Airborne at Trail Trials

Judging at Trail Trials yesterday turned out to be an interesting experience. We arrived promptly at 8:10 (the road in was a bit longer than anticipated) and after milling around a bit trying to figure out what we were supposed to do, finally were gathered together, given some instruction and our assignments, and our cones and clipboards, and then hung around for a long, long time. Laura was assigned to Obstacle 3, Rhoda to Obstacle 5, and I got Obstacle 9 (the last obstacle, of course). Since I had the last obstacle, I was in the last truckload of judges to be transported to the obstacle area, so it was a long wait. Finally, we loaded up and headed down the road to the next campground, where the last 4 obstacles were set up in a big parking lot. Then we hung around a bit more until the two head judges showed up and put the final tweaks on the obstacles and gave us our final judging instructions.

trying to figure out what's going on

That's a person dangling at the end of that rope!

As I was working with Sue, one of the head judges, a helicopter started buzzing around, very low. Of course we were concerned that some poor soul had gotten themselves into trouble, and about that time the ranger showed up in a big hurry, as well another trail trial person, and informed us that there was a rider down and that's what the copter was for. Since there was nothing we could do and it seemed that they already had pandemonium at the accident site, we just hovered about and worried. Eventually a second helicopter showed up, adding to the concern and confusion. Then hikers and bikers started appearing with bits of information and rumors that there was a second rider down as well, although we were also getting conflicting reports about a motorcycle accident that had brought on the second helicopter.

Obstacle 7Obstacle 8 (yes, it's an outhouse)

Obstacle 9 (my judging spot)

While all this was going on, the contestants started showing up, and we were then judging obstacles, while every so often a helicopter would buzz the area. The horses were surprisingly nonplussed about the copters buzzing overhead and they really didn't interfere with the judging very much, although sometimes we had to shout the instructions to the riders! We held all the contestants at our area, since they would have had to go past the accidents scene(s) to get back to the trailers. Finally we got the skinny. A rider's horse, fairly out of control, had reared twice while under a low-hanging branch, hitting the (helmet-less) rider's head twice. This was at Obstacle 3, which Laura was working. After the wobbly rider was removed from the horse, she informed them that she had a hereditary condition that caused occasional and transitory paralysis, and it was possible that a head injury could bring it on. It is beyond me why somebody with this kind of condition would ride without a helmet. Anyway, about that time, sure enough, paralysis kicked in and she went down, causing general panic. Although she was conscious, coherent and relatively comfortable, somebody who was understandably very concerned called for the helicopter rescue.

As this was going on, and people and horses were running amok, a young woman who was riding with her grandmother started having trouble with her horse, possibly due to the noise and commotion. She was apparently a very inexperienced rider and panicked, and was thrown, injuring her hip. The injury caused her to panic further and apparently she was on the verge of hysteria. So a second helicopter was called in.

It's possible that neither chopper was necessary and the injured parties could have been safely transported to the hospital by other means. We did get the word that both of them were in excellent condition and mostly none the worse for wear. But better safe than sorry, I guess. Those were darned expensive rides for those folks though. Check your insurance policies. Incidentally, you can join the REACH organization for a nominal amount each year ($40 for an individual, $45 for a family) and it will cover your emergency helicopter rides, so if you like to ride, especially without a helmet, that might be worth investigating.

http://www.reachair.com/membership/

So that added to an already long day. The accident happened about halfway through the riders, so we judged the first half, then had a long break while the rescue was in progress, then eventually the second half of the riders came in and were judged.

All I have to say is, thank goodness for our Parelli horses! We saw some unbelievable horsemanship and techniques during the day. Cowboy and Dexter got big hugs and kisses when we got home. We wanted to rescue about half the horses and bring them home with us. And people just need to learn to bail before they get hurt!

All that being said, we did meet some nice people who know how to have fun. We do plan on competing now that we've gotten our judging requirement out of they way. That should be interesting--we're pretty smug about our horses right now, but I suspect we will be eating humble pie once we get them out on the trail in a competitive situation! Horses do have a way of bringing your ego down a notch or two.

That's it for now. It's a beautiful day and I have lots of outdoor stuff to do.