The Wagonteamster Channel has it’s first video production - Journey To the Valley Of the Wild Horses

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7/27/12, Greer, ID - Throughout my travels I often have others tell me much of their life story.  Quite often what I here is that they would like to escape their own existence and replace it with one that doesn’t have the worries and drudgery that they feel is their own lot in life.  The message I try to convey is that they should definitely pursue their goals, but also put a positive spin on their own life.  A positive attitude begets positive things; while a negative attitude provides an avenue for negative things to occur.  By all means people should pursue their dreams, but they should look for an escape to something, not an escape from something!  P.S. - B.O.B., my philosophical horse, chewed four locoweed plants before ensuring that I captured this particular piece of wisdom in my blog!

I got off to a later than usual start this morning because I had to repack the trailer to support a full load of hay.  So the lads wouldn’t provide too much assistance in rearranging the load of hay and oats, I left them in the rodeo pen while I went about this task.

Many people think that I provide the major input as to our route of travel.  In this shot, both the horses are leaning towards Lewiston, so that will be the direction we take.

Before leaving Kamiah, I stopped at the grocery store and at the auto parts store. This particular NAPA had the strobe light I wanted (bright enough to reflect off a street sign in front of me from 100 feet away, in broad daylight). With the addition of some groceries, the wagon is now fully provisioned.

At the grocery store, I ran into several nice folks, including a retired horse logger who looked like he was itching to pick up the lines again.

For the first couple of hours, traffic on the highway was a real bugger. When enough logging trucks got the word that there was a slow moving vehicle ahead, everyone slowed down and was more careful.

Heavy truck traffic and narrow roads makes for difficult travel. I’m very visible, so I don’t worry much for my own safety, but more for those driving in the opposite lane when I get passed on a blind curve.

I started the day off driving the two Belgians, but swapped Bill out for Doc a couple of hours into the drive.  Bill is very competitive with Doc, but tends to lag a bit when running with B.O.B. To keep us moving along, I broke out my secret weapon.  Heck, Doc would rather be working than loafing along behind the trailer.

Early in the afternoon, I stopped to help a guy change a flat tire on his boat trailer.  I felt partially responsible. When he braked because I was holding up traffic when I was going around a curve, one of his electric trailer brakes locked up and blew a tire.  The new strobe was so bright, it helped to slow traffic down while we were changing the tire.

Triple A wagon service (we even reshoe horses and mow roadsides).

At one of my afternoon breaks, I met Eileen (sp?), who has an Appaloosa mare that her and her son are trying to hitch and drive with a single cart. Since her house was a little off my beaten path, I told her where I would be camping and that I would be willing to help out if they could make it over there.

Tonight, they drove up in a horse trailer. I went about sorting out the harness.  With a few pointers, her son was soon driving the mare like a pro (a real natural). The mare was very good and smart and it showed that has had some good training.

Tonight, the lads are munching on some grass on the Clearwater River bank.

I’ve had a very nice evening, with plenty of visitors. To them, and others, I say, ‘strive for your dreams, but also make the best of what you have’ - it sure makes a lot better sense than making the worst of what you have!