Re: They're on their way - WEC update

[Teddy Lancaster <Teddy@runningbear.com>]

Great story...it puts a lump in my throat.  I am SOOO glad I am going to see
them on the other end....

Teddy

Susan Evans Garlinghouse wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Well, the team is on their way.  After Monday night's party, the rigs
> rolled out the gate Tuesday morning at 6 a.m. and we were waiting at the
> JetPet facility before the staff even got there.  The horses were
> unloaded, checked into stalls and the huge mountains of luggage and
> equipment unloaded and sorted.  Ona was mourning the fact that she
> hadn't been able to buy a french press coffeepot the day before, but was
> assured that they probably could find coffee *somehow* in Dubai.  At 10
> a.m. the truck arrived to take the equipment.  Dr Foss set up the scale
> and weighed all the horses to track their weight losses and gains
> throughout this adventure.  Kim Christlieb and Shirley Delsart provided
> pizza, which everyone fell on like wolves.
>
> At 1, we took all the traveling members over to the terminal to get
> their tickets and luggage checked in and found out KLM had lost Karen
> Vilander's (traveling with Milarepa and Chuck Stalley's horse for
> Mexico) airline reservation.  I didn't see it, and Karen was later cool
> as a cucumber, but Ona and Wendy came walking out of the terminal saying
> that negotiations had progressed to "really ugly and getting ready to
> throw things".  Eventually it all got straightened out and at 2 the crew
> started loading the horses into the cargo containers (imagine a big
> aluminum box with three side-by-side straight load trailer stalls and a
> space in front for attendents and haybags) and onto the flatbed truck
> that would take them to the cargo terminal.  All the horses loaded like
> real champs---just a brief stop to take a look, say "Are you sure?" and
> then right on in and promptly started munching hay, preferably stolen
> hay from the haybag next door.
>
> Fire Mtn. Flikka was the last U.S. horse to be loaded, as we were
> waiting for an arriving flight bringing some of the Brazilian horses
> that had to be unloaded from the plane, trucked to JetPet, reloaded into
> different containers and back onto the flatbed.  The team had to be at
> the terminal before those last horses arrived, so Wendy was a little
> anxious about Flikka not being loaded yet, but Mike Foss was traveling
> over with the horses and we were told they would hold the flight until
> all the horses were safely aboard.  The Brazilian horses finally arrived
> a little after 3, and the trucks pulled out the gate with all 17 horses
> right on time.  As I was leaving with the rig to head home, I saw a big
> fat KLM 747 go lumbering up at a much lower angle than the other planes
> and it sure looked like a plane full of horses to me.
>
> Everyone said to say THANKS for all the good wishes sent here to the
> house.  Everyone (except for the horses) were all happy and excited and
> these horses looked INCREDIBLE---just jumping out of their skins with
> good health and looking truly fantastic.  The people at JetPet commented
> all day on how nice these horses were to handle and how much more
> pleasant and easygoing endurance people are over their usual race,
> jumping or eventing people they usually deal with.  They couldn't
> believe we offered them *pizza*, yet.
>
> It was a long day but went smooth as silk.  If professionalism, a great
> attitude and attention to every last detail counts for anything at all,
> these teams will be tough to beat.
>
> Susan G