Home Current News News Archive Shop/Advertise Ridecamp Classified Events Learn/AERC
Endurance.Net Home Ridecamp Archives
ridecamp@endurance.net
[Archives Index]   [Date Index]   [Thread Index]   [Author Index]   [Subject Index]

Re: [RC] [RC] [RC] Horse ID / Great idea: only half the solution - Laurie Durgin

Good post-- I too ride alone, but right out the back door. Rascal would probably go home or find the nearest grass :0)--But I made a map too, and color coded the trails as I gps them. I tell my sons or husband where I am going,what loop(say "I think I am going to ride the yellow loop", I give a time and add an hour or so. I usually tell them , about 1.5 or 2 hours -- don't get worried till I am overdo say an hour and a half (I actually got semi lost, 2 years ago , thinking I could shortcut while exploring trails) . I also tell my sons who to call that are horsey people or friends who could aactually search. Luckily my husband has been a volunteer firemand for 20 years and the boys are Scouts.:0). I also have a tag on the saddle and reflective tape on my Easy ride stirrups, a cell phone,first aid kit on me. I am within a couple of miles from houses whereever I ride so ,if I can walk out I am ok. The reason for the "overkill" is I was allergic to bees and wasps and just finished 5 years of shots.I am supposed to be ok, now, but I still carry an epiphene.I also had an accident last yar and have a 1.5 ' scar on my hand from a crush injury from a gate, glad I had my fanny pack on and a clean bandanna to wrap it with even though I was almost home.....
But there are times coming I intend to trailer to new trails and find some riding buddies as soon as MY truck is wired.Then it is a bit more complicated. I had thought of leaving notes in my truck /trailer . Guess I will have to plan that when I hook up with other riders .
At rides I would think it doubly important as your horse is in a strange place, over excited , maybe frightened. .....



From: "A. Perez" <walkergirl@xxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: <walkergirl@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [RC]   [RC] Horse ID / Great idea: only half the solution
Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 12:23:23 -0400

  I have posted this here before a few years ago, but since this
thread is current I'll tell the story again.

A friend got separated from her horse, who had no ID, and had a
scary few hours until he was found.  To avoid this problem, I
put a luggage tag on my saddle.  As luck would have it, just a
few days later, my horse slipped and fell, and took off before I
could grab him.  I hiked to a nearby stable and used their phone
to call home.  Got the voice mail, as the line was busy.  Left a
message for my husband saying I was OK and would call back asap.
 Unfortunately my husband was on the phone to the people who had
found my horse, and did not think to check for phone messages.
Not knowing what else to do, he went to the horse.  So he knew
were the ehorse was, but I could no reach him, and I DIDN'T know
where my horse was and had no way to reach my husband.  So I
bummed I ride back to my truck, hoping my horse had gone back to
his farm.  Nope. So I drove back to the trails to start looking
again, and fortunately saw a man and a boy walking the bridle
paths: they were looking for the rider of the horse that had
showed up in their yard - BINGO!  By the time my husband got to
the horse, I was there.  Now my husband is not horsey, and I had
just switche dbaording stables, so he would have had no idea
where to take my horse home to (not to mention he does not ride
and I did not have a trailer then).

So, I wrote up an instruction sheet on what to do when the 'I
found your horse' call comes.  It includes a description of the
trails I most commonly ride, my vets phone numbers, names of
peole with trailers, and people to call to mount a search party,
and, most importantly, the command "STAY BY THE PHONE and CHECK
VOICE MAIL". It is in flow chart form: "Ask if the horse is OK:
No?  call the vet.  Yes?: ask if the horse can stay there for
awhile.  If not, here are the number numbers of folks with
trailers and the address of the boarding stable.... and so
forth.

The moral of the story is, if you have non-horsey family members
who will be the ones getting the call, make sure they no what to
do in different scenarios.

________________________________________________
Get your own "800" number
Voicemail, fax, email, and a lot more
http://www.ureach.com/reg/tag
============================================================
We are talking about all the tools we can use to keep our horses safe and
alive at the rides. Training/conditioning is one of the best tools
available. It makes us better horseman and women, it benefits our horses
and could quite possibly be the key to preventing most crashes.
~ Lisa Salas - The Odd Farm

ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/

============================================================

_________________________________________________________________
Get fast, reliable Internet access with MSN 9 Dial-up ? now 3 months FREE! http://join.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200361ave/direct/01/

============================================================
I still prefer what it is that BH100, Tevis, The Duck's Soup of Endurance,
etc. has to offer...but, to see a horse canter over sand for those
distances...Good Lord, it humbles me.
~  Frank Solano

ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/

============================================================