Close Encounter with the Antlered Kind

by Kathy Helmig, Alberta Canada

Well, we had another very successful cutter rally at our farm last weekend. All told, we had 27 drivers come out and brave the -2 weather (30 degrees for you foreigners :-), which in this part of the world is t-shirt time! For the first time in the four year history of the cutter rally, I actually got to go out and drive my 22 year old, 'has done combined driving really fast (Ask Sterling Graburn!) for a lot of years', warmblood mare and my real live, imported from Pennsylvania Albany cutter, circa 1895. Very exciting stuff!

To make it interesting for everyone, we set the 4 mile course and started out by driving in between our glacier obstacle (no, not real ones, even here in Canada....actually made from steel and Styrofoam from a movie set) that we use at our cdt in the summer. As my mare was the pilot cutter, so to speak, we were the first ones to go through the wonderfully groomed trails. Well, I'm not sure who had the more interesting expression on their faces when we approached the glaciers; my mare, who thought "All righty!!! I know how this works!" or mine
which was more in the lines of "Holy Crap!! Not in my Albany we are not!

So, we did go through a little quicker then I would have liked (Albanys are REALLY top heavy little things and they don't slide sideways worth a damn!) but we did manage to keep the runner side down.
 
Though I must say I was sitting up a lot straighter and paying serious attention when I realized my nice husband had then put the trail right through the next obstacle, the Fort. By this time, we were a ways ahead of the group (ok, there was a very lovely super dooper collected canter happening here) as we maneuvered through that hazard.....By this time my mare was not understanding why we were diddling along on the marathon....So when we came out of the fort, through a really pretty pathway through the trees and into the open meadow right after that, a moose broke out of the trees and crossed right in front of us (about 30 yards away, by my brother in law's estimate....) it was a bit much.

I have to admit that I had forgotten my glasses in my excitement to actually get to go out on the drive and my first thought was " OH, hell, what horse got loose from the yard, to Wow, now that is some hock action, to Oh,?@#, MOOSE!!!" Visions of my Albany cutter as kindling flashed through my mind as I stopped my mare, who grew about a hand and a half higher before my eyes. And never moved....just watched in amazement, her head WAY up in the air, as I looked for a possible escape route that I never needed to take. Off went the moose over two fences (frankly, some serious dressage and jumping talent here) and disappeared off into the sunset.

Thank you, Mr. Moose, for not doing all this in the middle of the rally.

I love my horse! Unlike my husband, who remarked after..."Oh yeah, I flushed two of them out when I was clearing the trails".....Justifiable homicide right there.....