prehistoric animal bones and fossils being found here. I ended the day at a roadside rest area outside of Dupree. John Henley (who works for the state and maintains the rest area) stopped by and we had a good chat. He said to just not tie the horses to the trees (we ended up tying them to the fence posts for the night). He also said that there is no problem with the horses and camping there, that we would be fine. It was a nice evening and we watched the sun set over the mountains of Montana after having a great BBQ dinner which Paul did on his grill. It looks like 3 more days and we should be at the border. We also learned that Glacier National Park was closing this Sunday for the season because of the early snow and closed roads. I guess we’ll miss sightseeing, there.

Back on the Road

Today is Thursday, September 11^th  (remember 9/11/2001)and I left Gillman at about 8:00, headed towards Choteau.  The temperature this morning was 27 degrees, but as the sun comes up, it gets warmer. There was even ice on the windshield of the pickup.  I warmed up the camper and got the coffee going and decided to wait till it warmed up a bit before I started riding.   I’m riding soldier, today and the main issues he has is that when he sees other horses, he wants to go to them.  He is constantly “calling” to see if any horses answer.  The crew went on ahead and is to pickup some more feed for the horses, do laundry, and fill the propane bottles.  Just before lunch, a couple from Belgium stopped and chatted.  I’m still riding Hwy 287 and it either starts or ends at Choteau.  I’ll then take Hwy 89 on from there.  I traveled 27 miles and about 9 hours.  As I entered Choteau, a cowboy came out of his house and greeted me.  We discussed the trails in the mountains and I asked him about the Continental Divide Trail, segment.  He wasn’t very familiar with it, but he said that he and his family do a lot of clearing of the trails in the mountains and some are in pretty good shape, although none are actually marked.  He spends a lot of his time riding in the mountains and taking other people there, also.  I rode on through town, taking the back streets and found the camp at the Choteau recreational park. 

Weather, Again!!!

Today is Wednesday, September 10th, and let me start with the weather.  Tonight, on the local weather channel, the weatherman indicated that today’s temperature high (59 degrees in the Helena area) was almost 18 degrees below normal and I do believe it.  They also said that overnight, there was an additional accumulation of snow in the mountains of 3-5 inches and I believe that, also.  We are camped just north of Agusta on some county property that was once the location of the local railroad.  Our trailers are parked west to east.  At about 9:30 last night, a cold front hit with winds 30-50 miles per hour from the north.  The camper was like a rocking chair all night long.  It made you think you were in the middle of a hurricane and the rains hit just a few hours later.  The wind was so bad that it ripped a strap from Paul’s water tank on top of the horse trailer and almost blew it off.  He did get up and “buttoned” up the horses in the trailer for us.  The temperature dropped and this morning, it was misty, highly overcast, and the temperature was 34 degrees.  Needless to say, I wasn’t going to ride in that type of weather, so I slept for another hour.  Therefore….another weather day!!  We took advantage of it by driving on up to Choteau to find a location to camp for the next night (which we found at their local recreational area) and then on down Hwy 89 to try to find a location the following night (weather, again, permitting).  That will put us about 45 miles closer to the border by this weekend.  Luckily, the weather is to make a big change, back to normal and that is temps in the 70’s.  From the extended weather forecast, it looks like the weather will hold till we finish.  REMEMBER 9/11

Remember….

Inspiration struck, so this is what I wrote for September 11^th. It is raining and we are still sitting in Gilman, and it will probably be tomorrow that we move on. The winds picked up last night around 9 pm to around 35-50 mph, thought we are heading for OZ. Around 3am it starting raining, and is just plain cold, damp, and a good day for indoor activities. Hope that it inspires some of you, and reinforces your patriotism in our great nation. Any comments would be appreciated, you can email me at cowpony23@hotmail.com, just put poem in the subject line, that way it won’t get deleted, because have my daughter checking my email and getting rid of the junk.

 CORRECTION:    In yesterday’s posting I listed the town as Winslow, when the actual name was Winston                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             REMEMBER

It was seven years ago today,

when  Americans’ didn’t know what to say.

There were many who would say why,

as they looked toward the sky.

While watching the Trade Towers burn,

our stomachs’ felt like a butter churn.

Wondering how those in New York City felt,

proud of how America handled the hand she was dealt.

The attack came out of the blue,

when it happened Americans knew what to do.

There were many heroes that went in,

though not knowing what might have been.

Don’t just sit there and not care,

because it can happen anywhere.

We are a nation that is strong,

and is ready to right any wrong.

We may have to fight,

to make a wrong a right.

It just proves that, Freedom Isn’t Free,

but if it has to be, it is fine with me.

Please take the time to remember,

today is the 11^th of September.

Take the time to say a prayer,

Let someone know that you care.

Show that as an American you are proud,

Let your flag fly above the crowd.

Be proud of the red, white, and blue,

She’ll always be there for you.