Re: I-81 runaway?

[Roberta Jo Lieberman <woik@home.com>]

Dyane Smith wrote: 
> What was the great Rockbridge I-81 runaway?

Teddy wrote:
<<Several horses got out of their electric corrals in the night and
ended up on
I-81.  ALWAYS a busy highway.  Several were badly injured.  Bobbie has better
memories - I was lucky and had my stallion tied to trailer with a neckrope.>>

They had a 50 on Sat. and a 25 on Sunday...so as the fifties were
wrapping up their ride, the 25s were rolling in. Some new horses had
arrived and set up camp right next to our portable corrals. One of the
horses seemed agitated, running around his pen chasing his friend. I
wasn't too happy about it, but didn't speak up.

We were awakened from our snug reveries at 2 a.m. by crashing
sounds...like a war zone. The gray had apparently broken out, jumped
over a tent and through our corrals, then headed up to the main part of
camp, taking about a dozen or more horses with him. Gathering speed and
volume like a tornado, the runaways headed down the road and funneled
right onto the entrance ramp of one of the busiest truck highways in the
East -- I-81! We took off after them on foot with a lantern, but soon
realized from the footprints that we needed reinforcements -- they had
gone onto the highway!

One group went north and one went south...never did figure that one out!
(50s and LDers? joke!) I hooked up with a State Trooper and we drove up
and down a 10-mile stretch of interstate for what seemed like
hours...there were horses everywhere -- truckers had stopped and were
holding them by the side of the road... (fortunately, most truckers were
alerted to the horses by their CB radios but like Teddy said, this
highway is BUSY at all hours of the day and night)... other riders were
out there, rounding up their horses. It was a free-for-all. One mare,
who had just finished the 50, went the furthest -- all the way down to
the next exit 12 miles away and then another couple miles down the road
before she was caught. Talk about endurance! She needed stitches in one
leg but was okay, I believe. The horse who started it all ripped open
his stifle...it was pretty ugly. 

Still no sign of Fine Print!! I finally came back to camp and tried to
sleep until dawn before resuming the search. My friends' horses had been
quickly found near camp. I prayed...and when the sun came up, we found
her in a grove not far from camp with two other missing horses. She
hadn't gone onto the highway...smart girl!

It was nothing short of a miracle that no horses were killed in this
frightful episode. Sure taught me a lesson: make sure your horse is
secure, and if you have any doubts, act on them.

Bobbie in So. Calif.


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