For Erika Adams, spending a week in Tryon went from ordinary to extraordinary in a matter of 12 hours.

Erika arrived in Tryon on July 19 looking to put some miles on her young eventer, Iffy, in the jumper ring. She was excited to visit the new venue and enjoy all that TIEC has to offer. After setting up her stalls and settling Iffy, Erika, a self-sufficient eventer, tacked up and made her way to the ring. She and Iffy got to ride on the lovely GGT footing in the rings and enjoyed a good school.

Looking forward to the next day’s classes, she cooled out her horse, gave him a bath, packed her schooling gear in her trunk and settled Iffy in for the night. After tucking in her horse, she took her trailer to the offsite trailer parking lot. Having several tiers of parking she opted to park her rig on the top tier where she could have easy access to her hay and supplies. A good meal with friends and a solid night’s sleep later her world turned entirely upside down.

Arriving early at the show the following morning she fed and went to the trailer parking to get her equipment and hay. Upon arriving at the trailer parking lot she found more trailers had arrived, but her trailer was nowhere in site. Ha-ha … she thought good joke, it’s got to be here somewhere.

Erika then wove in and out of all the levels and trailers thinking maybe someone had moved it, or perhaps maybe someone thought it was theirs and realized after they got under the lights by the barns it wasn’t theirs and put it back in a different spot.

With no luck finding her trailer, she went back to the barn and brought back several friends wondering if maybe she just missed it. After the three of them thoroughly combed the trailer parking lot Erika and her friends found the two rocks that had been used to chock her trailer, and the wood used to drop the jack on to were right where they had parked her trailer.

They all came to the horrifying conclusion that her 1999 four-horse slant load Sundowner was definitely missing and had to have been stolen. As Erika put it, with all those fancy trailers, who would steal a 17-year-old horse trailer that has body damage and is held together with baling twine and duct tape?

After talking to security at TIEC it came to light that at the time, there was no lighting, fencing, security cameras or patrol at the offsite trailer parking. Not knowing how long it had been missing or where to start looking, a phone call was placed to 911, an officer came out and took a report.

Apparently parking on the top tier made her trailer an easy target with the Interstate entrance ramp just a stone’s throw from the parking lot. Suddenly a new realization washed over her. Not only was the trailer gone, all of her equipment and hay went with it. Tall boots, hair nets, gloves, fly spray, shampoo, liniment and of course, her show clothes.

Since she couldn’t just pack up and go home, what’s a girl to do? Like all eventers Erika decided to make the best of it and kick on. She had classes to show in and mileage to put on Iffy while she waited for her insurance company to get a claim going. Realizing she needed to replace some of her equipment in order to show, a friend, Harrison C. Ford, referred her to The Farm House just a short drive from TIEC.

After sharing her story, the Farm House Tack sales staff rallied around her offering support and arranging special discount pricing to quickly help her round up the needed supplies to help her get back on her feet. It certainly wasn’t a planned shopping spree, but we did our best to put her at ease and get her organized and ready to hit the rings with Iffy.

Since posting her story on social media Erika’s story has gone viral and has prompted immediate changes to the parking area at TIEC. The community has also jumped up and helped her secure more hay for Iffy and offerings of accommodations and assistance for the trailer ride home at the end of the weekend.

More recently Ariat International heard her story and has authorized Farm House Tack to replace her show jacket, breeches and show shirt for free. I for one am proud of my neighbors and my employer for stepping up and helping out a fellow rider in need. This area is full of wonderful people both riders and not who are always willing to offer a helping hand to an equestrian in need.

If you would like to help Erika, a GoFundMe account (gofundme.com/2fnkv3ac) has been set up to help offset the cost of replacing her trailer. Due to its age, she is doubtful the insurance company is going to give her much money towards a replacement.

If you happen to see the trailer on your travels, please contact your local law enforcement.

– article submitted

by Michelle Drum