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[Fwd: Leer Jet Crash/Endurance Horses]

Heh steph,  will try this again.  Sorry.  Just don't post often enough
to know the route.  djb

-- BEGIN included message

Hi Everyone,
Read a lot of ridecamp, but don't post too often.  Thought I might share
a sad but interesting experience with you.  Tuesday morning, Jan 13,
while returning from taking CeCi to school, I heard an excited report of
a Leer Jet going down in the vicinity of George Bush Intl. Airport North
of Houston.  My training trails and the ride I used to put on The
Houston Hustle trails are all around this airport.  At the moment I was
hearing the report, unknown to me,  I was driving less than a mile from
the crash site which was in the middle of a very inaccessible dense
forest, which even under normal circumstance is swampy, but with all the
rain this year was almost solid swamp.

I had an intuitive feeling the crash was nearby and stopped immediately
and told a fire truck who was cruising the area that I could provide a
search party of people on horses that knew the area and were used to
these woods.  I gave him a card, but didn't really expect anything of
it.

As I neared my home, which ended up being about 4 miles from crash site,
they still had not found the plane.  A friend and her daughter were
coming out to ride anyway, so I saddled Ceci's horse Conquistador, (who
not only has had an incredible first year in Endurance, but ran in a 7
furlong race at Sam Houston Race Park just last Friday), Babs
Razzmatazz, (a finisher in the '96 World Championship), and two other
good competitors, and hauled quickly over to the Airport Firestation
where I volunteered our services.

We were there for only about 5 minutes when they thought they had a line
on where the plane might be & we were sent about a mile east of the Fire
Station.  It was creepy.  I wasn't right on, but it was within a mile of
where I had the feeling it would be.  We parked, unloaded the horses &
the police were waving us into an area to start the search.  Jamie, a
young man who just started working for me & a fairly green rider was on
steady Mr. Ed.  He's a big horse & just went thru the woods like a
grinding bulldozer.  I sprinted ahead on Conquistador, passing the
volunteers on foot as they struggled in the mud and the vines.  Vickie
Holzer, a good rider, but fairly new to Endurance, arrived and started a
bit later.  She had several amusing stories about having to help the
Mounted Police on their big horses, (they gave up rather quickly, as
these concrete giants sank in the mud and freaked when they tangled in
the briars and thorny vines that make up these swampy woods).   As we
were carrying our ever present long handled pruning shears, Vickie had
to literally help cut them out and nursemaid them back out of the
woods.   She said they were absolutely amazed at Razz's ability to
negotiate this kind of terrain.  The Houston Chronicle ended up talking
with her at some length about how in the world these horses could do
this.

In the meantime, me and it seemed like a host of police, firemen,
constables, and sheriffs were crisscrossing this terrible, mucky swamp
forest.  I had my cell phone with me, & it was strange because friends
were already calling me, asking  if it was me they had just seen on TV
as I galloped into the woods, and Vickie too, as she was a little closer
to where all the photographers were hanging.

I was feeling terribly frustrated as we were yelling back and forth
while searching and listening for what we hoped would be survivors
screams for help.   At least one person had found the wreckage, but the
rest of us were still wondering and didn't know if the pilots were dead
or alive..  A coast guard helicopter finally showed up, but the ceiling
was still so low and the rain was misting so much it  made it almost
impossible to for even them to see.

Suddenly I spotted a bit of wreckage, a shiny piece of metal slightly
over a foot square leaning against a tree.  Was it just some paper
litter out here or...????  Metal alright, now I smelled the jet fuel.
My eyes started burning.  I yelled back, here it is, I'm picking up the
debris and the smell.  I was almost hoarse from all the previous yelling
and then trying to get everyone headed my way.

More and more debris, then I spotted flames and the two or three people
that had arrived their first.  I talked to the guy that had found it
first.  He had walked in from the South.  He and I debated what the best
way to get the authorities into the site were.  He nixed the South, said
it was terrible.  I left to ride to the West, thinking it would run into
one of my established Endurance trails.  After nearly a mile, I knew
there must be a shorter way in.  I made my way back, scary a bit, cause
its really easy to get turned around and disoriented in these woods.
Got back to the site & Jamie was there with my nippers and hard hat,
(both sorely needed).  I sent him to look for a northern direction route
as I was requested to ride back to establish a trail for most of the
authorities coming in from the East.

On the way, I met some firemen with a body sled.  They were having a
heck of a time getting that sled thru the woods.  I turned around to
take them back to crash site & ended up carrying their axes, and heavy
coats.  Eventually, I pulled the sled after they decided macho was no
fun.  I couldn't believe Conquistador.  He'd never pulled anything in
his life and he was performing like a real trooper.  We were almost to
crash site, when this group was informed that they wouldn't be allowed
to touch the bodies anyway, so Quister and I then pulled the sled on out
to a Northern route that had just been established.  It backed up to a
little country community and fire trucks, news media, and flight safty
investagators began to line up.

They had just brought in a swamp buggy, (a loggy tractor), and were
quite relieved to see Quister and I  come in, as we could now lead it
back to crash site as they were trying to get a wide enough path to get
other heavy equipment in.  Didn't work.  That poor mechanical beast got
so stuck about 300 yards out that he just barely got itself out.
Unfortunately, it left 4 foot deep ruts in what was an old soft logging
road.  Conquistador and I ended up struggling thru those 3 more times as
we went in and out escorting people and taking more "police line" tape
back to crash site.  The mounted police tried it once and promptly
turned back.

Not long after that, the main officer I was working with  asked if we
didn't need to rest, wasn't my horse tired?  I said.."Oh no, He's a
hundred mile horse"  I don't think it computed.  Then he said what about
you, "No Sir, I'm a hundred mile rider."   Why is it that no one ever
really believes you when you say that?

Vickie's husband, Joe, had been calling, pretty worried, and also to get
updates.  Their ten year old daughter was with us, but due to a bridle
problem, (and probably fortunate at that), she had never left the
trailer area.  Knowing the other 3 were waiting, I helped remark a dryer
route, cleared a bit with my nippers and then heard the big equipment
coming in.  No need for horses now, so we cleared out.

Both pilots, or course were DOA.  They were basically cremated by the
time we all got there.  The plane had gone down slightly over a mile
from the runway.

If you ever become involved in a search like this, here are the things
that are handy, one,  the nippers or wire cutters,  in case there are
old fence lines in the area, & second, take a roll of survey tape with
you.  I didn't have that until I got the "police line" tape later.  It
would have been really good, to even drop on the ground to show where
you had been in this kind of confusing terrain, and to later mark the
route for the other people coming in.  I regretted not grabbing some as
I left my house.  Next, don't forget your own jacket and supplies.  The
weather turned colder and wetter in those 3 hours we were out. I just
accidently had a jacket tied on my saddle from a ride a few days
before.  I did grab slickers for all of us though.

The endurance horses were the stars of the day, not great heros
necessarily though.  Eventually they would have found there way in and
out, we just facilitated a little.  It felt good helping and utilizing
our animals in a way in which they are so good.  Maybe the Chronicle
will do a story on Endurance horses now.  Never can tell.

-- END included message

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