Robin Brueckmann's Road to Belgium

Thursday, September 21, 2006 - Trailering Horses to JFK

I got up at 4:30. Becca had already fed our two horses when I got to the barn. I hooked up the trailer and we loaded the horses. I was glad to see that Pippin loaded the same way as Rocky: throw the lead rope over his back, and on he marches on his own.

We were on the road by six. I went through Philadelphia on our way North, and hit rush-hour traffic. It was a mistake.

There was a huge delay getting to the George Washington Bridge in New York City, and in an hour and a half we went four miles. Time was ticking. I knew that Paul was expecting us at the Vetport at JFK at noon, and we were going to be pressed for time. Eventually, we made it to JFK, but there were no signs to find the Vetport. After stopping to ask twice, a security guard graciously led us to where we needed to be. We were only twenty minutes late.

Valerie Kanavy had three horses here, too. Two of them were flying to Belgium, and one was going to Jordan. I hoped that no one got sent to the wrong place! Valerie had a saddle bag, a small trunk, and a box of electrolytes, a big contrast to the volume of stuff that we were bringing. Laura Scherr, who was the groom going with the horses, was already there. We got the horses unloaded into the distinctly unimpressive stalls. Paul met us, and he had me drive the truck and trailer to a cargo area. He and his cohort Joe unloaded our stuff, and put it onto pallets. Joe took Becca and me to a deli for pizza. Neither of us had eaten breakfast this morning, so it was even more delicious.

We went back to the Vetport, and said goodbye to Laura and our horses. I was eager to get out of NYC as soon as possible. Both Becca and I thought it odd that no one asked for our horses' passports, although we had them with us.

It took two hours to get out of New York. By now it was five, full rush hour in the Big Apple. As it transpired, I today I drove through Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, Kings, and Staten Island. We had the royal tour, and paid attention to none of it! I chose another route to go home, taking the PA turnpike instead of I-95 through Philadelphia. As we neared Valley Forge, Becca got a call from Laura. It was 6:30. Did we leave our passports somewhere? No, we had them with us. We needed to fax the front pages and the identification pages to Paul before the horses took off.

I pulled into the Valley Forge rest area, which advertised a fax machine. No, actually, there wasn't one. I drove on. We got off at Downingtown, and

I went into a Marriott, and they were able to do the fax for us. The two receptionists were amazed at our tale of sending our horses on a plane! At eight, we were back at Missy's. I parked the trailer at the upper barn, and headed back to my sister's. All was dark there. I had left before anyone was up, and I was home after everyone had gone to bed. I was eager to crash myself.

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