To Finish is to Win
by Chris Anton Paus
|
This is a true story about the Okmulgee Cougar Prowl and two grandmas who did it! They were on a 3 day pass from the State Hospital in Topeka. On Friday morning, my friend and riding buddy, Betsy O'Shea picked me and Star up for our big trip to OK. She was late, but we had the whole day ahead of us....We were in great spirits... tornados and earthquakes were not forecast for the weekend. About 15 miles into the journey, we stopped at a grocery store. I stayed in the truck while Betsy went for supplies. I decided to get out and the seat belt was stuck. Now I am not a tiny person, so it took a great deal of contortion to wriggle out of that....I hope to work part time w/"The Flying Wallendas" this summer...I wanted to check on the boys, Star and Glo. As I walked in front of the truck, I noticed a river of green running under it -- green antifreeze! When Betsy came back, we drove to a nearby Ford dealer. The head service guy looked under the hood, declared a hole in the radiator, saw our glum faces and filled the radiator with antifreeze and stop leak. He said it might get us back to Paola, our home town. Then he went to his break room and took bets w/ co-workers on how far the Grannies would really get- maybe the 69 highway ramp. It was noon. We looked at each other and decided to keep heading toward OK, watching the temperature gauge all the way... If we had trouble, our plan was to call a wrecker for the truck and my husband to come get the trailer and horses.. Ray has always fantasized about driving out from home to pick up mature women on the side of the highway who are stranded with horses!!!!! We kept driving, the truck was all right! We got to camp about 6 p.m., missed the easy route through Beggs and took the long scenic route through Okmulgee...We wanted to prove just how very wrong the guy at the Ford place really was! There we were -- the poor white trash contingent from Kansas in our beater Ford truck and two horse trailer nestled amongst the shiny gooseneck rigs and new diesel trucks...but our rig is paid for--- na, na, na, na, nah, nah! Still, we were in good spirits.... The next morning, we awoke to thunder and lightning and a light rain. No problem. We've come this far, we're going to ride. Betsy was game for 50. I was doing my second 25 limited distance ride. By the time the ride meeting was over, the lightning was closer and the rain was harder. I decided then not to wear my steel toed riding boots- a decision that I would regret later that morning. The 50 milers were off. A short time later, the 25 milers were off. My usual plan is to hold Star behind because he is so competitive and wants to race, but we had a controlled start, so I thought it would be ok. WRONG. He didn't pay attention when Louise Burton told us this is not a race, there is no award except Best Condition for the 25 mile ride! The race was on. Star galloped with me barely in control. Another horse kept egging him on and he egged back. Finally that horse let fly with his right hind foot, catching me in the left foot. YEAOWWWW... That hurt. Almost unseated me and nearly caused a 6 horse pileup! Should have kept on those steel toed boots! But on we went. Finally, I asked the closest riders to stop so I could dismount safely. I really just didn't want to show off my trick riding dismount. I was going to let them go ahead and settle down my horse. Mind you while all this is going on, it is windy, rainy, stormy, the Oklahoma clay is slick as snot. I held Star back much to his dismay, and ended up riding for a few miles with a nice older man and his Appy mare, but Star was wearing her out, so we forged ahead alone. I couldn't see the trail markers -- too much rain on the glasses. I took off my glasses and my 20-300 vision kept me from seeing the trail markers. Also, the absence of my regular hospital meds was making me crazy! I THINK the trail was pretty -- following the Arkansas River and its tributaries through a wildlife area....But as the day went on, the logging roads we were on became logging rivers! Then Star pulled his "oh, I'm so tired." routine. I thought he was sick. His nose went to the ground. He plodded step by step slowly I thought he might drop right out from under me... Then, we came to an oil well pump jack. He perked right up and trotted smartly... We trotted the rest of the way into camp, about 5 miles! Now I was soaked -- Star was soaked, my new, expensive Aussie saddle was soaked, my sheepskin seatsaver went squish, squish, when my butt hit the saddle...But the way I figure it I spend as much for a car as I spent on my saddle and I don't get upset when the car gets wet... After a soggy vet check stop, we were off again for the last 8 miles -- trotting and cantering most of the second loop. My goal was to reach the top 10 -- we were pretty far behind the other riders, but still finished in 8th place! It took me 3 coats, 2 pairs of boots, 4 pairs of gloves, 6 pairs of socks, and 3 changes of pants and sweaters to get through the day... I finally ran out of dry coats and wore a blanket in camp that night! Betsy did well on Glo. They finished more than an hour faster than their previous 50. She also looked bedraggled and wet. Her wonderful rain coat was not enough for the heavy downpour we rode in for hour after hour. But Betsy owns a convertible and never puts the roof up so she is use to this sort of thing. She finished the ride with plastic bags and sock mittens on her hands and came into camp with a muddy face -- Glo had fallen and Betsy ended up unceremoniously face first in the mud. Betsy is the kind of gal that makes wearing mud from O.K. a fashionable thing so I had no mercy for her....But they finished...And did not get the turtle award this time! As we cooked our dinner in the trailer Saturday night, nursing our sore, cold, wet aging bodies, we mused that we have surely been more miserable at some time in our lives, but we just couldn't remember when! Childbirth, the teenage years, root canals all pale in comparison.... It was too long a drive to head home, so we camped again. Really we could not imagine why in the world we should leave our wet, primitive site to return to something dry and warm!! A borrowed cot was the only thing keeping me out of the puddles in my tent. Neither of us had much left for dry clothes. I gave up one of my blankets for Star, who also had no more dry clothes. During the night, the wind whipped up, huge and cold. Neither of us wanted to crawl out of our cocoons in the morning, but there were horses to wrap, bags to pack, the trailer to load...and we had always wanted to do this wearing day old wet clothes! Then there was the mud to contend with.. Rig after rig required pulling by a tractor. Betsy said "I can make it out." And she did. Our poor old truck and little trailer got out with nary a skid... All went well on the trip back home, except for the strange looks I got at McDonalds when I traipsed in wrapped in a blanket and the wild wind and occasional snowflake whipping us around. Then, when we got a few miles from home, we drove smack into a blizzard. The winds were ferocious. The snow was blowing. IT WAS COLD. When we finally got to my house and started unloading horses and stuff, we noticed the final catastrophe -- a flat tire on the trailer. How long had we driven that way?? My husband saw these two bedraggled women, declared us insane, helped us unload the truck and trailer and put air in the tire. After he made the arrangements for our transport back to Topeka. He asked-- "Now, tell me again why you do this?" -- BECAUSE TO FINISH IS TO WIN!! I told him! Chris and Star |