This morning we are on our way south to Woodstock, Vermont, for the Green Mountain Horse Show Association spring show. Fortunately, today is warm-ups only, because we’ve just barely left the barn, and we are already 90 minutes behind schedule.

Why are we late? Ah, that is the question. I’m sure it’s a scenario you’ve encountered before on the way to a horse show. How long does it take 12 people to load eight horses into four trailers? A lot longer than it should once you throw in some technical difficulties.

There was a last minute vehicle switcheroo. The trailer and truck parked in front of the barn, was, of course, the one with the glitch. Which meant that no one else could load and leave. The dually truck in question needed a hitch adapter, which of course was not in the truck. Another adapter was located, but it needed to be removed from one truck and placed on the other. Removing the adapter from truck A was the catch. It was stuck on there like white on rice.

As 10 of the 12 people pondered the situation, my husband asked for a hammer, lay down on the ground and started to pound away to remove the hitch adapter. In what he later called “an estrogen nightmare” the rest of us tried to get everyone else loaded and on the road. We are pulling a friend’s trailer in exchange for a ride in the trailer.

Our trainer finally left us, rightfully agitated and eager to get the two-hour commute underway. Once the dually was ready to go, the driver discovered, alas, the gas tank was empty. Our caravan made a stop at the gas station, which ate up another 20 minutes. Mondavi and Misty are perfectly content in the back, waiting for their humans to get their act together.

As we edged out of the gas station, my husband lamented the lack of “trailer loading etiquette,” and told me that bankruptcy be damned, we were getting our own horse trailer.