Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Please Reply to: Julie A. Powell tecumapese1@xxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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"Choose Your Victories"
Why is it when you think you have life by the reins you get bucked off?
Even though this is just an analogy it truly happened to me at the Hoosier 
Daddy Ride.  There were alot of us that had a weekend of "if it was going to go 
wrong it did"
My luck was as good as it was bad.  Bad luck in the fact that my horse (who 
never has bucked before) bucked me off less than a mile from the start of the 
ride then proceeded to take a tour of the Hoosier National Forest on his own 
with all of his tack on.
Yikes I couldn't be believe it as I watched him fade into the
unkown forest.  I quickly looked my body over for broken bones and bruises, I 
landed on my shin on top of a log, it' so hard to
tell everyone who was so genuinely concerned, how you feel when
all you want to do is puke or die and certainly can't even
speak.  But Thanks to all of you who stopoped to see if I was
OK.  Along came Jerry Fruth on his horse and I begged him to
hunt for my horse and he graciously complied, as I hobbled back
to camp grumbling and complaining to myself.

Thanks to all of you who went looking for that bad red horse that day, everyone 
was just so helpful to donate their precious
time and look for him for me.

But as the day went on and no one could find him, I began to really panic, all 
I could think about was the warning at the pre ride meeting that if you get 
lost it is a huge wilderness and you may be lost for along time.  What am I 
going to do? Here I sit with ice on my shin and my leg propped up.  Finally I 
could not stand it any longer, my friend Kellie Moore had prerviously
put her horse's new ice wrap on my leg and wrapped a leg wrap around it.  So 
without a lot of thought I took off on foot to
find my damn horse.  After all I did teach animal tracking and
Native American horse culture at the Mohican Out of Doors School.














It wasn't till I got to where my horse and I departed company that I thought 
gee, I didn't tell anyone where I was going, I didn't bring anything to drink, 
nor did I bring a first aid kit for my horse, or a rope just my gutsy self DUH. 
What can I say I was on drugs, lol.  It was only 10 feet from my landing spot 
that I found my ejected water bottle,  Thanks God now I won't go thirsty.  That 
was only the first of a lot of heart-felt prayers that afternoon.













Ten years ago when I lost my husband I turned my back on God.  I have to say I 
found him again that afternoon as I hobbled through the forest looking for each 
footstep that my horse left in the dried creek bed and then up on the banks and 
back down again.  There were times that I prayed that he was not fatally 
wounded where his tracks went.  Then I would loose the tracks and I would begin 
to pray again thein I remembered what my mother would always tell me when you 
can't find something pray
to St Anthony the patron saind of lost things.  St. Anthony and I talked alot 
that day, every time I would loose the tracks and begin to panic they would 
miraculously appear again.  There were times that I would have to move leaves 
and forest debris from the footprint and put my hand in them to feel which way 
his foot was going.  There were times that he went to the edge of a deep ravine 
and I would hold my breath when I looked over the edge, then I would see his 
tracks go away from the ravine to look for a safe crossing.

I prayed to God that I would not make him empty promises, but if he would just 
this once answer my prayers and help me find my horse I would not turn my back 
on him again, please make me a believer again, please Jesus help me.  It was 
about that time when I could feel a presence with me in the forest and that
presence guided me along for two and helf hours.  Finally after
the ice wrap ahd melted and slid down my leg , I looked up and could not 
belief my eyes there around the tree came my horse
whining and trotting to me.  I still cry when in my minds eye I
see him again, tack still all there and reins still over his
head.  I put my arms around his neck and we both hugged each
other and cried and I thanked the Father and the Son and St.
Anthony through my tears of joy.


Then I prayed St. Anthony please one more thing help me find my way out, and 
find the trail.  20 minutes later I walked him onto
a trail, where I told him he had to carry me back to camp.  Then
another miracle a paper plate with an arrow pointing to camp,
again I thanked God.

BUT MY BEST FINISH LINE EVER WAS WHEN MY HORSE AND I CAME OUT OF THE WOODS AN 
THERE ACROSS THE POND WAS MY WHOLE FAMILY AND FRIENDS.  They looked up in 
disbelief and all came running, my
daughter, Jinnifer Plummer and I were crying and hugging each
other and that silly red horse.  Everyone gave us a big welcome
back hug.  We all cried some more.


Thank you God for my new son Robbie Plummer who helped me with my truck when we 
thought the transmission went out of it as I
entered the camp site.  He jumped in and looked it over, went
home got some transmission fluid and then came back for me and
my lost horse with their new truck to transfer us back to their
home to heal for a few days.  I love you man! I really do!

Thank You God, for my family, my friends, and even this silly red horse!!!

Julie A. Powell

aka "the tracker"


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