Bolender Horse Park, WA

Last month, I was lucky enough to take part in a mountain trail horse riding workshop for wounded warriors.  The Wounded Warrior Project sponsored the event and paid for everything, including our flights to western Washington for the event.  My post is kind of long and rambling, so if you’re just interested in the travel aspect, please read the next section.  If you’re more interested in the horse riding, feel free to skip down to that part.

The Flights

Unfortunately, Betsy couldn’t join me for the trip because Grace has already started school.  This was my first time traveling by myself since I got my tube, and I was pretty nervous about flying alone. 

Flying alone is a whole lot easier when you have a good book to keep you occupied!

Betsy called the TSA Cares phone number at 1-855-787-2227 to make sure someone would help me, my suction machine, and my meals get through security.  Usually, one or two TSA agents meet me at the ticketing counter and escort me the whole way through.  It’s a great program, and we’ve been very happy with it—until my return flight from Seattle.  

Betsy called the TSA line before my flight back and they said they would meet me, same as always. But two hours before the flight at SEATAC, nobody met me at ticketing.  Betsy and I called the TSA Cares line after I’d waited a while and they gave me the number for the local agent (Patty Something) in charge of helping out people with disabilities.  I called her number and got nothing but an answering machine.  At this point (an hour left until the flight) I was panicking because the line to get through security was insanely long and I was thinking I should be standing in line rather than waiting at ticketing for TSA.  I finally asked my airline (American) if they could help get in touch with someone at TSA.  They said they didn’t have a way of calling TSA.  Really, American Airlines??? Are you not on speaking terms or something??  There were agents all over the place, so I walked up to the closest one and asked about TSA Cares for disabled veterans.  He said that TSA couldn’t escort me through security.  I would have to get my airline to do it, even though TSA has escorted me through security at every other airport I’ve been to.  So, I’m freaking out because I’m running out of time.  Betsy is freaking out because I had her on the phone and she wanted me to give it to the nearest agent so she could chew them out.  American airlines finally got someone (who spoke no English) to help get me through security and I’m thinking that there’s no way I’ll make it.

But, I was worried over nothing.  The no-English guy apparently knew some shortcuts because he got me right up to the front of the line.  The TSA agents were very nice and helpful during screening, though I didn’t even want to ask them about TSA Cares.  At that point I just wanted to get to my gate. Anyway, the moral is, we’ll make extra sure that a local agent will help me out next time.  If there is a next time.  Betsy made a formal complaint to TSA.  She was really stressed out over the whole thing and doesn’t want me to do any more solo traveling.  

Going to, and coming from, Seattle, I had to make a connection in Dallas which required me to ride their Skylink system between terminals.  The one-hour layover gave me time to do it, but I move pretty slow and I felt rushed.  I didn’t really have time to stop and eat; just some time to hit the bathroom then jump on the next plane.  I had to do all my eating and drinking during the three hour flight between Dallas and Seattle

Coffee with butter and coconut oil on the way there

Can I eat a powdered Real Food Blend, glass of wine, AND bottle of water by myself flying coach???

DAMN RIGHT I CAN!!!!  My neighbor doesn't seem so impressed...

...and at SEATAC’s USO while I was waiting for transportation.

Real Food Blend at Seattle's USO when I arrived; had more coffee before I left

I brought my syringe holder in my carry-on so I could eat independently.  I also packed some butter and coconut oil in a small tupperware container.  This was for both lubricating my syringe plunger, and for bulletproof coffee during the long travel day.  Other than a couple hours of stress in Seattle, I’d say travel was a success, although it’s a whole lot easier with Betsy to help out.

Luggage carts are a necessity when flying solo

Dan and Bolender Horse Park

I met the other eight veterans I’d be spending the next five days with at SEATAC (another veteran didn’t arrive until the next day) and we rode a shuttle bus down to the horse training facility that Rainier Therapeutic Riding used for the event.  Getting to know the veterans, I became pretty intimidated by my relative lack of horse experience.  I’ve been riding horses for an hour each week with a disabled veterans program in Tennessee for about three years.  I’ve been riding independently (with no one leading the horse) for a couple years, but only in an arena setting, where my horse has limited distractions.  

So, no distractions like this one

Most of the other veterans had considerably more time on horseback.  One guy ran a veteran riding program in Gainesville, Florida.  Another managed a program where veterans spent time with horses in southern California.  A Marine vet from northern California frequently went trail riding in the Sierras with his neighbor’s horses.  And winning the prize for the most time in the saddle:  a 19-year Marine veteran from Phoenix rode across the country to raise awareness for disabled veterans.  

Group shot. The horse and vet to my left are freakishly tall. Just had to say that.

Save for myself and one Navy veteran, all the participants were either Army or Marine vets with varying time in service (from a few years to 26) and various wounds.  Most bore the invisible scars of PTSD on top of other injuries sustained in combat or from accidents back here in the U.S.  I was the only one who ate through a feeding tube and had no use of an arm (though another vet had some paralysis in his dominant arm), so they all said they were inspired to see me out there.  Honestly though, after hearing some of their near-death experiences, and knowing there were many other stories too painful to share, I was extremely inspired to be with them and honored to be included in this group of riders.

This was only the second time that PATH (the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship) has tried to have a mountain trail program for disabled vets—the first was a couple months earlier.  They were anxious to make sure it was a success so they can continue doing it in the future.  Rainier Therapeutic Riding (RTR), based in Yelm, WA, opted to hold the event at Bolender Horse Park, about an hour south of Yelm.  The park is managed by Mark Bolender, who is world-renowned for introducing his own unique style of mountain trail riding and competitions to the equestrian community.  Mark built a beautiful mountain trail course on his 40-acre farm with many challenging obstacles for both horse and rider to overcome.  I was especially awed when he and his horse, Checkers, breezed through every obstacle—backwards and forwards—with no bridle. Checkers knew instinctively what Mark wanted to do from the way he applied pressure with his legs.  

 

 Short Clip From Mark's Demonstration (thanks Joe)

Also, check him out doing this timed competition with no bridle

Our challenge was to learn how to lead (and ride) our horses through some of the easier obstacles in four days, so we could prepare for our horse show on Sunday.  The first step to accomplishing this feat was to earn the trust of the horses we met on Thursday.  My horse was a 16 year-old Mustang named Dan who came from a wild herd in Oregon.

"I used to be wild and free, but now I'm stuck with this loser"

Such a handsome guy!!! Dan looks good too.

A few words about Dan.  Dan is a Mustang who gives Mustangs a bad name. 

Dan's ink shows which herd he came from and when he was claimed by the B.L.M.

I say this because when I think of Mustangs, I think of spirited horses, as wild and untamed as the prairie lands they roam on.  If Ford Motor Company had known Dan when they were developing their signature muscle car, they would have changed the name to the Banana Slug.  This may sound like I didn’t care for my horse, but I absolutely adored him.  Dan reminds me a lot of my dog, Aspen. They are both extremely mellow and not bothered by much of anything.  If robbers broke into our house and held us at gunpoint while stealing our most valuable possessions, Aspen probably wouldn’t get off the couch—unless they offered him a treat.  

He's got fleas so you should probably avoid sitting here

If all the males in Dan’s herd decided to start an epic battle for dominance, Dan would just continue contentedly munching on his hay—and likely the hay of the otherwise occupied males.  These are the kinds of animals I like.  Let the other guy go and try to achieve dominance over his wild stallion.  I’m cool with the Zen animal who does all his thinking with his stomach.  

"You promised me five apples after all this, you jackass!"

Yes, Dan couldn’t take his mind off food and water.  You’d think they were starving him, but I was giving him the same hay every other horse got, even the massive horse (Zeke) the 6’7” vet was riding.  Plus I was slipping Dan apples on the side like crazy. All this food didn’t stop him from trying to eat every tuft of grass within reach on our course or guzzling down half the pond of water we had him walk through (the same pond the other horses peed and crapped in on a regular basis). Dan actually did bite me, but not because he’s ill-tempered.  He was trying to get some hay at breakfast before I could put it in his stall and took a small chunk out of my arm.  You might notice in many of the pictures I’ve shared of Dan out on the course that he’s wearing a Hannibal Lecter-type muzzle.  This was so he wouldn’t be tempted to stuff his face out on the course (didn’t make too much difference in Dan’s case).  Dan was the only horse in the group who needed a muzzle because the first day I was walking with him around the course, he pulled me over while going for grass.

After Fatty McFatButt pulled me down, they had somebody walk with us everywhere (thanks Melody!)

The first day of our horse training, we had to practice walking with our horses and “sending” them over obstacles.  This means having the horse do the obstacle while we stood to the side with a long lead rope.  The best way to send the horse over rocks or through a pond is to hold up the slack of the lead rope with one hand while the other twirls the rope off to the side.  The twirling rope is supposed to motivate the horse and tell it which way you’d like it to go.  I found this to be especially difficult because I could only use one hand.  I tried using my weak hand to hold onto the rope but I kept dropping it.  I think eventually I would have adapted and figured out a workaround to sending the horse with one hand, but it was difficult to be ready for our horse show on Sunday.  

We were all about making our horses do the crap we didn't want to do

Another difficulty was neck reigning Dan.  As I understand it, the two primary ways of steering the horse with reigns are direct reigning and neck reigning.  I would imagine that direct reigning is the easiest for the horse to understand.  If you tug on the right reign, the head of the horse is pulled right and the body follows.  Pulling the left reign achieves the opposite result.  Neck reigning is more challenging and was not one of Dan’s strong suits.  With neck reigning, you simply hold both reigns with one hand and apply gentle pressure to one side of the horse’s neck to convey your intent.  If I want to go right, I move the reigns right, putting light pressure on the left side of my horse’s neck.  Dan—and probably most other horses—required extra motivation for neck reigning in the form of leg pressure.  When I wanted to go left, I moved the reigns left with one hand while squeezing him with my right leg.  Left turns were great, but I had a hard time applying enough pressure with my weak left leg to turn right.  So then, when he wouldn’t immediately go right, I pulled more forcefully to the right.  All this did was pull the left side of his bit, so he would start to turn left, thinking he was being reigned directly.  Sorry if you can’t understand some of these horse concepts (I barely understand them myself).  All you really need to know is that Dan wasn’t so good at going where I told him, and it was likely more my fault than his (you probably figured that out already).

"Turn right, Dan!"

One part about our time at Bolender’s that I especially liked is that we were responsible for all aspects of our horses’ care.  This included cleaning out their stalls, making sure they ate before we did, and grooming them—especially hosing off their legs after they waded through the poop/pee ponds on the course.  Although I was only with him for four full days, I think this responsibility deepened my bond with Dan and gave me a real appreciation for what goes into caring for a horse.

I led Dan right over Melody's foot one day. Sorry about that.

This workshop was less than a week but I learned SO much, not just from walking and riding Dan, but also talking with the other riders and instructors at Bolender’s.  A gentleman from Italy—who teaches mountain trail riding in Europe—was at the farm getting some pointers from Mark.  He was one of our judges on the last day and he gave me some great advice for neck reigning my horse.  Too bad I didn’t get the advice until after the horse show, where I managed to steer Dan into some bushes.

Dan really enjoyed walking me into foliage

Bolender Horse Park is a beautiful place to have these events. Very picturesque part of rural southwest Washington.  I roomed with a 19-year Marine veteran in this tiny cabin:

Actually, I was in the dog house

We had fantastic meals cooked by an Army veteran named Greg.

The Master Chef at work

They had a full kitchen where I could plug up my Vitamix and blend all Greg's awesome food every day.

The Bolender kitchen

I ate Greg's food for breakfast and dinner and two Real Food Blends for lunch throughout my stay.  I never had any trouble blending and the table next to the kitchen was a perfect place to clamp my syringe holder.

Delicious!

I had a really enjoyable experience at this workshop.  I hope they continue doing it every year because I know many veterans will benefit from it!  HUGE THANK YOU to Jayla Neufeld (Greg's wife) for all the stunning pictures!!!!

The forest fires in Washington gave us great sunsets! Otherwise, they were pretty horrible.