I traveled recently from my ranch to Pierre, S.D., then to Broken Bow, Neb., over to Saint George, Kan., before heading south to Oklahoma City. The old sayings, "the best laid plan of mice and men," or "if you want to make God laugh just tell him your plans," were both in full effect this trip.
To make my trip to Nebraska work in the time-frame allotted, I had to leave the ranch on Tuesday, as we were slated to get rain on Wednesday. For perspective, I wasn't planning to leave until Friday morning!
Rain in gumbo country has more than once thwarted my plans to go run barrels. Dragging a trailer down a gumbo road covered with gravel sprinkles, isn't my idea of fun! And, because we don't have anything but a gumbo driveway, getting out of the yard isn't even an option sometimes. Due to this, I've learned to be flexible.
The run in Nebraska came and went. I certainly didn't ride my horse to the best of my ability and left empty handed - which has been the case so far this year, since I have yet to win a check. My stay in Kansas was a simple layover. I got to hang out with an awesome friend and get some routine vet care done on my horse, Avie, before we went to our final run of the trip: The Better Barrel Races Finals.
I've run horses at this event in Oklahoma City before, and it was hot! Spring in Oklahoma almost always means interesting weather. It might be 80 degrees or 48 degrees - as it was this trip.
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Not only was it cold and windy, but one of the worst non-tornadic storms that Oklahoma City has ever seen came through the city early Saturday morning. Flash flooding, pea-sized hail and 90 mph straight line winds caused massive damage.
Roads were closed due to downed power lines and broken power poles. Damage also was inflicted on the fairgrounds where there were 1,752 barrel racing entries, more horses than that, and countless living quarters horse trailers with people sleeping in them. I am eternally grateful that my trailer stayed upright in its locked position, and I will further be eternally grateful if I never have to spend another night in my trailer when 90 mph straight line winds come through.
The storm killed the power, not only to the fairgrounds, but to many people in Oklahoma City. We had no electricity that day, so the barrel race had to be postponed. The producers had to come up with a new plan since Sunday was originally slated to be a short-round.
Trailers were overturned, including some containing their occupants, and were blown into one another - knocking out windows and the like. Jacks were sheared off of long horse trailers. Trees were toppled, some onto people's pickups. Power lines fell. A road at the fairgrounds was washed out. Cupolas were blown off of barns.
I cleaned stalls and fed and cared for my horses in the dark. Fortunately for me, my parents had made the short drive up from their home in Texas to watch me run that weekend. That made it easier for someone to hold the flashlight while we cleaned, fed and watered. I also rode that afternoon in an almost dark barn. The clouds kept the sun at bay, so despite skylights, the barn was pretty dark. About halfway through my ride, they set up floodlights (via generator) which made it a bit easier to see!
Sunday, we ran the race we should have run on Saturday, and I made a nice run. I still didn't win a check, but we ran in the top 25 percent of the horses there, which made all the struggles, both mental, physical and storm-induced well worth it! I was so happy with how I rode my horse that I cried tears of joy.
Mother Nature is never one to rest on her laurels. If anything, this trip taught me that I'm doing better at being flexible, which means I'm growing as a person. I didn't find myself frustrated or mad, I was grateful that my horse trailer had a working generator on board, and I learned that I can tell God my plans, but He likely has a very different idea of what is best for me. I'm learning to be okay with that. Are you?
Happy Trails!
