Out for the year....

[SonnyThomas]

I got hurt just as much, maybe more messing with horses. Stepped on, kicked (almost killed me), throwed higher an a kite, and bit. When you can count the shingles on your roof you knowed you got throwed.. Shoeing a horse one day and he up and yanked his front hoof. Spun me upside down and the nails just through his hoof got my hand. Barn sour horses. Lord! One went over backwards and I stepped right off his head. He was still down when I jumped on his head. Tied him up and left him there darn near all day. He had a better disposition when I let him up. Still, you had to ride him and ride him everyday or his mean streak would come back. Own son to Two Eyed Jack. Super good looking, show and ride quality that would knock your socks off. Sold him this way; "Ride him or put him in a dog food can." New owner got laid up for three weeks and the horse never rode again. They had no choice but the dog food can.

Old timers! I remember when the movie The Man From Snowy River came out. Man! Everyone was raving over the kid riding down that hill. Piece of cake. Use to do that when I was a kid. Yep, break neck speed down the timber trails and head long into the Copperas creek. And where did I get this from? John Wayne in The Conqueror. 1955? Yep, ole Duke ran his horse down this big hill faster than most raced on flat ground. Better not mention the shot of Susan Hayward.

Think today and think Howard Hughes's The Conqueror and The Outlaw. About as far off base as you can get and people raved over these two movies...

[Elkhunter]

How about an experience, that was a "potential disaster", that would not have put me "out for the year", but possibly "out permanently". During the last week of December in 1996, there were 8 of us, that went on a snowmobile ride of "horror". We left our town at 9am. on a Sunday morning, and proceeded to ride thru the mountains to the next town southward called Elk River. By air miles, the distance was only 32 miles, but 96 miles, and 10 1/2hrs later we arrived there running on "fumes".We had gone thru a full tank of gas plus thru 2 extra cans each that we carried strapped on the back of our sleds. We had just had a fresh 5ft of powdered snow the past couple of days.on top of an already existing hardpack of snow that was 15 to 20ft deep. That winter snow depths totals ranged from 24 to 33ft.--- we had 12ft alone in the mountain valley we lived in. Well, anyway, we would be able to go aways, and then somebody would get stuck --- go and stuck, go and stuck breaking a new trail everywhere we went.until we got about 1 mile from Elk River where the road had been plowed by the trail groomer. Well, we all were about 3/4 starved out, so we gassed up, and ate, and at 8:30pm we headed for home a different direction. We didn't get 1/2 mile out of town, and came around a corner, and OH OH, there was a big bull moose standing right in the middle of the road. It was my turn to ride "anchor" behind everyone. With conditions the way they were animals were famous for travelling on the groomed trails wherever they could. Well, this big guy wasn't very cordial. In fact he was very testy. We suspected during the day he had more than his bellyful of dodging snowmobiles all day long. We all stopped dead in our tracks, left the sleds running to let him pass --- he wasn't interested in "passing by". He put his head down, and charged the lead sled. He rammed it so hard it popped Robert off his sled, and then the panic began --- the women were naturally screaming --- Robert rolled over hiding behind his sled --- the rest of us left our machines idling, dismounted, and hid behind our sleds with our heads just peeking up over the seats. The moose then rammed Roberts sled again, and this time when he lifted his head back up, he had a big chunk of fiberglass hood stuck on his antler tines. He then rammed it a 3rd time.probably trying to dislodge the fiberglass, but it didn't. Then he just stood there for a while before he started moving towards the rest of us. Each time he came to a sled he would stop, and lean his head over toward the persons sled. I think he was confused by the headlights, and engine sounds, yet nothing was moving. As he passed by each sled, that person would then jump onto their sled, and gas it. WELL, when he got to the last machine, which was me, he stopped right next to me, and put his right front hoof onto my running board, and looked down at me, a mere 2ft from the top of my helmet, and I am here ta tell y'all now "he had bad breath" !!! I don't know how big my eyes were, but at least the size of a bowling ball, and you couldn't have pried my rear cheeks apart with a crow bar. He just stood there for possibly 5 mins I think again confused, because there were no more lights behind me.--- Yah, right, everyone else took off, and left me "holding the bag". Well, FINALLY, he took his hoof off my running board, and started on his way. As soon as his body was half way behind me I jumped on my sled, and gassed it --- really roostered him with snow. We didn't get back home til the wee hours of the next morning, Robert had a very hard time trying to steer his sled back home with the skis bent the way they were.It cost him about $500 to fix everything, but none of us got hurt. That was a trip never to be forgotten.

I will post another one of our "misadventures" at a later time.--- we had a quite a few of them over the 25 years we lived in the mountains.