It had all the makings of a beautiful day, the sun was out, the horses were healthy and for some reason I wasn’t busy doing anything except waiting for a group of ladies to come out for a hay ride.
I sent hubby out early to put the pole back on the wagon as we had used it on the hayrack for hauling bales. He dutifully went out with our 4 year old daughter, Spencer, in tow. She was enjoying bouncing on the wagon seat while he worked, pretending she was driving the team.
Ear shattering screams split the air and caused my heart to flutter, what on earth could be making such a noise? A second later I realized it was my daughter and then Richard yelling at me. Clutching my expanded belly, I was five months pregnant with my third child, I waddled as fast as I could to find out what happened. Did she fall off the wagon? Is she hurt?
I saw them coming to the house from the barn, thankfully she wasn’t crying anymore just sniffling and she was walking so it couldn’t be that bad. I found she had a couple of stings, on her arm. Apparently there is a wasp nest inside the seat and when she started bouncing on it they didn't like that and came out to get rid of the intruder.
Ok, fine, I can get rid of the little beasties, how dare they bite my child! I had been spraying the yard with a defogger so I thought I would just defog the seat. It was an old school bus seat and the side was frayed with the nest inside. I came back in about 15 minutes and saw one lone little wasp fly out so I figured another blast should get rid of them.
By this time the ladies had started arriving, including my girlfriend, Judy, who was going to help me with the horses. I figured I had better hurry up a bit so without thinking I stuck the really hot tip of the propane defogger right in the corner of the seat and poof, instant flames!
Oh yeah, I was pretty sure the wasps were dead now what with all the smoke and flames, now I just needed to put out the fire!
Ducking into the nearest horse pen I handed a pail of water over the fence and Judy threw it on the seat. A couple of pails later the fire was out and the wasp problem solved. The fibers inside the old bench were toast but that tough old seat was still good, in fact you couldn't see any burn marks unless you pulled down the corner flap and looked inside.
So that was just a minor setback but it was time to get the team ready. I had brought Boogie and Velvet in awhile ago and they were waiting patiently tied to the hitching post in front of the old red barn. I went in and grabbed the first harness. They weigh around one hundred pounds each. As I stepped outside it decided to rain on me.
One little black cloud right over the barn. You could see sunshine all around except right where I stood clutching the harness. How is that possible? It wasn’t raining by the house or near the tree line where all the ladies were standing and waiting. It was only raining on me. How does a single little cloud hold that much water?
Well never mind it has to be just a shower since the sun was still out and there were no more clouds to be seen anywhere. I got a little damp but was determined that this was not going to ruin the day. I continued putting the harness on and by the time I was finished the shower had moved on. I was a bit more tenacious than it was.
I hitched up the team, stepped up on my front row seat and asked them to take a couple of steps just to make sure all was well. Boogie's harness slips down off his butt. What is with that! What did I do wrong? I can't see anything from my perch so I hop off and push it back up.
Grunting a bit with the extra pounds around my middle I heave myself back up and click at them to take a few more steps and down it slips again.
Well this is ridicules so instead of getting off again I asked Kathy to hop off and push it back up. She gingerly approached the back of Boogie’s butt and stretching her arm as far as she could she managed to shove it back up without actually touching the horse.
Since I still can't see anything wrong, I figure Boogie must be wiggling or something silly and without another thought told everyone to jump on.
My other friend Judy had decided to ride her Arab mare instead of coming in the wagon since the ladies had kinda filled it up and she thought it was such a nice day for a ride. I didn’t see a problem with it as she would be nearby and Boogie had been around her mare before.
It must have been the rain but her mare was sure having a bad hair day and was being totally idiot. The mare was rearing and turning circles, really fast circles and bouncing around like she had springs tied on her feet. Biting my lip, I could feel a few tendrils of unease creeping into my thoughts like an unwanted visitor.
Firmly shaking my head to get rid of the unwelcome pictures of runaway horses and people spilling out of the wagon I casually shouted at Judy “Hey you crazy women, stay behind the wagon ok?”
Laughing out loud Judy nods and bounces out of the yard and away we go.
Well we make it out of the yard and to the top of the hill before the harness slips again. Darn, I asked Kathy be a good sport and hop off and push it back (now this is a girl not used to horses) but I figure I she is a bit more nimble than I am right now.
Kathy gets off and pushes it back up and gets back on with a big grin and retorts “Hey Berge, you sure you know what you’re doing?” This got another chuckle from everyone else. They were blissfully unaware that this could mean a serious problem and only saw the humor in it. I was also guilty of not thinking clearly, such as the possibility of the harness slipping right off and tangling up in his back legs.
Kathy hops back on and away we go again. The sun is out, it’s warm and maybe we can finally enjoy this wagon ride. We managed to get to the end of the field without it slipping again so I figure the problem is fixed. We start making a turn at the bottom of the hill and dang it, the harness slips again. Ok so I had better really check this as this has never happened before and those little thoughts in my head are telling me to check it out and fix it. This is not supposed to happen so that means something is not right.
I debated about getting everyone out of the wagon but decide not to bother as Boogie and Velvet are standing quietly and they are a well broke team. The driver is like the captain of a ship, first on and last off. I mean if the driver gets off just who is in control of the team? So getting off while the wagon is still loaded is something I have never done but without giving it a second thought I clamber down off the seat. Still holding the lines I walk around behind Boogie to see what's up. I casually flip the lines over Boogie's back so they are not draped in the middle between them and Boogie thinks I gave the signal to move.
He takes a step and crack! The sound echoed like shotgun. The singletree behind him snaps in half and whips right into his butt! The singletree is a solid piece of wood that is attached to each horse by the two trace lines. Each horse has one behind him and this is how the horse pulls the wagon. The wood flew at him like someone swinging a home run hit with a baseball bat.
I felt like ice water had been dumped on me, a deep bone chilling cold. I knew this was bad. The wagon was full of non horsey people, including a baby, the doubletree is broken, I'm standing on the ground five months pregnant and my horse has just been whacked in the butt with a big chunk of wood. I knew I would have to drop the lines when jumped as there was no way I could hope to hold them back and getting dragged under the wagon wasn’t an option either. These thoughts flew through my brain for about two seconds.
Then screaming at the top of my lungs I yelled with as much power and conviction as I could, WHOA!! Boogie takes one step and stops dead in his tracks. Breathing hard and thinking, this can’t be good for the baby I stood there sent up a prayer.
Thank goodness for that good old Morgan common sense, Boogie didn't take another step. I felt a little faint as I got everyone off the wagon but I didn’t let on just how close to disaster they had been. The ladies were laughing and jolly about the whole thing and not worried that we would have to walk back to the yard. I unhitched the team and started driving them back. The ladies were really good sports about it and they pulled the wagon back to the yard for me. I kept thinking about everything that had gone wrong and wondered why hadn’t I stopped to check the harness in the first place.
I don't think they realize to this day just how lucky they were that I was driving my team of Morgans and just how close a call they had!
As for me, I am just thankful that I can remember that day and laugh about it, well almost laugh.
Sandy & Richard Berge
box 43
Hagen, Saskatchewan, Canada SoJ 1B0
30749-2513
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