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Del Hughes used Scott s truck and went to where Doug Sloan and I picked up the stock trailer. Del was given a different trailer than the one we usually rented.
After the event, while we were packing up, I remember Del stating that the trailer was vibrating real bad on the way out. So it was decided to load the horses differently to redistribute the weight. Two horses were loaded in front (one was Doug Sloans horse "Stormy". The middle portion gate was closed and three horses were loaded in the tail. My horse "Zulu" was one of the three on the tail end. Del's horse was "chip" and Scotts was "Colley." Don't remember the others. Anyone around trailers and horses will realize that we were only making things worse. At the time, no one even thought about it.
I think that Scott Hughes had problems with his car, so at the last minute, his cousin lane Hughes was asked to drive the trailer while Del remained behind to help Scott. I had been dropped off, and as a last thought, I was asked to ride shot gun with Lane which I agreed.
As soon as we got off the country roads and entered Interstate 29, it was obvious that something was seriously wrong with the trailer. It was fish tailing all over, and we were only going 40 or 45 miles an hour. I told Lane we had to get off the interstate quick and he agreed.....we were looking for the next exit. We crested a hill and began to pick up speed, as we hit 50 miles an hour.....Lane began to lose control.
My stomach was in my mouth as I looked out the passenger window, and just like the scene in the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy sees cows, horses, and people flying by........there was our Horse Trailer, upside down and spinning while passing me by. It feels like it lasted a life time though it was probably only a few seconds. The pickup truck was slapped into the center safety rail of the interstate and the horse trailer landed on one side in front of the pickup truck, projecting into the left hand lane of our side of the interstate.
Lanes driver door was right next to the rail and could not be opened. We both jumped out of the passenger door and raced to the trailer. Before our eyes, all five horses were down, not one moving, some blood was on them. My horse's legs were projecting "stiffly" out of the rear gate. The middle portion door was partially loose with two horses jammed underneath it.
The sight was too much for Lane, he just sat down, right where he was standing and repeated "I've killed everyone s horses" over and over and over again.
Lane was gone, mentally. As I stood there gaping, cars were stopping and people were running over. Most said "We saw what happened" or "Oh my God are the horses okay..." I was just simply, stunned.
The Highway patrol began to show up when one person said "Well, what do you want to do? Open the gate?"
I said "I guess". To myself I was thinking "Why" what is the point, they are Dead. The trailer was on its right side, so the floor of the trailer was now on the left. I climbed on top of the trailer and un-hooked the gate, while a couple of the men who ran over slowly sat it down. As I clambered down, Zulu started to wake up and finally stood up. I called her and she jumped over the gate that was laying on the ground. I grabbed her around the neck. At this time, some gal said "I'll take her." I let her have Zulu and raced back to the trailer hoping that the others were also coming to.
What I didn't know at the time, was this gal was working at a horse stable. She had just got off work. She had a bucket of halters in her car, which was a blessing since all of our horse halters broke in the accident. As things turned out, she would put an halter on the horses, tie them up to the center rail and brush them down which calmed the horses. She was an Angel.
However, Zulu's two companions were not moving. I began to get a little guilty, thinking "What happens if my horse survives but no one else s does?" I looked over at Lane, he was still sitting in the road saying "I've killed everyone s horse"
About this time, the two horses in the front of the trailer stood up, apparently alright. The Highway Patrol informed me the "Meat Wagon" was on the way and cautioned me that any horse that came out WOULD have to have a new halter and rope on it. They were concerned that a horse would jump out of the trailer and speed down the interstate causing another accident. Sure, Horses just love to get ran over by a car. Besides directing traffic the Highway Patrol did nothing to help.
The two horses pinned under the middle portion gate started to move. To understand how serious this is, you must know that normally there was only about 6 inches clearance from the floor to the gate. And somehow, stuck between these 6 inches were two horses. As the two horses were coming too, the Gallant Highway patrol insisted "I" get an halter on them. I carefully went into the trailer with my back against the floor of the trailer, now on the right side. I slipped an halter over one of the horses when it attempted to stand up, hooves were flying every where. I stiff armed her to keep the horse as far away as possible. The horse finally got up, with a swat the horse jumped out. Two were out, and one was still pinned in the Gate but now working its ways out. I looked down and both my spur straps had been ripped off my boots by the hooves of the horse.
Another 15 minutes and we had the next horse out. This one sustained the most injuries, had a chunk of meat out of it. Once this horse was out, the last two were easily led out.
I surveyed the situation, all five horses were tied up to a center Interstate guard rail. All had halters on, all had been brushed down. The horse with a big chunk out of it, had been worked on by a Vet, the wound clean and the horse also partially stitched (I think). I was then told that a Vetinarian had seen the accident, and checked each horse out as they came out and treated them for FREE.
The highway patrol called off the meat wagon but requested a tow truck. Someone came up to me and said "Hey, do you want me to use my jeep and pull the trailer over?" Still numbed, I said sure. The trailer was righted. The tow truck operator then pulled up, looked over the trailer and told me he thought it could still be hooked up to a pickup truck as long as nothing was loaded in it. He helped me hitch it up to our truck. Oh yeah, Lane was still saying "I've killed everyone s horse".....after showing him the horses, he started to get normal again. He said he was capable of driving the pickup truck and took the trailer back.
While this was going one, another unknown spectator approached me and asked me how I was getting the horses back to our pasture. My ignorance in this was obvious, he smiled, patted me on the back. In a few moments, he was pulling up with a large "Empty" stock trailer. He had taken some horses north to sell and was returning home, he and his wife were gracious enough to transport our horses without accepting any money.
With the horses loaded up, Lane departed with the "Killer" trailer. The Highway Patrol was gone, and the spectators melted away. As we were getting ready to go, a small car was careening toward us on the shoulder and skidded to an halt. It was Scott and Del Hughes. Scott ran up and gave me this Bear hug. I was shocked. Apparently, Scott was informed by a local police officer that the truck and trailer had crashed, all the horses were dead and at least one of the two men in the truck was probably dead and one on the way to the hospital.
The story is so unbelievable, that many don't believe. There was a whole
lot of kind hearted people that day. The whole time, I was still
dressed in my Federal Cavalry uniform. No one asked me why I was
dressed that way. I'm sure that someone was watching over us, and
perhaps teaching us a lesson. After this, Doug Sloan and I bought our
own trailer, but that is another "Horse Story."