| Hot Horses |
May 27, 2008
by Bonnie Davis
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A couple weeks ago a friend called and told me I should come down to Riverside in Southern California for some "really hot horses." Larry isn't really a horseperson -- he's a bike guy -- but he knows what a good horse looks like and has turned me on to a couple really good prospects! Anyway, decided to take a trip down and see what he thought a "really hot horse" looked like!
Larry is CHIEF Larry Fidler. He's a fireman. Chief of the Speedway Volunteer Fire Department (which should have given me a hint right there). He and his crew are trained firemen working motor sporting events. They put out the fires. Save people in accidents and do the tasks of getting people out of dangerous places while most of us stand and watch. They are strictly volunteers who foot all the bills to put fuel in their trucks, buy equipment, run training sessions, wax and polish equipment while holding down 40-hour a week paying jobs. For their firemen services they don't get paid except through donations and a few hire-ons at racetracks for demolition derbys, drag and circle track races.
Larry's ideas of "hot horses" turned out to have four wheels instead of hooves! But I know the 4-wheel high octane, flame snorting steeds some guys drove up and down Riverside's Main Street during the Annual Show & Go cost as much or more than my 4-legged, hooves on the ground type steed because some of them told me how much money they have in their steel steeds. Just let me say that I'll probably never again complain about the price of a bale of hay compared to a gallon of their fuel which has to be 'specially' purchased.
All of us feel passionate about our horses and what we do. But every once in awhile we should break out of our mold, wander into some other world and find out how passionate other folks are about their 'steeds.' Even though these folks have wheels on the ground, they still speak of their cars with admiration, love and even with a tear in the eye as one guy told me the history behind his 1942 pickup.
Along with the restored cars were some motorcycles and a few bikes. Which got my attention because of bikes and horses on trails. Even the bikers had stories behind their wheels and even though they didn't ride trails, they were as passion for their bikes as I am about my horses. Only thing different about the bikes is that once restored, they just have to be polished and waxed. Unlike steel steeds and our horses, bikes don't eat, drip oil on garage floors or leave 'piles' in stalls!
One of the fun thing I got to do was drive the support truck which hauls extra equipment that fire trucks can't carry in the parade. Even got to turn on the red lights so they flashed and the yellow lights spun in circles. It's amazing where you can go, get through and park when you have a vehicle with red and yellow lights on the top! (But I don't think Nic, my horse, would like a red light on his head.)
If you ever get a call to go see some "hot horses" or anything else, take the time to go! You will come away with a definite impression and realization that it is just as dedicated to as our horses are to us. That even applies to bikes......
Here's a couple pictures of my 'adventure'. The fire blowing steed was my favorite and what I would classify as a really 'hot horse'. The other is me, looking 'official' in my loaned-to-me-yellow fire jacket!!
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