We Got People

We have much to be thankful for here at Stoner Ridge Farm. We did have a great show at White Pine this weekend but we are also very thankful for the friends with whom we show horses. On Thursday, when we arrived in White Pine, Charlie noticed a lot of water under the F 450 Ford truck that we used to haul the nine horses to the show. They looked under the hood and found a hose that would need to be replaced. Fortunately, they were able to get the truck to the garage on Saturday. The garage even was even open until 8 PM which allowed us to show horses without much interruption to our schedule. Tim and Marcia Spencer were a great help all weekend. Tim and Mike went to pick the truck up when it was finished. Well, that isn't the end of the story. When we were pulling out of the Great Smoky Mountain Expo Center (we were still in sight of the facility) there was a pop and a puff of white smoke. The Turbo blew . . . we've had trouble with a specific hose so we carry one with us. Unfortunately, that wasn't all that was wrong. Marcia and Tim were following us to begin with so they were there. Larry and Vera Patterson stopped to help. Cassie and Robin Tucker stopped as well. So did some folks who had come from NC to show. We thought the truck would be ok (but slow) so we pulled out on to I-81 and discovered there wasn't going to be enough power to get over the mountains pulling over 20,000 pounds of trailer and horses. We turned around. The VanBert crew along with the Lazy K crew, Summer Shade, and EmDee Mountain Horses all waited patiently while we came up with a plan. At first we thought we could hook Lazy K's truck to our trailer and have Van Bert take their 3 horses. Unfortunately, that truck would hook up to our trailer - the fifth wheel wasn't set up for our type of trailer. Finally, we unloaded our trailer, Larry unloaded and reloaded his trailer with our horses. We put the yearlings in Judy Brummer's trailer and Little Anne in the Kleier's trailer. We still had to have one yearling in our trailer. Tim and Marcia hauled Larry's golf cart in the back of their pick up to make more room in Larry's trailer. We pulled out with a huge caravan all traveling slowly (30 - 40 mph) up hills and coasting over the other side. Finally, we thought to have some friends of Charlie's come to our house in Paris and get our Dodge. The met us about half way between and we hooked the Dodge to the trailer to help get over the mountains. That way, we were able to let everyone else move on out in order to get home. It was a little like that riddle about the man who had some corn, a goose, and a fox that he needed to get across the river. The only catch was that he could only take one at a time. If you leave the goose and corn together, the goose will eat it. If you leave the fox and the goose together, the fox will eat it. All I can say is how thankful we are that we weren't on Clinch Mountain when the turbo went out. I can't imagine being on the interstate with horses getting hot and no one to help. We send out a special thank you to all these great folks who helped us out today. We owe you one (several actually). It's pretty special that we can compete at the shows but still be friends at the end of the day. Thanks again everyone!