Horse Lost & Found

2007 Before Her Injury

  Sunday night Lyfa my 23 yr old horse decided she needed to see the country. Took a walk up the logging road over the hill to visit the neighbors a few miles away.
Now she had a bell around her neck which I would listen for while out in the pasture that are due for fencing. Around 4pm I went out to look for her and she was not where I thought she would be. I didn't panic yet. I got in my FJ and took a drive looking for her. Found her track up the logging road and no Lyfa. Climbed a little bit up the hill and still no Lyfa. I turned the car around because the brush was to thick for the FJ headed back for the house. Made a call to the neighbor to be on the lookout for her maybe she would try to find her way back to the other horses down the way.
Well I could not be so fortunate. Called the folks and explained what the situation was. They told me that they would be over the next morning with the buggy to help look for Lyfa.  Now my 4 wheeler is broke down. Something was wrong with the carburetor which we discovered after it backfired a few weeks ago. So I was kind of stuck and it was getting later in the day. I hadn't been in the house all that long and here comes another of my neighbors with his willies jeep you know the kind you would see from the war days way back when. 5 foot wide and not much longer, ready to go! I explained where I had last seen her track and away we go. Up the hill we go and along the ridge still no Lyfa. Looked in a few more spots and still no Lyfa. I didn't sleep much as you can imagine.

Next morning the folks showed up with the Buggy, they unloaded it. We made a plan of action and we were off. Looked all over the hill that we could safely go and still no Lyfa. We decided to head out to the neighbors down one side and the next leaving cards with notes on the back about Lyfa. Still no Lyfa! After spending the morning looking for Lyfa we were out of options and decided to just wait it out. Having faith that somebody would call. 
The neighbor with the willies jeep (WJ)  had explained to me the night before that he could fix my 4 wheeler at no cost to us. He is a retired tinker man and loves to have things to do. So I agreed to let him figure out how to fix my machine. Before the folks left I asked my FIL if he would help me load the 4 wheeler onto the little trailer. We secured it to the trailer. They left for home.

Now I had a phone call earlier in the day from WJ sayin that he would gladly come over and help tow the 4 wheeler over to his house. I was so excited about having it loaded already I thought I would surprise WJ with it. Well out the drive I go and hit the first creek crossing. I went slowly through the creek just about the same speed as I had been going down the drive because it is rough. Looking in the mirror I see the trailer bounce the 4 wheeler popped right out of its constraints and wheeled itself right off the trailer into the creek. I stopped the FJ and jumped out of the car not believing what I was seeing! I must have pissed somebody off somewhere cuz my little world was not running smoothly. I drove on leaving the machine in the shallow creek. Turned the operation around and headed for the house. Dropped the trailer close to its usual spot and headed for WJ's house up the creek. I got there and they invited me into their home to have a sit for a minute. I was frustrated!

A little off the subject but maybe not... You are probably at this point asking where is Mtn Man? Well if you remember he has a full time job and his hours are long so he could not be here to help me out.

WJ, his wife and I come up with a plan to tow it back to his house. And we did just that. He tied on a strap to the front of the machine, hopped on it while I drove the FJ slowly to his house. On the paved road we ran into another neighbor who was checking on the fields in JG's farm to cut the hay. He mentioned that about 6:30 AM that Henry had spotted Lyfa on the Hwy in front of his house. He scared her up the county road across from his place so she would not get ran over. I thanked him for the information and continued on to WJ's house.
Got to the top of his driveway and parked. The shop he works in has a little hill to the entrance of it. The three of us had to push the machine up this hill into the shop. After a few minutes we had the heavy 4 wheeler in the shop without to much trouble but it did take all three of us to get it in there. I thanked them and off to the house I went.  
It is now after noon time. I checked the messages of which there were none. I decided to go look for Lyfa on the county road where she was spotted that morning. I found track but no Lyfa. Got out and hollered for her numerous times and did not hear a thing. I drove around and around finally finding one of the neighbors that I hadn't met yet to possibly get some info about Lyfa. He explained that he hadn't seen Lyfa but maybe she was out in some fields up the way a bit to check there. While we were talking, his son runs out of the house with the phone for him. It was another neighbor of his explaining the situation and he mentioned I was standing there talking to him about that very thing. Well here comes the neighbor, we will call him M. I have met M on a couple of occasions and he is a kind, gentle man with a great sense of social skills for this area. He loves to visit and you see him all over town. Been here his entire life. He wants to help find Lyfa. So off we go to those fields the other neighbor had told us about and No Lyfa! We left that place and on my way home I decided to stop off at GM's place to see if maybe he had seen or heard about Lyfa. M followed me in explaining that GM had gone to St. Louis for the day so probably wouldn't be able to talk to him about the horse. I said I would just call GM then and leave a message. We left going our separate ways.
I stopped off at the store in town to pick up something quick I could pop in the micro for supper. I had been gone all day so nothing prepared to make for supper. 
A few minutes after I got home I received a phone call from M explaining that he knew where my horse was. GM got wind of a loose horse that morning and headed out to fetch her to put her in with his horses. She is in GM's pasture! Wahoo! Thank you M!
I called my Inlaws and told them the great news. I was going to try to get the Brown Bomber started but might need to borrow their truck to hook up to the trailer will keep them updated.
I went out to Brown Bomber and did what I was told to start her up.... tricks to starting them older trucks ya know..... and she fired up on the first try. Checked to see if the ball was on the truck and off I drove to hook up the trailer. Backed it up, took a few times to get it just right, lowered the trailer and it is the WRONG BALL! In the back of my mind I recall Mtn Man telling me that getting that hitch out of its home was a bugger! So I looked it over and made the assessment I probably could not get it out myself. With hung shoulders I started Big Brown back up and parked her back in the shop. Called the folks and explained the situation. MIL said she would be out in the morning with the truck.
A few minutes go by and  I still haven't eaten yet since that morning. I was just sittin down to eat my store bought food when the dogs started raisin kane. Here come WJ riding my 4 wheeler.

The bracket that holds the carburetor was broke in half and he fixed me up with a new one. Runs just fine!
I explained to WJ and his wife what the good news was and that I would have to wait until morning to get Lyfa. WJ said well get your shoes on and lets have a look at the problem.

He worked on that for about 15 mins and changed the ball for me. I thanked them for everything, hooked up and I was off in the

Big Brown with the Gray Trailer to pick up my wondering gypsy of a horse!

I parked in GM's drive, walked over to the horses and found Lyfa munching on green grass. Walked up to her put the halter on and we were off. Now GM has some beautiful horses in his pasture and one of the boys took to her. He was a prancin and a dancin around us not wanting me to take her away. Which got me to thinkin she may be "In Season". I am not sure if he has all his working parts but he sure wanted me to know that it was possible. He stomped and at one point wanted to challenge my gesture while I shortened my grip on Lyfa. I had the rest of my lead rope in front of me swing it out so he would back away from our advancing movement. He eventually moved in behind her so I could get to the gate to remove her from the pasture. They were not a happy lot when we left. I loaded her up in the trailer and off we went heading back to the house. I had thoughts of putting her in with the rest of ours but after that display in the other field I decided not to cause any more problems and just put her back in her pen at our house. We made it home and I unloaded her. I looked her over for injuries of which there was none. The only thing missing was her bell.
Home Sweet Home! 

I have come to realize that I do have some great neighbors. I have received numerous phone calls telling me where she is, even up till this morning in fact. All wanting to know if she was alright and how she got herself in this predicament.

I am truly grateful to all of those who were involved in finding my Lyfa. Our 15 years, Lyfa and I, of being together has been an adventurous one! I am so grateful to finding her safe and sound!

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Copyright © 2015 M.E. Masterson All Photographs Copyright © 2015 M.E. Masterson