THE HORSES KNEW…
by Linda Lorien

(Note from the Editor: I received this contribution from a parent whose cover note was as touching as the piece itself. Therefore, I have chosen to share her cover letter with all of you. - Enjoy!)

Dear Westernaires:

As a Westernaire parent, I seem to spend an enormous amount of time waiting and watching the constant activity around the Fort. Watching the trailers load up for a road show is always filled with excitement and promise. I especially enjoy the early morning hours, when under cover of darkness so much gets accomplished in such a short period of time. I like to open my car window or sit on my car hood and listen to the people, machines and animals get ready to go. I have often wondered what the horses think when they are fed at 3 am in total darkness, before they wake up and feel hungry. I can imagine them talking among themselves, trying to guess where they will be trailered to this time. This year before Annual Show, as I waited for my daughter, I felt I needed to put into words the magical feeling that can only come with a Westernaire performance, a feeling that is evident long before the teams are costumed and flagged up.

      Linda Lorien

THE HORSES KNEW… by Linda Lorien The horses knew. Long before the last riders willingly awoke, sacrificing their coveted adolescent slumber, the horses knew. The stillness of the black night was broken by the familiar, but early sound of the small tractor trudging up the hill with the piles of sweet morning hay. It was much too early for morning hay; the secret was out. The horses knew. After filling their bellies full, the horses cocked their ears to catch the first sounds of people. The sky was ablaze with stars, the moon was new.

At first only a few solitary figures arrived, and clamored up into the cabs of the giant trucks. The powerful engines sputtered to life, their rhythmical rup-rup-rup-rup breaking the quiet of the early morning. There was no wind, and the exhaust of the diesel engines billowed out, white contrasting against the black night, almost like magician's smoke, hiding secrets and illusions of the magic to come. The steady stream of headlights began approaching the fort, car after car of eager young people glad that the wait was finally over - today was the day. The horses heard them, coming up the hill, stumbling in the darkness. One by one, like a long line of ants, the horses were brought down the hill, to be groomed and wrapped in their protective armor for the journey ahead. Still under cover of darkness, the line of horses descended the rest of the way down the hill, taking exaggerated and comical steps, unsure of where their legs were, underneath the wrapped layers of protective fabric.

The truck engines were purring now, warmed up and ready for work. Only the running lights illuminated the night, a row of trailers parked side by side, awaiting their precious cargo. The clanging of chains and the whirr of the electric winches signaled the ramps being lowered. Inside the trailers, the lights went on, shining through the horizontal slits all along the side. One by one the horses and ponies were loaded, some timidly, and others stomping forcefully on the wooden ramps, as if full of purpose. The whirr of the electric winches started up again, this time to close the trailers, now that they were full. As the trucks sat waiting for the caravan to begin, you could hear the impatient stomping of an horse signaling his eagerness to get the show on the road. Still under cover of darkness, the caravan moved out of the Fairgrounds. Let the magic begin.