The ponies and wagon emerged from the trailer at Hepburn Feed and Supply, chosen via google maps for their distance from my next host (13 miles) and their driveways and parking lots which offered ample space to unload and get turned around. They were kind enough to weigh out 20# of oats with a bit of corn and some minerals rather than requiring me to buy a full bag – with limited carrying capacity and ponies that just don’t eat all that much – this was a wonderful discovery. The drive went well, the ponies frisky and ready to pull after their multi-day rest, the sky was ominous but the wind was a breeze rather than a gale and no water was falling from the sky. Katelynn had invited us to stay at her big old barn north of Kenton. With the storm in the forecast we were eager to get there.

Once we arrived, the ponies had two options – tethering out on the lawn to graze or sharing a 10’x10′ stall in the barn. They usually prefer to eat green grass at every opportunity so that’s where we started, but as the wind kicked up and the clouds lowered even further, Franklin was dancing nervous out at the end of his tether and Theodore was wrapping himself around and around and around his post until he had no more room to move. Neither of them was eating any grass so I brought them into the barn where the Mustard Seed was already parked and plugged in to power. The stall was bedded down with straw and there was hay for them to eat, water in a bucket in the corner, everything they needed. I had to lift and shift a big heavy wooden gate that closed the entire front of the stall but that was within my scope and so I got them in and tied the gate shut with a lead rope. All good. I got the wagon organized for sleeping (much easier when there’s a picnic table nearby!) and then crawled in to listen to the storm and read a book on my Kindle. I was just dozing off for an unexpected nap when I heard a ruckus.

Jumped up to go see – Theodore was kicking the tar out of Franklin. The storm was for real by now so no way was I going to put them outside. I didn’t want to wrestle with that heavy gate panel again, so I grabbed a lead rope and a treat, lured Theodore over to the corner of the stall with the treat, clipped the rope onto his halter and tied him to the corner post. The stall was small enough that he could have kicked Franklin anywhere in the stall, but he settled right down and stood like a gentleman. Two hours passed. I unclipped him and he seemed to have learned his lesson. Ok. 4 hours later he’s kicking the tar out of Franklin again! I grab a treat, lure him over to the corner, tie him up, he settles down, eventually I unclip him and he behaves himself. For about four hours. Dang, Theodore! The fourth time this happens is in the middle of the night. I jerk out of a deep sleep, jump up, no treat this time but Theodore meets me at the corner of the stall, I clip him up and he looks up at me with soft, pleading pony eyes, licking his lips and ready for his treat. I realize that in less than 24 hours I’ve trained my pony to kick the tar out of his teammate for a treat. Clever pony. Stupid human.

Katelynn was busy with an almost 2 year old and an 8 month old at her lovely old brick house across the road, but took the time to text me asking if i wanted to see the largest moth in North America – which of course I did! Two Cecropia moths had just emerged from their cocoons right by her back porch – they were wider across than my hand could span and so fuzzy! She was also willing to join me for an interview – twice, since I forgot to hit record the first time, AND pointed me towards the En Gedi Ridge zoo as a possible place to stop for the night (which was an Excellent suggestion!) but before we head there, I’ll share Katelynn’s interview with you here:

The distance to the zoo was 20 miles. Our longest day yet and the storm had given way to a really hot, muggy day. The ponies were dragging and it took us 5 1/2 hours to cover the miles. The zoo keepers had asked if the ponies would be ok with camels and emus and kangaroos and honestly, I had no idea, but Kristin has lots of critters around and did amazing work with desensitizing the ponies to just about everything, so it felt worth the risk. I figured at the end of a 20 mile day they’d be more interested in getting their harnesses off than complaining about the neighbors and I was right. En Gedi Ridge zoo is the passion project of a vet and it’s like stumbling into the Peaceable Kingdom. First time ever meeting a kangaroo in person – I actually got to pet him – soft and plush – and the tail is thick and muscular beyond what I’d imagined. I met and petted friendly camels, zebras, emus, several varieties of goats and antelopes including an Addax that liked to have its forehead scratched! Thick and the ponies fit right in and we all felt very welcome and at home there. In the morning I was treated to breakfast delivery (hash browns, ham and eggs) and then a group of developmentally disabled adults who volunteer at the zoo got to meet the ponies and fuss over them a bit. Thick was in his element with no shortage of people willing to throw ball for him – AND there was a porta-potty!

A reporter came over (there’s been quite a bit of that in recent days – links below) and we bonded over Little House on the Prairie (quite a bit of that as well – I’m in very good company with all the fans I’m meeting as I travel – sometimes it feels like every woman I meet grew up imprinting on that series! and most of us agree that the books were way better than the TV version.) And then it was time to harness up the ponies and get ready to roll. The ponies were a bit fractious, Theodore even rearing up a bit in harness as I was hitching him, both of them nervous and fidgeting, but there were a lot of people around and it had been a very full morning and eventually we were out the drive and on our way.

The road was a bit busy and soon I noticed that there were two cars following me with their flashers on. I was also feeling a bit nervous and fidgety, the ponies weren’t going well, I was feeling crowded and stressed, the ponies were picking up on that energy, they weren’t pulling straight, and I saw a big gravel parking lot on the right where we were turning anyway so I decided to stop there and see if I could figure out what was going on with my team. I was a bit hoping to be able to lose my tails, but they turned in after me and it was two women from the zoo and they were following me to keep me safe and were willing to hold the ponies while I adjusted things. Fair play. They followed me for over a mile, as I pulled over again and again, trying to figure out and fix whatever was bothering the ponies and every time they were right there to hold them while I went over the harness and made some minor adjustment. I sent pictures and videos to Kristin and Duane and talked to them on the phone, the women from the zoo called the vet who showed up to take a look, nobody could find any obvious problems, but the vet mentioned a harness shop a mile or so ahead on the left, look for a big hoop barn and a sign. Ok. The slow moving wagon plus two vehicles flashing hazards was quite a train for people wanting to pass us, and in retrospect I should have suggested that the two women get into one vehicle and leave the other behind, but I was not thinking clearly in that moment and instead I suggested that one of them go ahead and the other behind. This did not shorten the length of our train and put the ponies in a bit of a box, the front vehicle now controlling our speed, but soon enough I saw the hoop barn, the harness shop sign, all just this side of the crest of a hill. Not a safe place to turn across traffic. Ugh.

The front car slowed way down, gesturing to make sure I’d seen the turn, pulled ever so slowly into the driveway, I had to stop the ponies, put my foot on the brake (because we were on a hill) and wait for her to get her vehicle far enough into the driveway for the ponies and wagon to fit in behind her before I dared make the turn. I didn’t want to be hanging out in the road so I asked them for a little extra energy as we made the turn, but somehow I’d gotten distracted, somehow the right rein buckle (where the right rein splits to go to the right side of each pony’s face) got snagged on a ring on Theodore’s harness and suddenly I only had one rein – the left one. The only way to unsnag that rein was to flap the rein, which translated as a “Go!” signal – there was a car right in front of us – nowhere to go – no way to stop – a pony in a pasture on the left and my ponies dove between two pine trees and we all came to a juddering stop as the team pole rammed into a fence pole. My sunglasses flew off my face and disappeared.

Thick was a very good dog and stayed on the wagon, the harness maker and his wife and their 4 home-schooled kids showed up quickly, the two women from the zoo were right on hand – plenty of help to get the ponies unhitched, get Franklin’s head, neck and left hind leg extracted from the (turned off 10 minutes before, thank God, because this could have been so much worse!) electric fence, hold Theodore while we got the team pole away from the fence enough to let Franklin out of the trap, push the wagon back into the driveway and take a deep breath. We’re all ok. None of us got hurt, the wagon itself is fine, the bent-wood bows are in one piece, the canvas untorn – the team pole is bent like a humpback whale and the singletree is split and splintered – but we’re all ok. Except for my prescription sunglasses which really did vanish off the face of the earth!

Before I even had time to come to my senses, Dan Shanahan, the harness maker, had put a pair of safety rings into the rein buckles so this couldn’t happen again in the future, he replaced a plastic ring that had snapped with another metal one AND he replaced the tacky orange string I was using to tie the ponies’ butts together with a nice leather strap with clips on both ends. All this before I managed to stop shaking and saying, “we’re all ok, nobody is hurt, the ponies are ok, Thick is ok, we’re all ok” like a mantra of believing to realize that it was true. He then asked where my next stop was, and I realized that we were going to need a minute to recover from this episode and the next stop didn’t have a fenced in pasture, so I jumped ahead to the one after that and gave him the address. I swear it was less than half an hour after the wreck and the wagon and ponies were loaded in his horse trailer and we were heading to Rosewood, Ohio and Lisa’s place. I texted her that I was on the way – a day early – was that ok?

Forgive me if this next bit is a blur, but that afternoon I arrived at Lisa’s, got the rest of the electric fence set up, got the ponies comfortable in a back yard turned pasture, my brother and his wife and her dad showed up with things I’d been craving from Trader Joe’s and a care package from cousins, aunt and uncle in Wheaton, IL where they’d been attending my nephew Tobiah’s graduation, April and Kitty showed up with the Nun (my van) after a two hour road trip – and the Mustard Seed got backed into a garage and plugged into an extension cord. Lisa has MS, and while I wouldn’t ordinarily consider this a blessing, it did mean that she understood the need for rest that’s not “20 minutes and I’ll be with you” but actually means “let’s hang out and chat for an hour and then spend the rest of the day recovering.” Lisa also used to drive horse teams professionally and was ecstatic to have ponies in her back yard. Thick has his own priorities – and was fully satisfied!

This seems like it might have been a good moment for a blog post, but there was no WiFi at Lisa’s and my phone had one blip of a bar (most of the time) so basically I was able to text, talk on the phone if I went outside and was careful where I walked, post on social media (tho not videos) and look a few things up. I managed to put a post on Facebook explaining the situation and asking people for help replacing the team pole. Blessings on the people who chipped in with exactly the amount needed to replace the team pole AND my vanished sunglasses! They didn’t know each other, I didn’t know the amount needed when I asked, but when it came time to pay for the repairs and order the glasses there was enough! Deep gratitude and wonder. Somebody on Facebook knew an Amish man who lived nearby and had a harness shop. I drove the Nun over with the team pole and he and his son were willing to make the needed repairs by the weekend. While I had the Nun I was able to get more grain for the ponies at a mill, groceries for me at Walmart, pick up the team pole when it was done and fill her up with gas that was a full dollar a gallon more than the last time I’d filled her up a month before.

Maybe this post is getting long enough for now? Lots more to catch you up on now that I have simultaneous WiFi, relative solitude, time and breathing room. Meanwhile, here are a couple of links to recent newspaper articles of varying veracity (don’t believe everything you read!) I’m not sure why one is just a line of type and the other has a picture, but they’re two different articles.

https://www.yourohionews.com/knox-county/rolling-across-america-one-story-at-a-time/1035079

And one more Neighbor before you go – here’s my lovely hostess Lisa, who caught me after the crash and let the ponies and I recover with her for a very peaceful week! You can find her friend Molly’s interview on the same porch if you head over to the channel. Blessings and adventures – ’til next time!