Ghosts of Horses Past in Salem Part 4

Part 1

With the Arabian horses running out of control past the warm-up arenain the Pavilion, the night watchman and I managed to block off the side aisles herding the horses towards the stadium building. The turn the horses would have had to make to avoid going into the building was pretty sharp. I was hoping because of their speed and the slickness of the surface they would by pass that side road and head straight for the arena.

I only got half my wish. The horses ran into the building but turned down the aisle that runs underneath the stadium seating. Like all stadiums that area under the seats runs in one continous oval. Thankfully, the night watchman had enough experience with this facility he knew all about doors and partitions I had never seen employed. He closed the main door leading into the building closing the horses inside. I didn't even know that opening had a door.

The whole time the horses ran around that loop the stillness of the night and that old building resonated the clashing of hoofs against concrete, stumbling horses, knashing teeth, and screams like some kind of expensive acoustics. It made sound effects worthy of Hollywood high tech movies chilling me to my soul. What kind of damage was happening to these horses running under these conditions.

This scene was more violent than any movie could have fabricated. Actually, remember the scene at the beginning of The Horse Whisperer where the horse gets hit by the truck? That's what this sounded like to me.

By the time we had all the smaller outside doors closed so the horses really were trapped within the building, the horses had lapped under those seat what seemed like a half dozen times. When they flew by us it was so fast, it was impossible to access their condition.

I told the night watchman we were going to have to find a way to get them into the arena. Again the night watchman saved the day. There were doors that were to function as firewalls in an emergency. By closing off the one right outside the main arena ingate, we were able to divert the horses into the arena.

That end of the arena bulding is narrow, When the horses galloped around the corner they had little time to think, let alone stop. Slipping and sliding trying to keep from hitting the now closed door, both horses scrambled to mantain their balance and make the turn into the arena.

Closing those big arena gates behind the horses, we finally had them trapped in a large area that was safe.The mare had room to run from the stallion but the elements around them weren't harmful to the animals. It was a relief to see them running without hearing that harsh clash of horse shoes against concrete sending sparks flying. But we still had our original problem...........the stallion wanted to kill that mare.

To be continued................

Part 5

This picture is Gypcy.

Visit Blog Village and vote daily for this blog Here They are now measuring the rankings by votes out, so if you find my blog on the site, please click that link too to improve my rankings. TY