Horse Drive 2013, Day 3: In Which We Battle the Wind, etc.

Day 3.  Ohhhhh Day 3, how I wish your weather was nicer!  Last year, it snowed on us, and for a while, it was a full on winter storm with incredibly low visibility.  And it was cold.  Have you ever trotted mile upon mile while wearing a waterproof duster over several layers?  It's great for testing our whether your layers are truly "moisture-wicking."  I found out my baselayer was...but unfortunately, it wicked all the perspiration right in to my sweatshirt and jacket, where it was trapped by the waterproof duster.  It's not a really pleasant feeling, even if I was warm.  Luckily, it did stop snowing and I was able to take my duster off, and I dried off while still keeping warm.  It's not an experience I'd care to repeat!

You can imagine my relief this year on Day 3 when it dawned clear, sunny, and warm.  What could be better? The joke was on me when the wind started up...  Touche, Mother Nature, you win again!  I don't know how many of you have been in the Sierra when it starts getting windy in April.  It's miserable in the worst way...not only is the wind cold, but your hat doesn't stay on, your face gets a nice microdermabrasion treatment (free of charge!), and it saps all your energy.  Did I mention it never lets up once it gets going?  All you can think about is how nice it would be to be sitting inside, drinking a delicious cup of hot chocolate and looking out your window at all the poor people driving horses in the rotten wind.

But we are definitely not quitters and we certainly weren't going to let a measly windstorm stop us!  Most of us had brought ball caps along just in case (something you learn as a kid here--when there is a breeze in the morning, bring a ball cap or cinch your cowboy hat on until your brains are coming out your ears, otherwise you'll lose it!), so we swapped for those, made sure we had enough layers, and saddled up.

Our route for the day was to leave Sweetwater and drop down a little canyon where we would be back on the highway.  From there, we'd go a few miles til we reached the stock drive.  The stock drive meets back up with the highway right before the dam on the Bridgeport Reservoir, so we'd be on the road until we got just past the airport in Bridgeport, where we'd take the back road around town.  After briefly holding the horses in what used to be Buster's parking lot, we'd dash across Highway 395 and turn the horses into Benny's little field, where we'd give the horses a little rest and a drink before the last five mile homestretch.

 Painted ponies with pink prints!  From left to right:  Chief, Kiowa, Sparrow.  Why?  For good luck in battling the wind, of course!

 Starting down the road out of Sweetwater.  The old Atcheson barn is in the background.  What's disappointing about this picture is that it doesn't even look remotely windy!

 Making our way to the canyon.  I wish I could animate this picture to show the wind!

The horses seemed a little subdued by the wind and were well behaved for the first stretch...

Sadly, I don't have any pictures of us going down the canyon to the road.  The horses decided they could sneak past us in the trees, and try as we might, it was all we could do to keep them together and headed in the right direction.  Needless to say, it was quite the adventure to go careening through the trees, only catching glimpses of the rest of the herd and the other riders and trying to stay slow enough so your horse wouldn't trip while zooming downhill!  Through the wind, all I could hear was the popping of the bullwhips, the thundering of hooves, my horse's breathing, and occasionally the cracking of a branch.  Someone was yelling to us, but whatever they were saying was lost in the wind.  Sometimes I would totally lose sight of the herd and then they'd appear, bearing down on me until I could head off the leader.  Somehow, I ended up in the very back of the herd and followed them down the rocky trail to the bottom of the canyon.   Thankfully, there is a fence at the bottom, but we had to make sure the herd all went down it, as it would have been easy for them to scatter on the flat in the trees.  I don't know how we made it down with every last horse, but we did.

We got back on the road about a mile from the California/Nevada border, everyone intact, all horses and people accounted for...and the wind, of course, was right with us.

 

Welcome to California!

  Good thing there were no cops out...

 

It STILL doesn't look windy.  But the handprints look cool.

 Coming down the stock drive.  The horses started to get pushy right about here, and we were having trouble keeping them behind us.  One horse about knocked my horse over trying to get to the front.  That's Aspen and Chief with Jay and Thumper right behind her.

 Sim and I loped ahead so we would have a little time to scope out any places the horses could get past us.

 Here comes Jay and Thumper!  Even the willows weren't much of a boundary for some of the horses--they'd crash right through and try to shove past you!  

 

Right about here, at the dam, was where the horses absolutely KNEW where we were.  Did you think they would be tired?!  Nope!  

 

We had most of us in front to form a barrier across the herd so they would be forced to walk on the pavement instead of trotting.  It was pretty tough to keep it together, talk about a mental AND physical challenge! Sim, Denise, and Jay form the middle part of our line. 

 

Finally you can see a little bit of how windy it was!  Sierra's hat is gone and her hair is looking awesomely windblown.

 Can you see a little tiny figure loping along the beach ?  Blair went around and ahead to help us get through an open spot where the horses could go in about 500 different directions.

 

Blair's hat got tweaked into some pretty nifty shapes from the wind.  I think he looks like an Australian here, don't you?

 

By the time we were coming into town, nearly everyone had either lost their hats or were getting headaches from how tight they had tied them down.

 Coming down the stock drive on the north side of Bridgeport.  Once we made the turn south, we zipped across 395 and in to Benny's field. 

 

How many horses can you fit around a tiny water trough?

 A little rest before the home stretch!

 Leaving Benny's, and town, behind.  The horses know the way home.  

 Jeff and I went ahead to set gates across the Twin Lakes road and into another field. It was really cool to see the group coming towards us and knowing that we didn't have far to go

 We knew once we crossed the road there would be a point where we couldn't slow them down or hold them in a group any more.  But it didn't really matter since we were in the fields and they couldn't really get away.

 Bellied up to the bar

 From left to right:  Dalton, Aspen, Rhiannon, Blair.  Still windy; look at Blair's hat!

 One might assume that the horses wouldn't have it in them to make a mad dash for the ranch...

 ...but I think it's pretty clear by this picture of Aspen and Chief how fast they were going!

Go, Jeff, go!  I love this picture. By the time you read this, the fields will be so green it'll hurt your eyes!

You can almost feel the motion, can't you?

 We had to cross the Twin Lakes road one more time, so we bunched them up and took them down the fence.

 Here is where the horses really got excited.  They knew they were almost done...and it was amazing how fast they got across this next field. 

 Blair and I were in the lead for about 500 yards, and then a few of the lead horses passed me up like I was standing still.

 Two more gates and then we were done with the horse drive!  So close you can smell it...or at least, the horses could.

 Aspen watches the gate while we blocked the ranch road and opened the gate across the way...

 Aspen, Sierra, Rhiannon, and Sim lead the horses in.  You can see our convoy of photographers, helpers, friends, and neighbors all stopped on the road.  

Phew, we made it!  Those are some happy horses.

All's well that ends well!  We made it in spite of the howling wind and pushy horses.  It was so great to see them all out on the meadow, munching contentedly.  We hope next year will be even better as the horses will be getting to know the route and will be even easier to control and keep at the speed we want them.  

My photos aren't the best quality, but snapshots are pretty handy to use in a blog!  Our friends, Gary and Terri Butler, have taken some incredible photos of life around the ranch and have captured the horse drive and all its action really well.  If you want to see these truly top-notch horse drive photos (and the ranch in general) on Facebook,click here; or you can click here to go to their website (they have photos from last year's horse drive!).

We are so grateful to everyone who helped put this horse drive together--it's a labor of love and a love of tradition.  We couldn't do it without your help!  Having great friends and neighbors is a blessing.  

Until next time, dream of green meadows, fat cattle, shiny horses, and blue skies!