amber here......I want to first say that I am so thankful that
my horses are safe and sound and to say that the Forestry Law enforcement
officer that I ran into near RC never gave up on this case all day until they
were found and he even escorted me right to where they were being held
captive. He will be forever my hero and will get a huge letter to his
supervisor. Law enforcement at its best! The runaways were finally captured
near Tumalo Falls quite aways from RC with blankets and leg wraps still in
tact, well mostly.
My biggest thanks is to Max Merlich. What a guy! He
jumped on his big ol gal mule, Rebba who just completed her first 50 and
headed out to track my boys. He stayed out for hours searching the woods NE
of camp. Then when Cynthia, and darn I did not get her last name but she was
an angel taking me out in her car and staying with me to the bitter end at
camp until I left, Karen Lieman, perhaps you can tell me her last name, we
came and got Max's rig and trailered Rebba back to camp. Then when we left
Camp, Max stayed with me ever in touch with 911 and the Forestry Cop, Mr.
Hawkins. We got a call as we drove near The Inn of the 7th MT. that another
sighting had been made and Max had me follow him over to where Officer
Hawkins and a Deputy Sheriff were waiting on Skyliner drive.
Max
and the Officer were mapping out the route they thought the horses took from
RC and I was talking to the Deputy telling him if I had to leave that Ellen
Betker whose husband also a Deputy Sheriff would gladly pick up my boys and
hold them until I could come back to Bend. He knew of Ellen to be a top
Endurance Rider!. This particular Deputy also was the one that pulled poor
Max over in Ona Lawrence's four wheeler on Century Drive and threatened him
with a $400 ticket for driving an off road vehicle on a public road :~( He
heard why Max was on the road and let him go, Thank you Ellen for
being famous in the Sheriffs Dept!
As they were mapping and I was
talking to the sheriff, a call came in on the dispatch that the horses were
found! oh man! we all were jumping up and down, even the cops! Max then
headed home with a huge sigh of relief and hugged me as tight as he could.
The Deputy Sheriff drove up to where the horses were in the lead staying in
contact with Officer Hawkins who insisted on escorting me to my wayward boys.
He even got out in the road with his lights on to stop traffic so we could
back the rig into the road. I sure have a new respect for the long arm of the
law which I am usually on the wrong side of!
At Tumalo Creek up a
rocky road there were my beleagured kids, dusty, tired and glad to see mom! I
just hugged and cried and started taking off their jammies and leg wraps. Met
the other heros of the day, the hikers that caught them and the man who
corralled them and it was a wonderful reunion to say the least!
Now to
the Ride Managers...Having been the last one out of camp I got to see first
hand just what goes on after the ball. Ona and Gordon and all the crew come
through each and every single camp spot and this is a huge ride folks as you
know, and what we might think we cleaned up after ourselves, well forget
that! They come with fine rakes and they go over every single blade of hay
and every kernel of poop including non equine and rake, shovel, smooth out
the camp spot until you would never know there was anyone or thing there. I
was amazed.
I asked Ona what was the deal, She said that the Forestry
wants EVERY piece of poop, EVERY piece of hay off the ground OR ELSE! This
was a daunting task. Man, I scurried back to my camp and went over it again
and got a whole big pile more than what I figured the first time after seeing
what they were doing.
I called Ellen Betker on my ride home to let her
know that I had my horses, BTW, Ellen was so generous and insisted I spend
the night if I needed to at her ranch for a hot shower, electricity, water
hook up, etc. and I had never met her before. Anyhoo, she told me that
Forestry came to camp that afternoon to check on how the RC was left and they
gave nothing but compliments to RM on a job very well done.
As
everyone has said, the ride went smoothly, the trails were marked excellent,
water everywhere Vetting was fantastic and went quickly. It was just a well
organized and terrific event.
I want to right now nominate Ona and Sharon
as Ride Managers of the Year.They have put this ride on for many years and
this was my very first Ride back in 2002 and I have never missed it since and
I never will. I have always had a wonderful experience at Sunriver on all
three horses that I have taken. This year I had two boys entered in fifties
and for Strider it was his first fifty and he did fantastic along with my big
guy D'Artagnon. So well they weren't satisified going "just" fifty miles they
needed to do more miles I guess. Must be time to bump them to 75 miles. But
then I don't think I am ready for that yet.
Thank you to the Ride
Managers,Vets, and everyone for their support and time and help with my never
ending dang adventures.
And Darlene, yes I kept my pants in tact, but
honestly, I would rather have my big fat fanny flapping in the breeze than
lose my horses any dang day!
And
Ona, Sharon, AND your respective spouses, friends, etc, THANK YOU for
continuing to put this ride on. I know you were nervous about the new
trail you used, but it was great. Even though I missed the river
vet check, because it's beautiful, I understood why it had to go. You
found a great alternative.
Amber, I'm glad your horses were found
safe and sound, what a comfort. You've had quite a season so far, at least
you got to keep your drawers on for this one? ;-) Max and the other
Members of our incredible Endurance, PNER Family again demonstrated why I
love this sport so much. We try to take care of one
another.
