The Big Bang

I'm working on a report of the Buck Brannaman clinic in New River, but here's a short little story to share about EQUU8's trip to Arizona.

In years past, I've headed home right after the clinic. This year, Hailey and Sierra didn't need to be home Tuesday, so we decided to rest another night before heading home. This turned out to be a good decision.

On Monday, Junior cut his coronet band (the hairline above the hoof) pretty good while getting out of the trailer. He had also been dancing around in the trailer and scuffed his leg, so we were going to be extra cautious for the long haul home. I had picked up some ointment from Mike Bruce for doctoring Junior's coronet band and we wrapped him up for shipping. Soon, we were loaded and ready to head west. It was about 10:45am and the hottest morning of the trip. Hot air balloons peppered the skyline and we said our goodbyes before Paul and Maggie rolled out to go rope some cattle.

We drove to Surprise for fuel and I checked the trailer hitch, tires, and horses, while Sierra and Hailey made a Starbucks run before we made our way out Sun Valley Parkway toward Buckeye. We listened to music, talked about the clinic, teaching lessons, how to write lesson plans, and just general girl talk.

Outside of Quartzite, I decided to make another fuel stop before we hit California gas prices. We took a selfie in front of a giant highway-side American flag and got lunch and snack. I did a quick once over walk around the trailer.

Then it was off to California, where, for the first time ever, they checked our vet papers upon arrival in the state. We cruised outside of Blythe and headed up the slow westbound grade to Cheriaco Summit.

The trailer wobbled.

"Someone's dancing around back there." I said, slightly letting off the accelerator to try to stabilize the trailer.

Fleetwood Mac was playing through the iPod and then BANG!

"(Expletive!)" My heart pounded. "(Lots of expletives!) I hope a horse didn't go down in the trailer! Ohgod, ohgod, ohgod..."

I couldn't see anything in the mirrors so I turned on my hazards and coasted to the narrow shoulder in a painful minute-long deceleration. I didn't brake, but downshifted as the truck slowed. Before we rolled to a stop, Sierra jumped out the passenger side to assess the damage, yelling "It's a tire! It's a tire!"

Relieved, but my body shaking with adrenaline, I watched for traffic before exiting the cab.

The horses were alert, but calm. The trailer had seen better days. Ouch.

Still, it could have been much worse.

I quickly called Kathy to let her know what happened and we got to work. Hailey documented the process as Sierra and I got our hands dirty.

Thankfully, before we left for our trip, Travis reminded me to get the tire iron and some blocks. Kathy and Glenn had a ramp in the trailer tack room. We had everything we needed to get the tire changed, including a fluorescent yellow brush bucket to put behind the trailer to alert drivers of our precarious position on a very narrow shoulder.

No sooner did we get the new tire on and use Sierra's shoelace to tie a loose piece of metal to the trailer did the CHP show up.

"You ladies having fun?" He asked.

"We just got the tire changed." I answered.

"So you're good then?"

Uhhh. I guess. We're just girls. Just girls who survived a blowout, kept control of the trailer, changed a tire, and the horses are safe.

"Yeah. We're good."

GIRL POWER! 

Just another thing EQUU8 represents.

So now we just need to get this thing repaired. We might need some man power for that. :-)