Lawrence Co. OHC News
SEPTEMBER newsletter
location of Trail Hazard
Steep rock face on trail exposed by rains and traffic .
this has resulted in a dangerous situation as you can not tell what you are getting into untill your horse is already on it when approaching from above .
We have had a couple of reports of horses almost going down on this rock , so be very carefull .
It has been brought to the attention of the Forest Service and they will be addressing it.
Have you ever heard of COWBOY MOUNTED SHOOTING ??
competitions and Cheryl has moved up to Womens level 2 already.
Phillip has had one victory and a couple of second place finishes in the hotly contested Men's division. He needs one more win to move to level 2.
Cowboy Mounted Shooting is sort of like barrel raceing with guns. You have to ride a pattern as fast as you can while shooting at ten balloons along the way.
The guns are .45cal LC six shooters patterned after the colt peacemaker. Ruger Vaquero seems to be the most popular model,they use blanks that can pop balloons at up to 20 feet away.
Phillip would like to start a club here. Right now the closest one is in Cincinnatti OH.
So if anyone is interested you can leave message on website message board under the CMSA heading.
EXCERPT FROM VICKIE'S CORAL COLUMN
Meanwhile, in the wilds of Shawnee National Forest, Illinois. Six more of our club were on an adventure of their own. Majestic forests, beautiful trails, nature at her artistic best. Up and at it, the group decided to head out, but wait something was missing. Wanda seemed different, the helmet, that was it. “Nope, not going to wear it today!” she stated, and away they rode. As always happens, this was the day that helmet should have been along for the ride. Whatever caused it, Wanda wasn’t on the horse, but on the ground and her headache was just beginning. First aid and ice, as Sarah and Cheryl worked on her, the men worried. Our tough trooper got back up and rode on in, headache and all. As they say, you can’t keep a good woman down !
Just like the group
in Tennessee, our Illinois group decided to treat themselves .
Now, I don’t know what it is about a Tractor Supp
ly store, but it seems the vehicles always end up parked in one of those lots and our people are always happily tramping inside. Once in there, they become like kids in a candy store, oohs and ahhs. I want that or oh wow look Over here. This leads to an interesting question? What happens when grown men try to ride a toy tractor inside a store? Well, of course, popping wheelies has to be involved and then, of course, a more adult attitude comes into play with a very loud, “Don’t you dare!!!”
Downtrodden and disappointed the men/boys move on to check out the hats.
As I understand it, there was a hear, see, speak no evil theme going on. Since the brim of Phillip’s hat sat somewhere around his upper lip, that took care of seeing and Jim’s hat left little room for hearing, but the tiny little, hot pink number that Charlie wore took care of speaking. There were simply no words to describe the look! I can report that both groups and their horses got home safely and all have shared their stories with our chapter. A combination of the those groups later visited Mt. Rodgers, Virginia and the pictures they brought back just proved our country is amazing. You can’t see this stuff from an interstate.
Gooseneck Trailer Safety
USRider Urges Drivers to Use Caution at Railroad Crossings
To enhance the safety of horses and those who travel with horses, USRider has worked with Drs. Tomas and Rebecca Gimenez, experts in large-animal emergency rescue, on a research project to gather and analyze data about horse trailer accidents. Conclusions and recommendations from this study will be released to the public soon. However, during the course of the study, USRider and Drs. Gimenez noticed a hazardous trend involving gooseneck horse trailers of which they want to immediately caution the public.
While studying more than 200 incidents involving horse trailers, researchers noticed an inordinate number of incidents involving gooseneck horse trailers becoming stuck on railroad crossings. Almost all of these incidents resulted in the loss of human and equine life. "Being stuck on a railroad track is preventable and does not have to end in tragedy," said Mark Cole, managing member of USRider.
"As the driver of a vehicle pulling a trailer, assume that any low-clearance caution signs before the railroad track are meant for you," said Dr. Tomas Gimenez, professor of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at Clemson University. "The placement of such warning signs will allow you to take an alternate, safer route.
" If you must cross railroad tracks, proceed cautiously, especially when the tracks are higher than the road grade. If your horse trailer becomes lodged on a railroad crossing, call 911 immediately since emergency agencies can contact railroad companies and alert them of the situation. Additionally, all humans and animals should be evacuated from the tow vehicle and trailer. Evacuating the horses from the trailer serves two purposes.
"Unloading a horse in a potentially dangerous scenario such as this is going to make people as well as the horses nervous. Make sure your horses are good about loading and unloading from the trailer - this is not the time to be trying to train them," said Dr. Rebecca Gimenez. "Also be sure to lead the horses a good distance away from the tracks to lessen the chance of them becoming spooked by other people, traffic, the tow truck or a passing train." In addition, evacuating the horses will reduce the weight in the trailer, which could raise the trailer enough to dislodge it from the tracks and enable it to complete the crossing safely.
"From a practical standpoint, most railroad crossings are built up, making them slightly higher than the surrounding roadway. Therein lies the problem," said Cole. "When the truck tires pass over the railroad bed and start approaching the lower roadway grade, the rear tires can also be on the roadway grade on the other side of the tracks, causing the front of the gooseneck trailer to bottom out on the tracks.
" While bumper-pull trailers are not as susceptible to this problem, it is very important to raise the jack stand to a level that will provide sufficient clearance and not bottom out in extreme situations.
USRider is a nationwide roadside assistance plan created especially for equestrians. It includes standard features such as flat-tire repair, battery assistance and lockout services. The plan also provides towing up to 100 miles and roadside repairs for tow vehicles and trailers with horses, emergency stabling, veterinary and farrier referrals, and more. For more equine trailer safety information, please visit the USRider website at www.usrider.org. Information provided courtesy of the AHP Newsgroup.
and Ohio Horsemen's Council
LOST CAMPER FOUND!!
Members of the Lawrence County O.H.C. Search and Rescue Team was called out Sat. the 4th to assist in a search for a missing camper in the Paddle Creek area.
Here is Web Reporter Susan White's exclusive first hand account.
I would like to take this time to recognize 3 of our OHC Members who were
called out by the Aid Fire Department and the Lawrence County Sheriffs Department
late Saturday night to search and rescue a lost hiker from Columbus. There
were 4 hikers at Paddle Creek practicing for a larger event later on this
winter. We were told that one member of the hiking team became separated from the
group and that they could not find him and that he was in his late 40's and
had a bad hip. After several hours of searching by 4 wheelers, the Aid VFD and
the Lawrence County Sheriff Dept. placed a call to Dale Delawder who then
called Roger White to meet Jerry Elliott at Paddle Creek to search for the lost
hiker on horseback. Upon arriving at the Paddle Creek entrance we were told to
go to the John's Creek Trail Head to meet Jerry and go in from that area.
They were in the woods around 12:30 AM with the help of Don Flager of the
forest service who drove his jeep up the road as far as he could behind them to
give them more light. Everyone tried to keep in contact with Jerry by his radio.
The Lawrence County Sheriffs Dept., 911 and the Aid VFD were all having to
relay messages due to the loss of communication from the hills and the valley
that they were riding. I was left to guard the horse trailers that were sitting
on the side of the road so that no one would come around the bend and hit the
back of Jerry's, which was sticking out in the road. The fire truck left and
went to Paddle Creek and about 20 minutes later I was rescued by Deputy Jeff.
We sat in the cruiser and listened for any communication from Jerry. At around
1:30AM, Jerry came on the radio and said that they had found the hiker and
that they were making their way to the wooden bridge on Paddle Creek Road. I
turned the marker lights on Jerry's trailer and Jeff drove us to Paddle Creek
ASAP! We met up with the Aid VFD and Elizabeth Twp VFD and the EMS at the wooden
bridge. Don Flager joined Jeff and I in the cruiser and waited for them to
come out of the woods. The Huntington Red Cross was at the Paddle Creek Camp Ground
giving out sandwiches, coffee and hot chocolate to all of the volunteers. I
really thought that this was really special. They gave Jeff and I a coffee
container to give to the guys when they made it out of the woods. They had to
leave to go back to Huntington. It was around 3:00am then. We knew something
was wrong when they hadn't came out at the bridge or never made contact since
1:30. Then we got word that they were up on the beach road. Jeff flew up the
road behind the ranger's Jeep with EMS and the fire fighters in tow. When we
reached to the top of beach road near the overlook, there stood 4 cold and
tired men and 3 tired horses (Sparkle, Honey and Wendy). The hiker was fine and
was sleeping in his tent when they found him. He did not know that anyone
was looking for him. We did not get home until daylight and by this time the
ridge was very slick. I think that these 3 members deserve a large thank you
simply because they did not have to go out in the middle of the night on
horseback during a snow storm and very cold temperatures to help rescue a lost
stranger. This goes to show that our group is very caring and helpful. Please
thank them at our next meeting.