It takes a team to create a great show season, and sometimes, it takes a team to just get home from a show. Coming home from Dressage in the Park July 19, the brake petal went to the floor, and I pulled off the road and started calling for help. Here is Linda Butz's recounting of that afternoon. The EMT not only brought us food, she restored my humor, which was no mean feat that day!!!
The Kindness of Strangers
by Linda Butz
Most of you who follow SFD on FB probably know that Ange had truck issues when we left NJ Horse Park last Sunday. We lost the brakes on the truck but Ange managed to safely roll off the road to a flat grassy shoulder that even had some shade. We opened up the trailer-thank goodness the wonderful, new trailer has individual fans-pulled out our chairs and sat down to wait.
We were overwhelmed and tremendously grateful for all the folks who stopped to see if we and the horses were OK. One woman who stopped was a vet and she took a peek at the horses and declared them to be fine-yeah, we knew that, but it was nice of her to care. Another woman who works at the Horse Park took me back to get water for the horses.
The EMT from the show on Sunday stopped to check on us. We assured her we were fine and Ange joked that if we had pizza and beer we’d be set. About 30 minutes later she returned with pizza and soda-refused our money-and said she’d been at the show all day and imagined that we were exhausted and still had a long night ahead.
One woman came by who said she had a farm down the road with horses and that if we needed to, she’d send her husband up with their truck to hitch to the trailer and we could stable the horses overnight with her. People driving everything from motorcycles, convertibles, and trucks stopped constantly to be certain everything was OK.
Our true hero was Cara who after having competed early in the day, taken her horse home, and fed dinner to all the horses at home, drove all the way back in her truck to take us home. At that point we had to unload the horses, who both (including the 4-yr-old) handled the whole thing like the champions they are (to us, at least).
It was a nerve-wracking experience, but it could have been much worse-we weren’t on the Turnpike! It also reaffirms my belief that the vast majority of people in this world, especially horse people, are good, kind, caring, and will go out of their way to help other horsepeople in need.
Thank you all!
I recommend USRider motor plan to all people who haul horses. No, I am not paid to endorse them; I endorse them because of personal experience. In a case like Linda describes where the truck could not be driven, they'll send both a tow truck for the disabled vehicle and a hauling vehicle to take the horses home. Their service is wonderful and, guess what, if you're paying for AAA, they won't help you if you're hauling horses and UsRider costs the same.
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