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Sunday, October 28, 2007

California’s Wildfires - A Dressage Barn Flees the Inferno
By Kathy Beal for DressageDaily.com

I called my good friend Debbie Casement, who immediately evacuated and brought her four horses to our ranch, but not for long. Within an hour, we had heard warnings that our area was next to be evacuated. At that very moment, a very kind friend, Elaine Hamilton, owner of an equine rehabilitation facility, Fair Winds Farm in Bonsall, called and offered to take our horses. Among our combined herd are Christina’s saintly NAYRC gold medal horse, Ray Ace, and veteran World Cup horse, Dakota. At once, we began our transport. As we loaded the horses, the evacuation was beginning in Fallbrook and several hundred cars were already on the road. Knowing we had to make several trips, the slow traffic intensified our anxiety. We could get out in cars, but the horses and animals were dependent on us for safety.

The fire was hop-scotching across Fallbrook’s hills and lighting on fire the avocado groves we love. As I drove past my high school, I saw a huge Clydesdale standing in the parking lot held by a barefoot student. A brother and sister, who were riding their Quarter Horses in shorts and sandals, crossed at the light, frantically looking for refuge – the promised trailer ride to Vessels Thoroughbred Farm horse evacuation site. Ironically, our school’s Ag Department was still receiving trailers from other cities even as Fallbrook was being evacuated. Eerie sirens from sheriffs’ cars blasted mandatory evacuation notices to residents’ neighborhoods throughout Fallbrook. Sheriffs demanded, without success, that my determined husband leave our home and applied the signifying yellow crime scene tape to our entry sign.