Pony Express Commorative Re-Ride

Last Tuesday saw us up end away early, bound for our next sop at Robideaux RV Park in Gering (next door to Scotts Bluff), Nebraska.  The trip was unremarkable, except for our discovery that the charge line connecting our Chevy Equinox to the fifth wheel was not adequately charging the car’s battery. That’s a huge disappointment, because it means that we have to stop every couple of hours and let the car run for 20 minutes or so to keep the battery charged. 

The drive was beautiful, though, this part of the country is green and lush, with rolling hills in all directions.

Robideaux RV Park is one of our favorite stops.  The park is exceptional.  The grass is lush and green, and every site is level concrete with a concrete patio and picnic table.  And that’s not the best part.  There is a lovely several-acre playground and park where dogs can run and run and run!  It’s a treat to have a nice place for the m to exercise, and park personnel are friendly and helpful.  

About a mile or so from the park is Scotts Bluff National Historical Site.  We had tried to visit the site the first time we stayhed here, but I caught a bug of some sort and wasn’t up to a visit.  This time, though, we planned to stay an extra day to explore the attraction.   So, on Thursday after doing the obligatory laundry and shopping, we stopped by to see what we could expect.

Have you ever heard of Reride?  We had not, but when we approached the visitor center we noticed a number of cars and lots of people standing around…not what one would expect at 4:30 on a Thursday afternoon.  We pulled in and inquired…What’s going on?  We quickly learned that we were just in time to witness the reenactment of an important part of the Nation’s history.

But let me explain.  Beginning in 1860 and continuing for about 18 months, mail was carried back and forth between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California by the Pony Express.  Our history books include tales of the riders and the challenges they overcame to keep the mail moving on schedule, and many a western movie featured exploits of these riders.  

Beginning in 1960, according to the volunteer who was briefing us, the National Pony Express Association has sponsored annual Re-Ride, a commemorative retracing of the pony express route over a 10-day period.  Covering 1,966 miles across eight states, the riders travel 24 hours a day until the mail is delivered to its destination.  Letters are carried in a leather mochila placed over the horse’s saddle and over 750 riders participate each year.  Each rider travels 10 miles at an average pace of 11 mph. Each year, the Re-Ride travels in a different direction.  This year, the riders went from west to east.  We were told that on the original Pony Express route, each rider traveled 100 miles, changing horses each 10 miles.  The commetorative Re-Ride differs in that each horse and rider travel only 10 miles

We were so fortunate to arrive at the Scotts Bluff Station location at Mitchell Pass not only on the day the rider was to come through, but within an hour of the expected arrival.  As we waited, several horse trailers arrived, and the pony designated for the next leg of the journey was unloaded.  

Within a short time, a beautiful palomino and his rider arrived.  The exchange didn’t carry the drama we see in the movies, but in short order the mochila was transferred to the waiting horse and the rider mounted and cantered away.  I believe her destination was the Chimney Rock Station location.  We were so blessed to be able to witness this reenactment of such an important piece of our nation’s history.   

UhOh Ranch Spring Sheep Dog Trial

Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye to Terri and Brian, load up and drive a short hour to Mindy Bower and Kevin Hall’s beautiful UhOh Ranch for their fantastic four-day Spring Sheep Dog Trial.  The four Open classes had about 48 dogs each, while the Nursery classes averaged about 18 and the Open Ranch about 24.  That's a lot of dogs, and handlers.  A few people were local, or were staying elsewhere, but we had quite a congenial crew parked along the road and tucked away in various nooks and crannies around the ranch.

Coordinating the classes running simultaneously on two fields took a lot of hard work.  Thanks to Terry Murray and Mike Lupow, who, along with Mindy and Kevin and countless volunteers, put it all together.  I’m grateful, too, to our judges, Bridget Strang, Susan Squires, Dave Imas, Mike Lupow, Connie Brannen, Maci McGraw, Brent Phelps, Laura Esterman, Terri Nicolau and Vickey Russell.  They did an outstanding job, under ever-changing conditions, and I am honored to be able to run my dogs under them.  

The courses, especially for the four Open runs we watched (two of them from the hillside above), were great fun.  They also gave everyone a lesson in watching their sheep.  As you will see from some of the following photos, it was almost impossible to see the dogs…and sometimes only the sheeps' backs were in view.  And, speaking of the sheep, furnished again this year by J.D. Schmidt, they were strong, healthy yearling ewes.  They were a challenge, but very uniform and gave the dogs an opportunity to do good work if they were on their toes. 

Here are some of the photos I took during the trial.  There will be more as I sift and sort, so stay tuned and come back for another visit soon.   

Kyon Ranch and Table Top Sheep Dog Trial

After settling in at Brian and Terri’s, we and th dogs began getting used to the altitude (almost 7300 feet), which is quite different than what we have at home (just over 1000 feet).   We did have a bit of a transition; the altitude at the Frio Dew Memorial Sheep Dog Trial was just over 4000 feet, so we were able to step up gradually.  

The weather here has been unseasonably wet and cold; the locals tell us they have had much more rain than usual.  And, we have been in heavy jackets most mornings until the last couple of days.  But, by mid-day it is usually beautiful, and the sunrises, sunsets and cloud formations are remarkable.

The weather didn't keep us from working dogs, or from outings like the one to South 40 for scrumptious burgers, beverages and desserts.

I was late submitting my entries for the Table Top Sheep Dog Trial which was held last weekend.  As a result, Dutch was only able to run once.  He had a beautiful outrun, lift and fetch on some very tough and wily range ewes.  He lost no points off his outrun, only 1 off his lift and 8 off his fetch.  Unfortunately, after taking his ewes through the drive-away panels, he had trouble keeping them on-line for the cross-drive.  The sheep were determined to return to their overnight pen, and kept splitting and going in different directions.  Several times, Dutch put them back together, but apparently couldn’t hear me very well because he kept trying to bring them back to me instead of continuing to the cross-drive panels.  Reluctantly, I retired.  Here are some images from the trials.  Thanks, Terri N for the video of Dutch's run.

Dutch and his sheep rounding the bucket

Terri N and other spectators on the Ranch course

Meg plotting her strategy 

The very challenging Open course

Meg was able to run both Ranch (we usually call them Open Ranch) courses.  The sheep were just as cantankerous, but the courses were shorter.  I made some mistakes in handling her on her first run.  That, combined with the fact that she was really revved up, made it pretty ugly, and we retired.  She had a nice go on her second run, placing 10th out of 25 dogs with a score of 68.  She hasn’t often seen sheep as tough as these, so I was very proud of her.  Here are a few pics pulled from videos of her runs. Thanks Jennifer Boznos and Terri Nicolau for videoing us.  

We will be here until the upcoming UhOh Ranch Trial next weekend.  In the meantime, I am having a great time working sheep here at Kyon Ranch and doing lessons and training with Terri Carver and Terry Murray just down the road.  

Stay tuned for more adventures and pics from next weekend's UhOh Ranch Sheepdog Trials.