On Friday, Sept. 28, Brian, Randy Lake, Ryan Roper, & myself went on a ride up Holden canyon. We started at Maple Hollow campground and rode to a trail referred to as the CC trail or government trailer. We wanted to ride to the top of the mountain and just enjoy the day. We rode for a mile or two up a 4-wheeler trailer the eventually turned into a horse trail. The trail was fairly steep and we gained altitude rapidly.
We came to one point in the trail that was a little narrow and the drop off to the right was steep and a long ways to the bottom. At that particular spot I jokingly said, "Don't fall off the trail right here, it is a long way to the bottom." Well, apparently Randy didn't hear me, because at that point his horse stepped off the trail a little bit. Randy turned him to get him back on, but the horse didn't get back on. Randy decided to get off to see if that would help his horse be able to get back on the trail. The horse tried again to get on the trail, but this time his back legs went out from under him tipped over backwards.
The side of the mountain was almost straight up and down and at least 200 yards to the bottom. Once the horse started rolling he didn't quit. I didn't count, but I think he went end over end about 7 times. It was an awful sight and the sounds were terrible too. Randy hurried down to see what the damage was. The rest of us tied our horses up and then went down to see the damage for ourselves. When we got down to the bottom the horse only lived another minute or two and then died. We were relieved that he died so quickly because we didn't have a gun to put him out of his misery. It took everything we had to roll the horse up enough for Randy to pull his saddle off. His saddle was pretty scuffed up and the bars on the tree ended up being cracked. We put Randy's saddle and blanket and other gear on our horses and led them back to the trailer. It was a pretty solumn walk back without much conversation. We were all thinking about what had just happened and how lucky Randy was to step off his horse before he tipped over.
I have ridden on worse trails than that and I wouldn't hesitate to go back on that trail, but next time I go, I will definetly be a little more cautious. I also realize that I am not invincible and accidents do happen.
We came to one point in the trail that was a little narrow and the drop off to the right was steep and a long ways to the bottom. At that particular spot I jokingly said, "Don't fall off the trail right here, it is a long way to the bottom." Well, apparently Randy didn't hear me, because at that point his horse stepped off the trail a little bit. Randy turned him to get him back on, but the horse didn't get back on. Randy decided to get off to see if that would help his horse be able to get back on the trail. The horse tried again to get on the trail, but this time his back legs went out from under him tipped over backwards.
The side of the mountain was almost straight up and down and at least 200 yards to the bottom. Once the horse started rolling he didn't quit. I didn't count, but I think he went end over end about 7 times. It was an awful sight and the sounds were terrible too. Randy hurried down to see what the damage was. The rest of us tied our horses up and then went down to see the damage for ourselves. When we got down to the bottom the horse only lived another minute or two and then died. We were relieved that he died so quickly because we didn't have a gun to put him out of his misery. It took everything we had to roll the horse up enough for Randy to pull his saddle off. His saddle was pretty scuffed up and the bars on the tree ended up being cracked. We put Randy's saddle and blanket and other gear on our horses and led them back to the trailer. It was a pretty solumn walk back without much conversation. We were all thinking about what had just happened and how lucky Randy was to step off his horse before he tipped over.
I have ridden on worse trails than that and I wouldn't hesitate to go back on that trail, but next time I go, I will definetly be a little more cautious. I also realize that I am not invincible and accidents do happen.
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