FROM: Janice Scandrett, Nevada Division
PST
I think most of us have some sort of a “bucket list”. One of the items on mine was to participate in the Pony Express re-ride. I’ve been going to do it for the past couple of years, but it just didn’t work out. This year the timing was right, I had the perfect horse and a friend to go with me. We originally signed up for one leg from Mound House part way into Carson City with the Top Gun-Fort Churchill-Carson City group of riders. We were later asked to pick up three legs from Carson City to Genoa.
My friend Debbie agreed to do extra legs and I would help along the way. Our husbands (the pit crew) drove us to just east of the turnoff to Virginia City on Highway 50 early Wednesday morning. We had information that the riders were making up time and we needed to be there early. Got the girls out of the trailer, tied them up and waited. Some of the Pony Express support crews showed up and finally we could see dust down the road. We got the girls ready to go and waited for the mochilla exchange to transfer to my Rose. Off we went in a slow cloud of dust. I was not sure how good Rose would go as she had not been asked to do a long distance trot. She did almost the entire four miles at a reasonably fast trot (for a Fjord horse) with a bit of canter at the end. The mochilla was exchanged, the girls were loaded, and off to downtown Carson City we went. Debbie rode the next leg from downtown Carson south, crossing Highway 50 and missing all of the cones and barrels (there is major road construction going on).
The mochilla was again exchanged behind WalMart. We loaded up the girls and headed to the fire station in Jacks Valley. Debbie was again going to ride the next leg so Scarlett was out and ready to go when we were told the incoming horse had stopped and did not want to go any further. Loaded Scarlett once again in the trailer and met up with the rider, did a quick exchange and Debbie was off.
I met Debbie half way to Genoa and rode with her into Genoa.
We ended our day at the Genoa Bar for a cold drink. The Genoa Bar was established in 1853, so we could have been sitting in the same seat as an original Pony Express rider!
We had a wonderful, successful ride and can hardly wait to do it again next year.