Hurricane Harvey: What the Wind is Blowing| RES 056

Ride Every Stride | Horsemanship and Personal Growth with Van Hargis

Welcome back to Ride Every Stride! We’ve been on a bit of a hiatus, if you haven’t noticed, but we’re good to jump back in the saddle now. So why have we been gone? We were way more fortunate than others after hurricane Harvey – we only lost power for ten days. However, getting an internet connection back up and running took a good bit longer. There aren’t any land lines out here and all the towers had been damaged by the winds. Everything is good to go now and you can look forward to more episodes dropping week to week.

Now, I’m from tornado country in north Texas – in fact, we had two tornadoes touch down in five years on our property. But after moving to south Texas I heard about the dangers of hurricanes and kind of shrugged off any worry about them. Well, after seeing roofs blown off houses and tin sheets soaring through fields, it’s safe to say I’ve changed my mind about that. Huge swaths of south Texas saw massive flooding and got absolutely hammered – I’ve just never seen devastation like that.

Thankfully the damage to our ranch was extremely minimal. We decided not to evacuate as well and watch over all our horses and clients horses as well. I’ve never been in a situation like this before, so I asked around, got some advice, and did the best I could. I moved all the horses away from structures that might be damaged by wind and didn’t trap them in any building. As you may know, I’m a big proponent of letting horses do their own thing. I wanted them to be able to flee if they needed. I gave clients the opportunity to move their horses further inland but most decided to keep their horses under my care – now that things are said and done, I would’ve encouraged them more. Storms like this are just so unpredictable and it’s better to be overly cautious than sorry forever.

While we got off lucky, I’ve heard horrific stories of ranches that flooded with cattle and horses swimming through water and getting trapped in the fences we build to try and keep them safe. The whole experience has made me understand the value in being prepared for the worst. For having a plan and knowing the area you keep your horse and what the hazards of the area are.

While I’m saddened by what many lost in the storm, I’m personally grateful for the experience. I’m better prepared now to help out in case of another storm like this comes about. Looking back on what happened makes for good coffee shop conversation, but what we need to do now is look forward, find routine and normalcy, and get back to finding our stride.