John Wayne riders keep on trail despite May rains

The smell of horses and leather tack blew along the streets of Malden Thursday. More than 100 horses, riders and drivers were camped out in the city park, taking a rest day on their cross-state journey of the John Wayne Trail.

Temporary pens filled with resting horses dotted the blocks of the city park. Horses lolled in patches of sun beneath pine trees. Pickups, trailers and RVs were parked in the grass.

Beginning at Easton, the collection of riders, teamsters, horses, mules and bicyclists has been riding across the state on the John Wayne Trail since May 22. Their destination was Tekoa where they arrived Saturday after an annual appearance in Rosalia’s Battle Days parade.

Members of the John Wayne Trail Wagon Driver and Riders have been completing an annual horse back ride across state on the trail since the early 1980s.

This year’s ride has been awash in rain.

“There’s so many of us that go the distance. You get close to everyone,” said Lynette Scott. Lynette and her husband Byron, who hail from Arlington, hitched their two Tennessee Walkers to a carriage for their two-week journey.

Like many other riders in the group, the Scotts both work full-time and tend to their horses as a side project.

Every night, the whole trail crew sleeps in their RVs or trailers.

In the morning, they drive their vehicles to the camp site for the next night. Then they ride a school bus back to the previous site where they have left their horses and wagons. Then they saddle up and hitch up to begin the day’s journey.

Club chairman Kathy Cowan said the group has seen rain almost every day since they began their trip.

“It’s been really hard,” she said. “We’re not used to that on this ride,” she said. Rains at Malden were scant Thursday, she noted, and the break allowed the horses and gear a chance to dry out.

A quick wagon ride through their camp in Malden revealed a refreshing slew of horse breeds. There were quarter horses, Tennessee Walkers, mules, paints, ponies and many other breeds.

Rider Jeff Tresness was grazing his paint horse, Caprice.

For Tresness, the wildest moment of his trip so far was the day they rode their horses through a much larger herd of loose horses on the west side of the state. More than 100 horses thundered over a hill to greet the trail riders, Tresness said. The welcoming spooked many of their own horses.

Cowan offered another colorful anecdote. They were past Revere when some of the teenagers found a rattlesnake.

“They killed it. And they skinned it. And they ate it,” Cowan said with a smile. She mimicked the boys stretching out the skin, which was drying in the rare sunny day in Malden.

In addition to breath-taking sunsets and sweeping vistas, Cowan said they have witnessed a host of wildlife. One rider glimpsed a badger. Another rider found a bird nest on the trail and laid large rocks around it for the rest of the riders to avoid.