Pony Riders

The Pony Express Re-Ride galloped out of Sacramento yesterday, June 7, 2023, bound for St. Joseph, MO. Maybe you'll spot one of these intrepid riders along the route.

They trot through a city or climb mountain tracks

Some horses may dance with the weight

As sun bares down hard and sears their backs

It's difficult to hold the right gait.

Then night settles in with drizzles that sting

Across plains of sand or a sagebrush sea

The moon shows the way or the headlights fling

Fearsome shadows that bounce eerily.

In the dark ponies follow the treacherous trail

But the rider must know where to go

Time is of essence and deadlines prevail

But some years trails lie under snow.  

A scramble up roads lined with cows in the brush

Make for wrecks in some backcountry trace

Stallions come for the mares in a worrisome rush

That add to the pain of this tiring pace.

Each horse feels the press of the letters it wears

The mochila cuts legs and hinders the touch

With miles to go as they ride every year

Those yester-year carriers were tough.

Most of the time the riders are ghosts

Few spectators see them ride by

But they honor the men who once held this post

No hardship too thorny to try.