BY KIMBERLY FRENCH, JOURNAL INTERN
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| AQHA Professional Horseman Nancy Cahill and co-worker Michelle Tidwell are expert show trailer packers. Cahill trains from her barn in Madisonville, Texas. |
“We were on our way to the Texas Classic and were about three hours away from home when we realized we forgot Bo,” Nancy Cahill said, an AQHA Professional Horseman. “I’m not alone. There’s a club of us that have forgotten a horse.”
Cahill was consumed by packing the trailer and neglected to bring her horse. Here’s her advice to avoid following her lead:
“It’s all about logistics,” Cahill said. “I don’t load it anymore because Michelle (a co-worker) has the back compartment down to a fine art. It has to go in perfect order and come out in perfect order. Otherwise, stand back, your life is in danger.”
Cahill only takes what is necessary and leaves a lot in the trailer.
“Some stuff just lives there,” Cahill said. “Show saddles, the grooming rack and chaps stay inside the trailer. It’s like a closet. Plus, I can’t forget it.”
If something is left behind, Wal-Mart is usually close by and friends will let you borrow equipment or supplies.
“I always say we can buy or borrow it,” Cahill said. “I even said that when we forgot our horse. But that’s about the only thing you can’t borrow.”
Cahill is responsible for not only her equipment but her clients.
“What are you going to do if your customers live far away?” Cahill said. “I have a customer that lives in California, and I have to make sure all her stuff gets there. I’m responsible for it.”
Sometimes things simply don’t fit, and you have to buy it. Then how do you get it home?
“At least by the end of the trip you have fed all your feed so you could put it in that space,” Cahill said. “That’s what we do.”
With all this stress about what to bring, how to bring it and if you’ll be able to bring it back, make sure you don’t join the famous forgotten horse club. He’s the most important thing.
“At least I wasn’t as far from the house as some people,” Cahill said. “I’ve heard of some people driving from Arizona to here for reining and not realizing they were missing a horse until they got here.”
