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Jen and Pat's Excellent Adventure
12/31/01

This is just a brief story and photo album of the excellent adventures of Pat and Jennifer. We are "PonyPals, girlfriends through thick and thin. We go to sales, we attempt training. We call each other up and talk horses for hours. We're riding when we should be cleaning. We're scouting trails when we should be grocery shopping. We prefer the smell of horses to the smell of fine perfume. We're excited about clinics and lectures...if it involves horses. We drag 'new folks' along to horse events. We buy tack instead of new clothes. We do saddle demonstrations. We go out to supper in jeans and pack boots. We ranch together with other friends afflicted with our equine desires. We are convinced that the Jackson Sale is a worthwhile and cultural social event. We had an excellent adventure....here's what happened. *

In September, just after the World Trade Center events, Jen and I set out for "Ride with the Stars 2001" in Raymondville, MO. It was a long but lovely trip. The change of color in the foliage was outstanding. There was some really "creative freeway driving" of Jennifer"s rig (pick-up with camper and 3-horse trailer) through Des Moines by me, but Jennifer recovered fairly quickly. Those 'horse calming' feeds worked pretty well when slipped into Jennifer's breakfast bran muffin....and she never holds grudges. Here's a picture of us with the rig in Vienna, MO. We stopped to see the ranch of a fellow who raises Angus cattle. Our crossbred cattle in South Dakota will be giving birth to about 45 of his purebred calves this spring as the result of a big embryo transfer project at my sister's ranch last summer. (That's another story.)

We checked into Golden Hills resort and chose a favorite spot to set up camp. Next year we'll camp a little closer to the food. We were surrounded by beautiful oak trees and the hilly terrain of the Ozarks. The facilities were wonderful. Rows of stalls with roofs overtop outlined rows of camping sites. The dining hall was huge and the food (three times daily) was delicious. Pictures of the resort can be seen at http://www.goldenhills.com. I was without a riding horse, so I borrowed back a great gelding that I had sold to a new friend last spring. The food was delicious. This is Little Dix and I all decked out to go trailriding.

We tried to do a little of that every day along with our clinic attendance. Did I mention how good the food was? The trails were numerous and scenic. They presented all levels of challenge for horse and rider. Here's Jen and I sloshing around. It's so hard to keep her out of the puddles.

Clinic presentations at Ride with the Stars 2001 were made by many famous personalities including Clinton Anderson, Peggy Brown, Jean Phillipe Giacomini, Susan Harris, Linda and Pat Parelli, Richard Shrake, and Charles Wilhelm. Individual attention was available by very casual appointment and questions were welcomed by all. It was a wonderful learning experience as well as a relaxing getaway. There was no TV or radio for a week. Nothing but horses, Horses, HORSES. Jen and I are both Parelli Natural Horsemanship students. We both like Parelli's theory and have had good luck with his methods. It was fun to meet other of his students and compare results. I was also extremely impressed with Clinton Anderson. He was truly a very nice young man and very sincere in wanting people to achieve success with horses. This photo is of Jen and I with Linda and Pat Parelli. I am the one on the really good-looking horse.....without the mustache....no blonde hair. Jen is to my left on "Demon-o"..the Black Devil Horse. (He got that handle after he accidentally(?) stepped on my foot and smushed my little toe.)

The resort had a nifty general store. In this store there was a life-sized cardboard cutout of John Wayne. About four years ago (via a genealogy study), I discovered that he and I are distant cousins. Unfortunately, Cousin John was probably never aware of his incredible fortune in this (hh!!). With the permission of the Golden Hills staff, I was able to take this rare opportunity to pose in a family portrait with one of my favorite horses and good old Cousin John. He has a very spiritual look in this photo, don't you think? I'll call it 'The Dix, The Dame, and The Duke'.

We met riders, trainers, breeders, veterinarians, farriers, equine dentists, and horselovers from all over. Camping next to us was a trio of lovely ladies from New York. Pam, Dar and Calamity Joan were a riot. They traveled in a pick-up with a 4-horse stock trailer for two long days to arrive in Missouri. To commemorate the WTC attack, they taped lines of small American Flags along both sides of the trailer. It was the picture of patriotism. They told entertaining stories of the different reactions they received across each state as people noticed their rig (It was hard to ignore!) and then noted their license plates. Their calls to their families in New York in the course of the week provided us with what little contact we had with the 'outside world'. The news was pretty depressing. After unloading and caring for their horses, the NY ladies set about converting their stock trailer into luxury camping accommodations. This transformation from Livestock Loader to Luxury Living Lounge was pretty incredible. The temperatures were fairly mild and there were no bugs, so the trailer served them fairly well...until the snake. I'm still pretty sure it was an anaconda..or at least a water moccasin. It was close to 20 feet long (okay...maybe just over 4 feet) and staked claim to our water hydrant. I tried to tell the NY girls that it was a Venomnous Sleeping Bag Snake and even if bludgeoned and thrown deep into the woods..would return and seek warmth. Some seemingly knowledgeable fellow called it a 'black racer', but I noticed that he stayed at least five feet away from it, too. All in all, I think I slept the best that night. I had both eyes closed. Calamity Joan had a big tobiano gelding that was giving her a few problems. She was so impressed with Clinton Anderson and his clinics that she contacted him about using her Toby as a problem horse demo. Clinton did choose her horse and Joan and Toby attended several days of one of his extended clinics in Massachusetts in late fall. Here are those brave countrymen from New York. Joan is on the left, then Pam and Dar.

The clinics were very informative. The last photo is of Jennifer riding in one of the Parelli demonstrations. She is astride the Devil Horse listening intently for the next set of instructions. (Domino is actually a pretty nice steed.)

Some of the clinics involved participation, others were strictly observation. All clinicians were extremely helpful in answering questions and providing information. I thought that the price of the vacation was very reasonable considering it included about everything you might need for a great horse adventure.Each day of the encampment, there were special activities offered by Golden Hills. There were organized trail rides, teampenning competitions, total fun horse show, country dancing, campfires...you name it. We tended to gather around fires in the evening and swap stories with other horse folks. We felt like gypsies. You could hear folks gathered around nearby fires, the sounds of accordion and guitars, barking dogs, and laughing kids. It was an extremely relaxing atmosphere. I had never taken a vacation like this before and it was wonderful. For many of us, we may be the only horseperson in our family and it seemed decadent to be allowed to just wallow in equine play for the week without the normal distractions of life. The most solemn moment of the week came on the last evening when the raffle drawings were held during supper at the dining hall. (Did I mention how good the food was?) The Raymondville Fire Department had donated a beautiful equine quilt to be raffled to raise money for their local Fire Department. On this evening, the proceeds of the raffle were redirected and dedicated to the memorial for the New York City Firefighters. The gesture was met with rousing applause. To learn more about the Ride with the Stars events, please log onto www.ridewiththestars.com. Each year the venue is a little different. Thanks for reading about our adventure....and happy trails to you. Pat Murry

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