Horse Drive 2013, Day 1: The Village Idiots

Well, hello there!  It's been a while...too long, in fact.  Some of you may know that we drive our horses from Smith to Bridgeport in the spring, and when I say "drive" I mean we trot them the 60-ish miles over the span of three days.  Last year was the first year we had done it in twenty or so years, and what fun!  It does get a little wild at times but overall it's so exhilarating that sometimes we found ourselves laughing hysterically while leaping over sagebrush, butts smacking the saddle, fighting to stay ahead of the herd.

Last year I didn't get any pictures as I wasn't sure I could keep control of my horse, my flag, and a camera, so this year, I took along my trusty iPhone.  Some of the pictures were taken at crazy angles--I discovered I could take pictures over my head while trotting (and sometimes all out running!).  I'm sure it was entertaining to see me with my arm thrust in the air, phone in hand, while dodging brush, cutting off a bunch-quitter, or just trotting along in the front.  I'm amazed I didn't lose the thing!

We'll start with Day 1, as we weren't even sure we were going to be able to keep it all together!

Megan had purchased some horses from Southern California who had never been in with a large group of horses, but we were pretty sure they would be ok in the herd.  We had also purchased some horses at a sale in Winnemucca, Nevada, and they seemed to be integrating well into our herd.  Between those six horses, we were feeling confident they would find a leader within the group and that leader would keep them with our main herd....

My first indication that things weren't going to go smoothly was when I headed out to gather those six horses with the rest of the herd and they turned and ran as far as they could in the opposite direction.  After some mild swearing coaxing and a little help from Blair and his bullwhip, we got them in the corral about ten minutes after the main herd.

Plan A was to take the herd about a half mile down the ranch road, then turn off the road and into a huge lot of sagebrush.  My grandmother, Jan, parked her car by the gate to help turn the horses.  With over half the riders in the front of the herd, we started down the road.

It isn't unusual for there to be an extremely pushy horse or two in the front when we first set out; we had bullwhips and flags to use as we needed (we don't actually whip the horses with the bullwhip, we use the sound as a deterrent as the loud pops the whip makes are enough to turn or stop a horse...usually).  However, the six new horses were having hone of it...they pushed through those of us in front, leading about five or so other horses through and went streaking down the ranch road!  Blair, Sim, and I don't know who else, headed them off several times, only to have them shove through their horses and continue on down the road.  Blair told me later he saw Jan's mouth in a perfect "o" with her hands on her cheeks as that group went whizzing past her car.

Meanwhile, the main herd had gone in the correct gate, but without enough riders in front to slow them down, they reached down to their inner racehorse and left us in the dust.  Luckily, they were contained in the field and even though it was several hundred acres in size, they couldn't scatter out on the desert.  I could only watch as all the horses thundered past me as my horse was winded and dripping with sweat from trying to keep the main herd under control.  I wish I had pictures of all this, but as my horse was really fresh and silly that morning, I had my hands full and didn't want to risk losing my phone...but even if I did get pictures, they couldn't have shown the chaos!

Blair and Sim were having issues with their own rogue group.  About 3/4 of a mile down the ranch road, there is a huge field of winter wheat with no fences around it. From what I heard, the horses ignored the several trucks parked in the road as well as the people in the road trying to stop them, and turned into the winter wheat, where they were headed for what they were sure was FREEDOM!  Luckily, with a lot of help, Blair, Sim, and some of our friends were able to get them back on the ranch road and down to where the rest of us were holding the herd in the corner of the sagebrush field.

Once we put the escapees back, the plan was to take them east across the sagebrush field to a dirt road, head down the dirt road, and get out onto the desert....well, that was the plan until the newly-returned horses broke away from the herd and went pounding down the fenceline.  Admittedly, they were headed in the right direction...but with no one in the front to direct them, we knew we'd lose them.  We cut diagonally across the sagebrush to head them off and got them stopped.  From here, I have pictures to document most of what happened next.

Looks like we've got everything under control...at least for the moment.

Betsy heads to the front.  If you look on the far left, you can see a horse looking back toward the herd...and this is where things started to go downhill, again.

Can you see the instigators on the left?  Four or five horses had already left the herd and were headed home.  The horses left behind were very interested in heading that way, too...

Aaaaand that's where we lost them again.  The whole group merrily thundered north, headed home.  We had no choice but to follow them.  We decided to take them back to the corral and sort off the six new horses, now dubbed "The Village Idiots," and a few others who just couldn't bring themselves to behave. 

Megan follows the group back to the corrals. At this point, we weren't even sure if Plan B would work and were contemplating possibly waiting until the next day to start.

We decided to try again.  On the left, you can see how we really beefed up our road block.  The horses were a little aired out and feeling less fresh, so they were wanting to mostly walk or trot, and they didn't try to push ahead of us too much.

Looking a little more sedate as we head for the dirt road and then the desert.  No bunch-quitters this time!

Out on the dirt road, hitting a leisurely trot.  Jon's in the red shirt, keeping them on track.

Getting closer to the turn for the dirt road that leads to the desert.  In the lead, left to right:
Chuffy, Jake, Whisper Jean, Suede, Allie, and Sancho.  

Everyone's behaving...for the most part!

As we neared the desert, the horses knew they were almost out in the open...

...but we stopped them so everyone could catch up.

Once out in the desert, we held them against the fence and kept them along the road towards the local dump station, where we would get on the highway.  In trying to keep them from heading out and disappearing onto the range, I think my horse leaped over 900 three foot tall sagebrush, and that's only a *slight* exaggeration.

Once we got past the dump station and on the highway, we held them again at the bridge that crosses the Walker River.  We let our saddle horses get a drink before we continued down the road past the local school, and toward our destination for the end of Day 1.

We passed the school, where nearly every class K-12 (yep, we have a small-town school) came out to watch the horses go by.  Aspen and Rhiannon waved at their classmates and I am pretty sure their classmates were a little jealous.  In this picture, Aspen (on Chief), checks behind her to see where the leaders are.

Haley & Ruby in the lead, about 2-3 miles from our destination.  Haley looks exuberant, 

Ruby...not so much.

 Ahhhh...finally!  Hay and water at the end of a long trot.

Scarlett had her eye on me.  You know, in case I had some grain! 

So that was the end of Day 1.  We made it, even after the Village Idiots tried to foil all our plans! Stay tuned for Days 2 and 3, coming tomorrow and the day after.  

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