A Welcome Break

Tuesday June 16th.  Although having to negotiate the Tellytubbyland of housing estates in the urban sprawl that extends from Detroit, this part of Michigan has some very pretty backroads

  Near Brighton I was fortunate enough to be put in contact with Magen Fulkerson, who is planning a long ride in the US and was interested to pick my brains - or what there is left of them.  Here she is shown below with the mule she has recently bought to train as a pack animal.

On the right is mother Annette, who runs an organic smallholding and made sure I was looked after like royalty while Lady had a stall and paddock.   Magen was also able to advise me on a good route avoiding some of the busy roads in this area of urban sprawl, and on Wednesday June 17th directed me onto the Lakelands trail through quiet woodland..

 It was only a short morning ride to the home of fellow Welsh pony breeder Trudy Laforest of Roseridge Stud  https://www.facebook.com/Roseridge-Farm-192405447445105/, shown here with her beloved Welsh pony stallion Thornberry Woodsman, bred by my friend Fiona Leadbitter in South Wales....

I was able to have a much needed day off in the peace of the Michigan countryside, being entertained in style by Trudy with plenty of flowing conversation!  Many thanks Trudy!
Considerably refreshed and ready for the fray, we set off from Trudy's on Wednesday June 19th travelling southwards to the west of Ann Arbor. 
Early morning on a Michigan back road.....

 I did not stop too long to study this unsettling tableau of an Indian (sorry Native American) pushing a gun-toting army skeleton in a wheelchair......

 .....particularly with the rusty pick up lurking in the background denoting support for the 'Al Qaeda Hunting Club' among other things...

I had arranged to stay with a delightful elderly couple Richard and Lorrie Alexander at Woodlane Farm near Manchester, and although there was a little confusion and concern about when I was turning up ((Lorrie had been given to understand I was arriving the day before!) I was warmly welcomed.  A gentle and charming man with a distinguished past, besides breeding and training horses Dick was formerly a Zoology professor at Michigan University.
Dick and Lorrie (at breakfast, hence the dressing gown!) together with Lydia, one of their four grandchildren.

We get a soaking

Sunday June 14th started wet and gloomy..

 ..and it was not long after I took this photo that the heavens opened in earnest and the rest of the day essentially consisted of rain, heavy rain or torrential rain, with a few short breathers in between.  My waterproofs held out fairly well, but my feet were soaked and squelching within an hour of setting out - distinctly miserable to endure over a long day.  In one downpour I dashed in to shelter under someone's porch and hoped they didn't open the door to come face to face with a horse!  It was impossible to really enjoy the lovely countryside and too wet to take photos.
It was with a huge sense of relief that I arrived in the evening at Nelson's Ranch as the rain died out, and in the circumstances was particularly delighted to find a wonderful welcome awaiting me.  The ranch is a boarding stables with a lovely community spirit, owned and run by Dee and Rod Nelson.  Lady was turned into a paddock in front of their ranch house on a hill, which has a glorious views out over their fields and down to a lake (photo by Kristina LedesmaJurkowski).....

....while I was ushered into the house to tuck into a fabulous feast brought along by a friendly crowd of boarders/trail riders who had come to meet me, before watching the herd of sixty horses coming down for their evening feed, an experience in itself.  Dee and Rob were the perfect hosts, and not only was I able to have a hot shower and a good sleep in a cosy bedroom, but I was able to wash and dry my clothes - Dee had an amazing boot dryer to blow dry my soggy boots. Bliss.

I set out the following morning Monday June 15th considerably revived.  Here are Dee (in the green top) and Rod with boarders ready to see me off ...

 

All the land in the background belongs to them.

I was now skirting past the western suburbs of Detroit, and for the next couple of days not only had to cross the occasional expressway and tackle busier roads, but also surreptitiously negotiate sanitised gated housing estates with expansive manicured lawns bordering spotless winding roads.

 

  I scooted through hoping I made the other side before Lady left an unsolicited pile of 'roadapples' - the townies who inhabit these enclaves may regard the rural surroundings as desirable, but not the realities of rural life!

 Lady and I made sure we did......... 

 Garden birds can be of a distinctly larger variety than in the UK....a family of sandhill cranes strut across a lawn...

Riding through Highland Charter Township I fortuitously met up with Kathy O'Brien who was passing in her pick-up and stopped to see what I was up to. In no time at all she had sorted out a place for me to stay that night near Hartland with perfect hostesses Michelle Goik and sister in law Marjorie Suhre. The irrepressible Michelle is on the right......



 Thank you both for your help and great hospitality!

 

Tally Ho!

Saturday June 13th.   The weather was still muggy, but at least the temperature was being kept cooler by cloud cover.. And we were riding through pleasant pastoral scenery.....

........to reach the rolling wooded hills of Metamora.

 This beautiful area of woodland and lakes, interspersed with expensive properties and swanky horse farms, is where the well-heeled of Detroit come to chase foxes with the Metamora Hunt Club. With their smooth coated foxhounds and red coats, they subscribe to the traditional ideals of foxhunting, except they do not hunt to kill - quite an unusual concept in North America.
Thoroughbreds grazed in white railed paddocks, though thoroughbred is not a description I would use to describe this rather mangy looking beast of indeterminate parentage which we encountered at the entrance to one stud farm....

....and the foxes seem to be of a singularly be-whiskered variety.....

A python lurks in the waters ....

...thankfully only a log in disguise, though it made me look twice.

Through the Metamora woods...

A confident sign....

...does it end when one drives back out of the gates, so one is permanently confined to barracks?

At the end of a long day, Lady took matters into her own hooves when she turned decisively into a riding stables just outside Oxford.  Who was I to argue, and happily Lori at the Majestic Equestrian Centre welcomed us in for the night.

The Land of Opportunity

Thursday 11th June  Lady and I set off from Phoenix Stables to start my first stage in the United States.  Unfortunately most of the day was spent in a long tramp along main roads away from Port Huron.
I think this means No Overtaking in American.....

but I almost expected my way to be blocked by a medieval knight in shining black armour.  Certainly not by these tinny gentlemen relaxing on the wayside.....

Back home at last a bit earlier than I expected?...

 In fact this Wales was my first stop on the road in America  - at  Goodells Equestrian Center, where I was given a tremendous welcome by Charlotte Godfrey (shown below second from right with partner Mike) and the boarders at her friendly and well run centre, or should I say center now I am in the States.

I was taken out for a meal in the evening with some of the gang.  I tried pickerel for the first time - a local fish which was delicious. Many thanks to the effervescent Jill, who could not join us but treated me to the meal!
A bit of a late start the next morning  Friday 12th June partly as I had a good sleep on the couch and a relaxed breakfast, but mainly due to tackling problems with my new USA mobile. Not only had I been receiving odd calls from strangers, but I could not text home.  Magnificent Mike kindly helped out an old techno idiot and managed to get through to a live person to sort things out.  It transpired that my cell package which promised 'Free texting to a hundred countries'  amazingly did not include the UK .  Alas how the sun has set on the British Empire and what happened to Hands Across the Ocean!   But I set out with a new number and $30 of texting credit - thanks Mike!

For the next few days I was riding on quiet gravel roads through peaceful countryside....

past some beautiful homes....

Rick Dubay had arranged for me to stay with cutting horse friend Tom Janneke and his wife Mary-Ann near Alton.   Tom let me use his luxurious trailer with shower and double bed, while Mary Ann provided an ample supper.

The house that Tom built, with proud owner in front looking very spry for a great-grandfather.

 

Into the US of A

 

Monday June 8th and the day Pat drove Lady and me into the USA.   Here are Pat and Marlene with the trailer carrying Lady just before we set off.

 

Pat was another guardian angel in guiding me through a bureaucratic minefield and getting Lady and me safely across the border.  He refused to accept any payment for all his time and trouble apart from some petrol money. Thank you both for all your amazing hospitality and help!!!

I will miss Canada. The support I have received all the all the way from my start at St John's Newfoundland has been overwhelming, and has strengthened my faith in human nature.

 

We arrived at customs about an hour early, and had to wait until our fixed time to present my immigration papers.  The veterinary office is about 10 kms from the border and they do not allow the journey to take any longer than the allotted time to arrive at the vet appointment!  But we sailed through the customs office and vet office without any issues, and were soon on the road to my base for the next few days, Rick Dubay's Phoenix Farms in Fort Gratiot.

Because of the thunderstorms that had hit the area in the previous few days (thankfully they had not affected me while I was riding) most of their lovely paddocks were flooded, and the bullfrogs had moved into the resultant swamp!

Lady had a stall, and Rick's daughter Amy DeLange kindly let me camp in their basement, where there was a comfy sofa and plenty of plug points. She also drove me into town so I could sort out a cell phone for America, and buy the Michigan map book I had been unable to find in Ontario.
Amy is a child psychologist, and with husband Mike has three lovely sons, Tyler, Dakota and Luke. Unfortunately the photos I took during my stay were lost when my laptop malfunctioned on the way home.
Tuesday June 9th  and in the morning I rode down to the Port Huron side of the Bluewater bridge to officially start the US leg of my journey...

Where I had had a farewell meet and greet in Canada, Amy now held a welcoming meet and greet in the USA, and I was bombarded with pertinent questions by the boarders!

Wednesday June 10th was mainly spent planning my route, though in evening I had a treat when I was given the privilege of riding Luke's highly trained cutting quarter horse Skeeter who had won around $100,000 in cutting competitions. 

Cutting horses are trained to work cattle on their own, and in cutting competitions once the horse and rider have separated a cow from the herd, it is left entirely to the horse to keep it separated, and the team is judged on how well the horse performs.

The following clip will give you an idea of what is involved -

 

 Instead of a steer, for training purposes Rick uses a remote controlled 'flag' which whisks to and fro along the side of the indoor school. Having seen Luke in action, I pleaded with Rick not to whisk the flag too far or too fast!   But first I had to practice riding Western style which was a challenge in itself as it is so different from riding English style. I was terrified of pushing the wrong buttons on a highly trained and speedy horse!  Actually riding Skeeter while he worked the flag was a memorable experience, not least for poor Skeeter himself who is no doubt still shaking his head.

 

The Border at Last!

Thursday June 4th   A long day tiring across a flat agricultural plain, occasionally threatened by thunderstorms..

I decided to push on to Sarnia, and we eventually arrived, hot and weary after over forty kilometres on the road, at the Yellow Rose boarding stables of Pat and Marlene Haslam. 
Lady was shown into a spacious loose box, and I was given use of a luxurious goose neck trailer with double bed and shower. Marlene whisked me inside for supper and wine.  She is of Welsh descent, her grandparents speaking Welsh and originating from Aberfan, which has dubious fame as the site of the tragic 1966 disaster when a coal tip collapsed and buried the primary school, killing 144 people including 116 children.

 I was to stay here for the next few days and it was just as well I had pushed on, as most of Friday June 5th was taken up with sorting out the border crossing.  Pat proved to be an invaluable support, chauffering me around and going out of his way to help me, and there is no way I could have done it without him. Not only did he drive to the CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) to deliver the veterinary paperwork for Lady (which Diane had brought down with my baggage), but he contacted the US border vet office to make an appointment, as we had to present ourselves there immediately after crossing.  She stressed that if I was late for the appointment Lady could be refused entry, and advised that we visit the USA border office to make sure there were no delays with my visa application which could make me late.  So we set off across the Bluewater bridge to USA customs. On the other side we encountered what must surely be the rudest customs official I have ever met in my life, and I have met a few. She had a problem with everything Pat said.  What was the point of coming over, it would not ensure I would be allowed entry to the US, it wasn't the border vet's place to tell us what to do.  When Pat tried to explain he got  "Are you telling me to do my job?" (Pat wasn't) "Don't interrupt me" (he wasn't). Eventually we managed to see an official who was aggressive but in fact after grilling me sorted out my visa, and it certainly was worth the visit as the whole process took over two hours.
There was then a lot of toing and froing from the CFIA with extra forms which the US vet suddenly seemed to require and which we could not find on the internet - unsurprisingly as she had given us the wrong link.  But the helpful Canadian border vet Meidrym Hebda supplied one and eventually all the paperwork was sorted and signed and we were ready to attempt the border crossing on Monday.  Meidrym Hebda actually looked into the possibility of my riding across the Bluewater bridge but we both realised it would be out of the question.  Although a few years back it would have been possible and I understand someone did, since 9/11 not even pedestrians are allowed on the bridge, which is horrendously busy with heavy traffic these days.
 My next job was to try and start planning my new route in the US from Port Huron on the other side of the border south to pick up the route from Detroit I has planned at home.  But amazingly it was impossible to buy good maps of Michigan in Sarnia, so I was limited to researching on Google Earth.
Sunday May 7th The last job to be done was to actually ride down to the Bluewater bridge on the Sarnia side of the river Detroit which forms the border between Canada and the US.  So here I am by the bridge on Sunday morning.

The End of the Canada leg of my journey

 

A journalist from the local Observia newspaper also came down to record the event and here is a link to the resultant article..
http://www.theobserver.ca/2015/06/07/world-traveller-passes-through-sarnia-Lambton

Pat off to a sorting competition with his quarter horse...

Cutting, sorting, reining and penning competitions are all popular in North America and have developed from work with cattle.  In sorting competitions teams of three attempt to separate three specific head of cattle from a small herd against the clock. The cattle are numbered and the relevant numbers are announced just before the run. The cattle must be cut out in the specified order and the fastest time wins.  Pat often competes with Tara Foy, the vet who introduced us, though in many competitions the team members are mixed and changed with every run.  Riders are also graded according to ability, and teams may have to include a range of grades.

 

Marlene was the perfect hostess, looking after my every need and organising a couple of  jolly 'meet and greet' sessions with the boarders.  We also went out for a meal at a lovely restaurant overlooking Lake Huron, and thanks to Marlene I watched Egyptian Pharoah's historic win of the Triple Crown!

Dear Old Crathie

Wednesday May 3rd  and  and the country was becoming increasingly flat and boring.

 Lady attracts a curious bovine audience at a lunch stop..

 

The dear old community hall at Crathie, where many a jolly time has been spent.......

Musician Guy Lombardo played here as a student, and a popular activity was the 'box social' where each girl would pack a lunch for two. The boxes were auctioned and the young man who bought a chosen box would eat lunch with the girl who prepared it.  Girls with sweethearts would mark their boxes to make sure the young men in question knew which ones to bid for. Apparently the box socials were great fundraisers as the young men were prepared to pay a 'handsome sum' for the privilege of eating with their amours.

 

Ironically it seems that children sang the following quaint little song at the beginning of meetings of the well attended Literary Society ...

 The song may lack literary merit but more importantly Crathie lacks the hill.

 A real good shady road from hilly Crathie.....

After a long trudge I eventually found a farm with a paddock for Lady, and Dan and Debbie Macpherson also kindly let me use an unfurnished letting apartment which was between tenants, so I was able to shower and sleep on a sofa which had been left behind. Debbie brought me some fruit, and young daughters Jean, Emma and Sam came to chat.