August 5th, 2011

As most parents know, myself included, keeping your kids not only active but out of trouble can be a constant concern and challenge, especially into their teen years. The statistics are everywhere:

• Premarital sex – According to Sadd.com, “In 2009, 46% of high school students had sexual intercourse and 13.8% had four or more sex partners during their life. Prior to the sexual activity, 21.6% drank alcohol or used drugs.” Furthermore, “Three in ten teenage girls (31%) become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20. Eight in ten of these pregnancies are unintended and 81% are to unmarried teens.” http://sadd.org/stats.htm#sexualactivity
• Drug and alcohol use – According to Sadd.com, “During the past month, 26.4% of underage persons (ages 12-20) used alcohol, and binge drinking among the same age group was 17.4%.” http://sadd.org/stats.htm
• Health – According to a March 2011 article by the American Heart Association, “One in three American kids and teens is overweight or obese.”  http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/Overweight-in-Children_UCM_304054_Article.jsp

To combat these issues before they arise, provide your child with a positive activity to engage in during his or her free time. Off the couch and away from negative influences, your child will be benefited by an activity like horseback riding.

Horseback riding is more than a physical activity, it’s a sport that bonds kids with an animal, provides a way for kids to be outdoors, and improves balance, coordination and social skills. It’s listed as one of the top sports that keeps kids out of trouble on Livestrong.com, and in the article, author Ryan Eshoff says, “One of the best ways of teaching your kids responsibility is trusting them with the care of their own athletic compatriot; in this case, a horse whose needs must be tended to constantly. Your youngster will only be able to find success in equine-related sports if they are willing to devote time, energy, and compassion towards a horse, and such commitments can be extremely valuable.” http://www.livestrong.com/article/229997-sports-that-keep-kids-out-of-trouble/#ixzz1U5avlVbL

Though it can be seen as an expensive activity, the benefits are well worth the money. Horseback riding can grow from a hobby to a love and, eventually, a true talent as many young horseback riders pursue their interest in to the competition level. Whichever direction you and your child take this activity, together you are participating in something positive. You can take comfort in knowing that every minute your child spends involved in horseback riding is a minute not doing something else, something that could make them another statistic.

The news sources said the fire started early afternoon on Thursday, March 25.  We first noticed a small puff of smoke several ridges away to the south around 1:15 pm.  By 1:30 the height of the smoke plume had tripled in size, and so I made my first call to Brian Curry, manager of the Colorado Horse Park.  “Hey Brian, just wanted you to know, there’s a little fire burning to the south.”  “Oh yeah, I see it, thanks for the heads up.”  Unfortunately, with the wind gusting upwards of 40 mph, that little puff of smoke turned into a towering cloud of smoke in only another 15 minutes, sometimes blowing so furiously towards us that we could no longer see Sagewood Middle School from our barn.  It was time to get the horses in from turnout.  Trainers, grooms and anyone on hand began running horses in from any and all turnouts until everyone was tucked safely inside, out of the smoke.  It certainly seemed that the horses knew that it was no time for shenanigans and all marched inside as quickly as was safe.

Now it was trainer and management pow-wow time.  “Where do we go?” someone asked.  “No where yet, we are safest here, we are surrounded by concrete, we have water, and the horses are out of the smoke.”  Jodi Kennedy said, “The real danger at the moment is the smoke that the horses are breathing.  Water down your aisles to pull as much of the smoke out of the air and to keep everything as humid as possible. If they get sick from the smoke, they can’t come back from it.”  And off we all went to find hoses.  I will say, I have never felt so puny as I did staring up at the 100 foot high smoke plume and then glancing at the little trickle of water coming out of my hose.  Then I saw the fire crest the hill, eating a ravenous path down towards the cross-country field.  Once again, my trickle of water gave me little hope, but the distance between us and the flames gave me confidence that we would be okay.  We all hoped the wind would just change direction.

The Pinery got a reverse 911 call advising all residents to evacuate.  At this point, the CHP trainers gathered together, and began calling anyone they knew with a horse trailer.  While we do have a lot of big trailers at the Horse Park, we are in no way self-equipped to remove 100 horses from the property in a speedy manner.  This is a job that can only be done with the help of friends.  So the phone calls went out:  “Hey, get your trailer, come the back way down Democrat and through the top entrance. We don’t know if we are going yet, but we are staging out front.”  So the trailers came like marching ants.  And the ants brought their friends.

By 3 p.m., we had the order to evacuate.  It was go time.  Barns A and B were to be cleared out first as they were the closest to the fire.  Then Barns C and D.  We put horses on trailers without knowing exactly where they were headed—only that we knew options included  Cresta Farm, Arapahoe Riding Club, Douglas County Fairgrounds, ’Cross the Meadow Farm or Noontide Farm.  I wouldn’t exactly call the next hour and twenty minutes choreographed, but overall it worked quite smoothly.  Some people panicked, grabbing any horse they saw in a stall. Others jumped the line to get their horses out first. And others froze. But these were the worst moments.

The best moments came throughout the whole process.  Our friends and neighbors that we called for help arrived like lightening and brought with them anyone they knew with a trailer. Evacuating just under 100 horses in an hour and twenty minutes must be a land speed record!

Juan Carlos and Estolfo stayed overnight at the Fairgrounds and continued to watch over all of our horses and the other refugees all night long, taking 3-hour shifts.  Others, such as Charlie Dennehy, went back to Ponderosa High School, the newest staging area for evacuating livestock that lay in the path of the fire.  Brian and his team fought an amazing battle against the Burning Tree Fire.  For their efforts they all deserve our utmost gratitude, and, in my opinion, they deserve medals.

The next day, we moved horses back home. It doesn’t seem like 18 hours earlier we had a trainer meeting to discuss the normal goings on at the Horse Park.  Everyone is safe now, and sincere thanks are due all around.