A Weekend in Hayfork

I just got back from a weekend in the State of Jefferson, Northern California West of Red Bluff, in the town of Hayfork.  We visited my rider’s cousin, that's like a line bred kin to horses. 

We stayed in nice stalls, mine was between Lettie’s and a mule's named Easy Rider, Easy for short, and down the way was a horse name Red, Red for short.  Mules are a cross between a horse and a large donkey they mate a male donkey to a horse mare.  The result is a mule, which is sterile, male or female, a Jack or a Jennie and a John when gelded.

The ride up was the usual on Highway 5, two stops one for gas and one for food.  But route 36 was kind of windy we made one stop at a little place, Platina and got a homemade combination chocolate cream pie, banana cream pie, and cheese cake. We arrived at Hayfork and were glad to get out of the trailer and stretch our legs. 

We got acquainted with our host, Red and Easy.  After the customary ear pinning we got along like old pals.   Our riders made us comfortable and went in to the main house.  I could tell they were having a good time as we heard yoo-hoos and yodels throughout the night.  There was no one to disturb except for us equines, no chickens, we were surrounded by forest.

In the morning after feeding us our riders and their kin went to the Trinity County Fair to see what the 4Hers and the Future Farmers had produced.  They came back and saddled us up and we went to the fair at noon.   We loaded up and off we went wondering what was in store for three horses and a mule. 

It turns out we were entered in a contest, an obstacle course trail trial ride.  This was a surprise to me and to our riders as well.  Their cousin signed us up and sprung this on us after lunch.  We had to wait for other events to end.  We rode over at 4:00 and paid our entrance fees $10 a horse or mule. 

We walked the course and the judge explained the 10 obstacles to our riders.  Our riders asked quite a few questions about the rules.   A perfect score is 0 and up to 24 points can be penalized on each obstacle.  The horse and rider are expected to work together, ques must be followed and attention to safety is important.

This was Lettie's and her rider’s first competition together and my second with my rider on this type of trial. Lettie entered as a novice and I as an intermediate. The judges called out “Who would like to go first?"  No one volunteered.  My rider said. “If no one else will go first Joey and I will."  And off we went. 

The first station was a stretcher pull with a stuffed  bear on board, all went well until a loud roar and popping hit my ears.  I startled and moved around a bit trying to see what it was.  Something big and yellow with large claws was coming our way kicking up dust.  It clapped up 30' logs 4' in diameter 3 or 4 and at a time.  Even at a hundred yds. away in was unnerving, but I continued through the trial.  My rider was really unhappy about this mostly because it distracted me a bit.

We went on with the trial pulled a tire up a tree, opened a rope gate, pinned ribbons on three trees,  wrote our name on a paper and drop in a hanging bucket raffle prizes would come later.  I backed up in a figure eight around two trees.  Next was the blue curtain another pull up a tree, a sack of camp food put out reach from bears.

The hardest trial was a six foot two by four resting each end on two large barrels with third barrel in the row.  My rider grab a rope tied to the board and asked me to move at an arch pivoting the board resting on the center barrel and bring the rope end around to the barrel on the opposite side.  I jumped around a bit as the large thing making noise was still at it, a logging tractor, I was told.  Well we dropped the board, were given points, points are not good.  Lucky for us you get 3 tries we succeeded on the second and moved on the next station.

The last trial was to pick a bottle of water out of a chest of ice I moved around as we were getting closer to the loud tractor.  We finished with my rider getting the bottle in hand we left the course and shared a drink.

But my trial was not over.   We rode up to the area where the tractor was working and I reared up a bit, my trick to get away from things that bother me, but it didn't work this time.  My rider dismounted, but led me closer to the tractor and made me get use to the commotion. 

He remounted and rode in to where the tractor was to get a closer look and desensitize me to the noise and movement.   We chased the tractor and found out what it was doing.  It was placing the large logs as barriers around an area for the night's demolition derby, the money maker for the fair.

We loaded up and left the fair.  The results of the contest would be announced at a pot luck that evening at the mule camp.  I had no idea how we did compared to other horse as we did not stay to watch.

My rider told me about the pot luck, good food, good drink and good company.  Our riders brought home raffle prizes.  And to my rider and my surprise a first place trophy was brought back to the barn.  I am so proud; this is a first for me.   I am getting a lot of teasing from my herd mates.   I’m the one in the brown horse suit with the blue ribbon!

 Happy Trails!!

Joey