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Bev Merrill and Scott Jamison hosted a ride for their friends
and for the members of the Community Draft Horse and Mule Association over the weekend of June 1-3, 2018. The original plan was to camp in a field
down near Stamping Ground, Kentucky. Due to heavy rains in the days leading up to the ride, the location had to be changed at the last moment and
a few of us went to Bev's place while the others stayed about 1/4 mile down the road at Scott's farm. Other than a shower overnight on Friday, the rest
of the weekend was dry.
The temperatures on Saturday were very warm and the humidity was high. We had 3 wagons and 9 outriders in attendance when it came time to leave. The wagons
and most of the outriders split up and took different routes with the plan to meet up for lunch. The day didn't start off very well and things continued to get
worse as the day went on. Stewart Combs had a doubletree problem before we started and he had to pull out. A few miles into the ride, one of Danny Crawford's
mules managed to slip his bridle which resulted in Danny and I going on a wild ride before we could finally get his team stopped and the bridle back where it belonged. After lunch, one of the wheels
on Lee Tucker's wagon locked up and we had to drag that wheel for about a mile before we were able to find a good Samaritan with some tools so that Lee could free it up.
Meanwhile, Bev's horse developed a crack in his hoof and it was decided that it would not be good to continue to ride him any further. We couldn't contact
anyone via phone, so the wagons went on and Bev found a spot in the shade where she could wait for someone to come back and pick her up.
On the approximately 10 miles back to Bev's house, one of Lee's mules started to show signs of going lame, but he managed to slowly walk him the rest of the way back.
At the same time,the group of outriders who were going back a different way were having their own problems. Scott Jamison's horse developed a swollen knee and Scott
had to walk him several miles back to his place. Other than these few problems, the scenery was beautiful. Somewhere along the way, I started to call this "The ride from Hell!"
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