Wagon Rides

About a year and a half ago I ran away from my home in Pennsylvania, held out in my friend's apparentment in West Virginia and got connected with a carriage driving company named Hardly Able Carriage Co. Thats where I met my current boyfriend and from there we headed down to Georgia for numberless foxhunting adventures.

When I got pregnant, we decided to come back up to West Virginia, only it's more like the Ohio side...which is only slightly better. My boyfriend, Trent, got involved in the carriage company again to pay off some stuff while he searched for a better job, and thats when we learned about the day long wagon ride that the company holds for it's emplyers at the end of the year.

So...we signed up for it.

The weatherman said that it would be in the 60 and sunny on Saturday.

The weatherman lied.

It was in the mid50's, cloudy and windy. I just about froze to death on that wagon. Trent and I huddled together in the first wagon that took off that day. I think there was a grand total of 5 wagons and 1 sulky which was pulled by a miniature horse.

Not a -pony-, a HORSE...so I was corrected.

We stopped and had some lunch. Everyone ran off into the woods to pee, and we headed out on the trail again. The trail we traveled was an old train track that used to weave through the rural Ohio area...and the area sure was pretty. It would have been a lot prettier if my back wasn't spazming from shivering too much. But you can't be too picky, you know?

We then stopped in a small town for people to pee in a small convenient store. This place was probably as old as the railroad track and had paper clippings of the 30s inside. So we all stocked up on donuts and soda before re-entering our wagon train.

By this time we learned that the large plastic trashbag that was at the front of the wagon held numerous blankets inside...which we quickly tore into. The ride wasn't that bad afterwards. Still cold, but I wasn't shivering and huddled next to Trent for body heat for the majority of the time, so it was alright.

We went through at least 3 train tunnels where the distance to the other side was a bit questionable. Luckily each wagon had been equipped with lights that you can turn on behind the horses like headlights to a car, so we didn't all die. Not one horse spooked. It was pretty cool.

We finally got to the campsite and I helped tie the horses to seperate trees before going to warm myself by the campfire. I hardly really spoke to anyone, seeing as I had no clue who anyone was. There was a grand total of 5 Meredith Manor students there...1 of which I knew but paid me no mind. Deciding that they were better off left alone, I didn't bother to talk with them.

Dinner was served around the campfire and thats when one of the Meredith Manor girls turned to me and asked "You're a graduate? Which Riding Masters?" That set forth a series of questions they all had bundled up to which I was gladly answering and telling stories upon stories to. They asked me if any of the horses were still there that I trained, and I answered "Yes, I trained Traveler".

The 3 Manor people who were paying me attention (the other two were too busy flirting with a married man) "Ooed and Awed" at that. They said they loved Traveler, and the one guy student even said that Traveler was a great Dressage School Master.

I laughed inside about this because Traveler doesn't know -that- much dressage and to think that he does is just...well, its sweet. The horse really does try his heart out. But he's far from a School Master.

We also spoke about some of the horses that were still there...like Appy Jake and Ada (shorty). We ranted about Parelli (woohoo!) and joked about Kelly Fisher. I told them stories about the legendary Kim Hall and shared with them the one time where Sam Cap' tried to kill a snake with a dressage whip.

They even said Batman was still lurking in Blue Barn's rafters. How cool!

So by the end of the trip, it was all pretty cool. I actually felt looked up to again and that never happens these days. If anything, I feel like a lowly trainer thats hit her limit far before she was supposed to. But the students there had so many questions and I could feel them leaning on my word because I was a Riding 6 grad and had been through it all.

It felt amazing...

I didn't get any of their numbers or names, but I think I'll be heading down to the Manor again for another visit.

As for the wagon rides, I'll have to get pictures from someone who attended...I BROUGHT my camera, but the camera card was still stuck in the computer. Lot of good that did!