At last! On a laptop and can write more than one minutes' worth.
(All my photos from Rodney on are uploading distorted, stretched out lengthwise. Sorry about that! Will try to fix camera later. In the meantime, try to mentally squeeze these images; for example, Walter has a much shorter back than it looks like in the pics...humans are narrower...)
Walter and I are at Rainbow Farms Therapeutic Riding Center in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
We are being given perfect accomodations and a much-needed 2-day rest courtesy of the owner/operator, Leigh Ann Nosser.
The trek from the Terry and Patti Miles' place, 5 miles west of Port Gibson, to Vicksburg took 4 days in all. I'd planned to ease Walter into it with slowly increasing days, from 7 up to 10 miles a day, riding with a very loose cinch and getting off to walk if he seemed sore or tired, and it seemed safe to lead him (Walter mule has panicked and jerked away fom me twice).
All went as planned until day four. Without a detailed map or laptop, I could only rely on locals' guesstimates for mileage. We had not gone as far up 61 as I thought on day three. Also, Walter was more tired and sore from the poorly balanced packs of day three than I realized.
He let me know, in no uncertain terms, just
how sore he had been when I went to pack him again. It took nearly an hour to tack up. I checked carefully for swellings or heat, there was none, but Walter was anticipating discomfort. I had spent hours repacking the night before though, and the packs stayed balanced all day, with no protests once we were on the road. Also, the breast collar I'd fashioned out of leather hobbles, my belt and hay string worked quite well to keep the saddle in place.
Which was fortunate, since it turned out to be a good 15 miles to our next stop, much of it up and down hills. Walter was willing but slow compared to his usual rapid gaited walk; I could tell he was getting worn out. About an hour from the start we came upon a mile-long bridge over the Big Black (?) River. He was scared to cross the zigzag metal seams. I got off and led him, and he crossed like a champ. I stayed off for quite a while to rest his back. Then rode til we got to the Vicksburg county line or city limits (can't recall the sign). And who should pull up alongside us, but Randy from two nights before! He was just coming from work business in Vicksburg and had been looking for us.
First Randy offered to do reconnaisance: he drove to Rainbow Farms and reported back that it was easily six more miles than I thought. At that news, I asked if he'd mind carrying Walter's packs to the Farm. Randy cheerfully said sure. He returned a while later with wife Sandy to encourage me that it wasn't too much farther, and give me landmarks.
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By the way - Randy and Sandy, can't believe I didn't get any pics of you - please send 'em if you got 'em!!
When I arrived at the left-hand turn from 61 to the Farm, they were again waiting for me at the intersection. There was no light, it was rush hour, and crossing the highway was problematic. Randy and Sandy were on the other side and unable to help. Who should at that moment appear but two men in a pickup who knew the owner of Rainbow Farms, knew who I was, and pulled from the turn lane across two lanes of the 4-lane highway to block traffic while I crossed! And then pulled in front of me to block traffic coming from the other two lanes while I finished crossing. At that point I remounted on Sir Walter and rode the quarter mile to Rainbow Farms, the truck leading the way and Randy and Sandy behind.
After arriving and recieving a huge warm welcome from owner Leigh Ann Nosser, meeting several boarders, untacking and settling Walter in his new digs, and putting my gear in the LQ trailer, Randy and Sandy took me out to a fantastic Mexican restaurant (coming from Arizona, that's high praise) - and when we arrived we were joined by Leigh Ann and thier friends Ms. Butch and Pat, and several folks stopping at the table. It was such a nice way to end an exhausting day - laughter, good food and new friends.
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| Sir Walter loves his pasture! |
The next day Leigh Ann and her friend Kelley drove to town for errands, delicious lunch at Leigh Ann's brother Rowdy's restaurant, a look at the old bridge over the Mississippi, and a tour of the flood-wall murals Vicksburg has become known for.
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| Leigh Ann on the right, friend Kelley on the left |
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| Hill from river to Old Vicksburg |
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| Old train station? |
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| Labelled flood wall |
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| Looking from old town down hill to river |
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| Part of mural project on flood wall |
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| Mural painting of the old bridge |
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| Photo of the old bridge |
It also gave me a chance to learn more about Leigh Ann's work with children with various disabilities at Rainbow Farms Therapeutic Riding Center. It's fascinating. For example, the reason she has so many horses is that for "hippotherapy," one of the types of therapy offered, each client has to be matched with a horse whose movement pattern will assist the physical therapist's manipulations of the client's limbs while the client is riding. For example, a person with spasticity in his or her legs cannot be on a horse with a long stride or choppy gait; they must be matched with a horse with a short, smooth amble, more like a shuffle.
There's so much more to running a therapeutic riding center than most folks would imagine. She's been in business 25 years, quite a track record, and it's honorable work.
And now I'd best get off her computer - hope y'all enjoyed the photos, please scroll back to earlier posts to see them all - might be another couple weeks before the next batch, but I'll be posting those little quickie updates from the phone.
It's spring - so beautiful - Sir Walter is calling at the gate - we'll be happy to get back on the road!
