By the time this column is published, all of my show drama with Snoopy will be a memory. On Sept. 23, he will either be the winner of the PCQHA Trail Futurities or he won’t. Although he is turning out to be a good show horse, I can’t let my expectations grow too large; babies are babies and anything can happen. But if you heard a shriek of delight on the fourth Sunday in September, it was me as Snoopy stepped into the winner’s circle.
As I reported last month, one of the things I’m doing to relax is take a trail ride through the Plumas National Forest. This is a ride I take every year during our visit to the Gold Lakes Basin area.
The Reid Horse and Cattle Company operate several stables in Plumas County, and offer both trail rides and pack trips at their Gold Lake and Graeagle Stables. Since I was traveling with non-riding friends, we signed up for the Indian Springs Trail out of the Gold Lake facility, an easy one-hour ride across beautiful meadows and through majestic pines, with spectacular views of Gold Lake. (For more information about the stables, visit www.reidhorse.com.)
I used to tell the trail guides that I wasn’t a rider. My trainers, Niki and Tina, always warn me that if I tell rental places I ride, they will give me a horse that fits an experienced rider. This is not the horse I want. When I go on a trail ride I want to sightsee. I realize that I can’t just sit like a couch potato with a camera, but I don’t want to ride a horse that fights me for control, especially in unfamiliar surroundings.
After many years of riding at Gold Lake Stables, I have finally confessed my proficiency to the trail guide and manager, Lynn Gamble. Lynn, a hard-working, no-nonsense horsewoman, has been the manager for 20 years and usually pairs me up with a nice, quiet horse. I was looking forward to seeing her this year.
On Wednesday, our group of two adults and four children arrived at the stables early so we could sign waivers and get helmets. Jennifer, a young woman, was running amok, trying to get horses ready.
“Where’s Lynn today?” I asked.
She shot me a nervous look. “Lynn had an accident Sunday,” she said quietly. “She got thrown off her horse. She broke a lot of bones, and she’s in the hospital.”
I can understand why she didn’t want to give me that information. A good trail guide does not want to tell inexperienced clients that one of their skilled riders fell off their horse and got injured. It reminds the client that, just like the waiver says, horses are large and unpredictable animals and someone might get hurt. I kept the information to myself until the ride was over.
Our ride was typically wonderful and uneventful. I rode Cody, a little dun with a long, reddish-blond mane. He was a good mount and didn’t try to eat or crowd the horse in front of him, so my time was spent sightseeing. The signs of California’s drought were everywhere, from the sparse vegetation and flowers in the meadows to the view of the obviously lower waterline of Gold Lake. There have been years of better blooms and cooler weather, but it was still great to be on the back of a horse in the middle of the wilderness.
After we had returned, I told one of my friends about Lynn’s mishap.
“Oh, no,” she said, her face crestfallen. “I guess that’s the end of her riding.”
Clearly, my friend is not a horsewoman.
You’ll be relieved to know that Lynn is doing fine. I spoke with her recently and she was back at work, preparing to move the horses from the mountain stables at Gold Lake to the lower pastures at Graeagle. She isn’t riding yet, but she’ll be back on a horse soon. As we talked, we both laughed that, even if we’re scooting along on walkers, if we can get on a horse, we’ll be on a horse.
Next month, I will be covering the PCQHA Fall Classic and Futurities show in my column, but if you want to know how Snoopy did, visit my website, www.gaylecarline.com, to get the latest news.