Ghosts of Horses Past in Salem

Traumatic things happen in life that can cause people to have flashbacks and I'm pretty familiar with them. I never really realized until Rachel & Grandma and Arabian Horses - Salem - Night Time Schooling that night many years ago at the fairgrounds in Salem had been one of those incidences. While it wasn't the normal kind event connected with abuse I was used to, it was a frightening and traumatic experience. I guess I just didn't realize how traumatic it was until this spring when I experienced those flashbacks riding my horse late at night in the Salem arena.

You would think that travelling 180 miles to a horse show the only thing one might have to worry about would be the normal things. Breaking down on the road, the horse going lame, missing classes, that sort of thing are what most of us expect to be the dangers surrounding horse shows. Flashbacks of past incidences on the fairgrounds wasn't something I ever expected. But they happened and it was pretty unnerving. Here's the story.

I can't even tell you specifically when this incident happened. It was a good number of years ago back when the Cascade Club was still functioning. They had a back to back horse show that always ran the first weekend in June.

I was headed to that horse show with my Arabian gelding, Dandy, when my Ford F-350 diesel truck broke down on Interstate 5 in Portland, Oregon. I can't tell you what broke on my truck only that my power steering went out. I managed to make my way to the off ramp, pull the truck over onto the fringe and there I sat.

I have to admit that I was resistant to cell phones at the time. Actually, I'm resistant to a lot of new technology but cell phones seemed like an expense I didn't need so I didn't have one.

I sat there on the side of the off ramp thinking that a DOT truck would come assist. The minutes turned into hours and nothing happened. No one stopped. The cars and trucks that did go by shook my truck and trailer like an earthquake making me feel all the more unsafe.

I saw DOT and the state patrol a few times in my rear view mirror but they were always heading somewhere with flashing lights too far away and moving too fast for me to flag down. I thought about leaving my rig but was worried about my horse. What if someone side swiped my trailer? My rig was not totally off the road and I couldn't get it an inch farther.

Checking out down the off ramp, it looked like a road to nowhere. The only buildings I could see were up over the top of me. Blocked off by a six foot chain link fence. Having been victimized being alone in a strange place, I wasn't feeling particularly brave. I waited some more for DOT.

Finally as it began getting dark, I just couldn't take it anymore and I scaled that six foot chain link fence. Luckily for me, it didn't take me long to find a phone. I called 911 and told them my dilemma. They said they'd send a trooper to assist me. Then I had to run lickety split back to my rig so I didn't miss my help.

I think I nearly fell off that fence on the way back over. I know I tore my clothes only to sit there for at least another half hour or so before DOT finally showed up. He explained that I was sitting just out of camera view. The whole time they had been unable to see me...........so much for Big Brother watching over us...........he sure didn't help me.

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

Part 2

For this series of posts, I'm just pulling random pictures. This one is Dancer.

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