The plans for our first ride of the year had been laid and we picked an absolutely beautiful spring day for execution. The night before I saddled Luc to make sure all was okay. Whell it wasn't and I needed to make a few minor adjustments, not a big deal but was glad I had done a pre-ride check of the equipment.

Saturday morning arrived and I was anxious to saddle Luc and get loaded. Our destination point was the spectacular White Bird Battlefield in North Central Idaho. It was here the Nezperce Indians on swift sure footed Appaloosa horses, lead by the infamous Chief Joseph, began their fight to protect their beloved way of life. We were meeting in a large parking area off the old narrow grade. From the top of the Camas Prairie the landscape drops into the Salmon River, also known as The River of No Return. The mountain vistas are breathtaking and the countryside is natural open grasslands on rolling hills, perfect for that first ride of the year.

Upon our arrival I could see other riders wanting to bring their horses by to meet the donkey and see the horse’s reactions before saddling up which was fine. They had been forewarned a longear would be present. I left Luc in the trailer so the horses felt safer. After many introductions Luc jumped out and I proceeded to get him ready to ride. I even reintroduced him to Baby, Nancy's dog. Before riding we have a little routine of lounging both directions so I can look all my tack over and test out his whoa, back, gee over, haw over, hips over etc. All was checking out fine so I mounted for the first time this year. Oh yes, that felt very very good!

One thing I took note of before starting out was that half of the riders were wearing helmets. I have worn my trusty Troxel helmet since 2002. It’s cool, lightweight and very comfortable. It was great to see that many “brain buckets” on a spring ride where anything can happen and normally does. For years I have been the only rider with a helmet and was happy to see they are starting to catch on with our local trail riders.

We were among ten women and girls of various ages all horseback and Nancy's dog "Baby". At the start Luc decided he needed to be the leader. We started off at a pretty decent pace. About a third of the way into the ride, after he burnt off some steam, we found our spot in the center of the group. I think everyone was pretty amazed... Luc's size, his animation, his ability to spot a herd of deer that blended into the hillside as they were sneaking away from us. He was also the first to see hawks, chukkas and pheasants. His ears were on radar alert for wildlife and everything else. He was being a very a good boy and for horse folks that in itself dispels the bad donk stubbornness mystic.

One of the horses, who had sweated up, laid down for a roll as we were going down the trail. I told Liz her horse was teaching my donkey bad habits and everyone laughed. Meanwhile I was thinking about when Luc had seen the saddle bronc bucking horse at the rodeo and how he had to show our young filly at home what he had learned in town. We laughed at the time but it would come back to haunt us later in his riding career.
The route we chose to ride avoided heavy concentrations of rocks as some of the horses were still barefoot like my donkey. The ground was soft enough to see the hoof prints as the horses passed along the trail. After taking a nice long break to soak up the sunshine and the early 70 degree March temperatures near the bottom of the canyon it was time to head back. Here is where I normally tighten my girth but for once I did not have to as the saddle had not slipped at all. Back is uphill all the way. After our first steep pitch Luc spotted another one of our riders who was trying to catch up to us. While waiting for her Luc went into guard donk alert, he was ready to protect everyone from this unknown rider but relaxed once she caught up and was accepted into the group.

Another thrill for Luc was a couple of hikers with a large back dog just ahead of us. By this time we had dropped to the back of the group. As we made our way to the hikers they had found a large rock under a scrub tree to wait for everyone to pass. Of course there were lots of questions from them about the spotted donkey and that delayed us from the rest of the group. At the top of the next hill and off to our right was a horse training facility. Mr. Luc had to leave the group to see what was going on over there, putting us even further behind.

The next part of the trail was a pretty steep pull so I let Luc pick his pace and stop when he needed to catch his breath. The other riders were getting further and further ahead of us. I was not concerned and told Luc he was doing great as everyone disappeared from site. We were about two thirds the way up the next hill when Nancy's dog came running back down the trail to check on us. Luc saw the dog and made a beeline off the trail. I remember thinking, "No biggie we'll just side hill around to the top." I kinda remember Luc starting to run and buck. I must have hollered for him to whoa as he headed downhill but that is about all I remember.

Nancy, who was fresh off ski patrol duties, was the first one to arrive; I was at the bottom of the hill unconscious and in a fetal position. Once I came to and was finally able to speak something other than garble she asked questions that I could not answer. She told me I did know what day of the week it was, but not the month, year or the date. I remember riding back to the parking lot on a red horse but don't remember how I got on. I know someone was there beside me in case I fell off but don't know if they were riding or not. There was an RN and EMT riding with us so medically I was well taken care of.

I never saw Luc again until we arrived back at the farm. What I discovered later is that he had not gone far once he unloaded me. Luc waited patiently while Trish caught him and tried to slide the saddle up on his back. It had only slipped to the side a little and she thought he would be more comfortable if it was sitting straighter on his backside. My Steve Edwards non slip pad made it impossible to move and it had kept the saddle from turning or going underneath him.

At the scene Luc was calm and kept turning his head to me and making soft cooing sounds. I told her later that Luc is a People Whisper… you’ve heard of Horse Whispers… whell Luc whispers and people listen! She could tell he was very upset and worried about me. She led him back to the trailer, untacked and took good care of him. Later looking over my equipment I couldn’t find any blemishes on the saddle or the reins much to my surprise.

The landing resulted in a whiplash, a cracked rib, a black and blue hip and painful headaches resulting from a mild concussion. The helmet sustained some fair sized divots in it. My head had a couple of pretty good bumps that matched the marks on the Troxel helmet. I probably would have spent some hospital time had it not been for that helmet and I doubt if I could have ridden out. The important thing is I shall live to ride the bronc outta that donk one more time!

I had a heart to heart later with Luc about taking better care of me when we are out like that! His large soft liquid eyes said he was sorry and with a twinkle he asked, “Can we go again soon please, I like riding with horses!”

Moral of this story is …. If you have a helmet wear it… if you don’t have a helmet get one and wear it all the time! Even your well trained donkey can have a “horse moment” especially if he has ever seen bucking horses at the rodeo or has a distinct dislike for dogs! Or his name is RMS Lippyluver Luc!

Kristi Kingma
May 2007 Issue Brayer Magazine
www.teamdonk.org