Happy trails as Stolling Jim ride continues

Hundreds of horses and riders explore the backwoods of Bedford County near Wartrace during the Strolling Jim Trail Ride. The 11th ride is scheduled for Oct. 10. (Submitted photo) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Here's a special notice to the 468 riders who showed up in Wartrace with their horses last year for the 10th annual Strolling Jim Trail Ride:

Y'all come back now, y'hear?

The popular trail ride is on again, taking place next Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Despite a decade of success for the massive event, there were a few minutes of doubt it would happen this year when founder and trail master Raymond Pimental faced heart surgery.

"All my trail bosses, my wife, my daughter, they said, 'We're not going to cancel it. We're going to go on the ride,'" said Ray. "That just shows how much it means to people."

The trail ride isn't just a fun raiser -- it's a fundraiser. Of the $10 entry fee, 100 percent goes to people in need, said Ray. He and his family donate the food and prizes.

"My wife and daughter will start cooking Wednesday. Last year, they made 1,633 servings of dessert, all different kinds," he said. "We'll serve 60 gallons of chili, 600 hotdogs and 600 drinks."

The money raised doesn't usually go to an organized charity, but to an individual or family in need.

"We try to find people who have cancer, especially in Wartrace," he said. "In the past, we have helped people with heart transplants, kidney transplants and cancer."

Sometimes the money is divided up and given to more than one person, but sometimes it isn't.

"Last year, we gave all the money to a couple in Tullahoma who had a set of 5-year-old twins," said Ray. "They spent more time in the hospital than at home. Both have heart conditions and they both have leukemia. We had them come to lunch to eat and everyone just fell in love with them. We raised some extra money for them."

Earlier this year, Ray heard from their mother and was pleased to hear that one of the twins was well enough to start kindergarten.

Setback

Recovering from a serious illness is something Ray understands even better nowadays. On the Thursday before Labor Day, he was feeding the chickens when he started feeling short of breath.

"There was no pain," he said. "I just had difficulty breathing. I couldn't get a full breath."

He went down the hill to the Wartrace clinic where Dr. Lynette Adams refused to let him go home.

"She said, 'You're a heart attack ready to happen.'"

She was right. Ray had 98 percent blockage in four arteries and within the week was at Vanderbilt undergoing a quadruple bypass. He's doing better now, and starts physical therapy next week, but he's only ventured outside once or twice since coming home.

He hasn't even been able to get to the stable to visit his own horses -- and that's tough. Ray loves the horses. In fact, his biggest complaint about the timing of his heart surgery?

"I had to miss the last three nights of the Celebration," he said.

Horse crazy

Ray grew up in Bermuda, and while he didn't have horses, his cousins did, so he's been around them much of his life. Relatives here also kept him supplied in rides as he was growing up, including one cousin who worked in Kentucky at the premiere Thoroughbred stable Three Chimneys.

When he and his wife Irene decided to move to Tennessee to be closer to their children (who didn't want to leave Webb School and their cars for Bermuda and no cars), horses were definitely on the shopping list.

One wall of their spacious den is filled with photographs and ribbons of their spotted saddle horses and Tennessee walking horses, all with their kids on board.

The kids -- one son and two daughters -- are grown and don't ride much anymore, so Ray has pretty much abandoned the show ring for the trail. Not that he minds...

"We go out to Wyoming and trail ride for a week up there," he said. "I love riding on the trail."

Besides, he pointed out. The grandchildren are getting older and want to ride ...

One of the reasons Ray named his record-breaking tail ride after the first World Grand Champion Tennessee walking horse Strolling Jim -- besides the obvious Wartrace connection -- was because back in those days, "the walking horses would trail ride Saturday morning and show Saturday night, like the spotted horses do now," said Ray.

Mastering the trail

Ray has been the trail master for every year of the ride.

"I know all the shortcuts, all the paths," he said. "I can get us to the cookout exactly at noon. If we are running a little slow or a little fast, I know what paths to take to get us there right on time."

Unlike many big trail rides, which go all day then end with a big cookout, the Strolling Jim Trail Ride breaks the day up, with a cookout lunch instead of supper. It makes it more family-friendly, he said, and eliminates alcohol as much as possible.

The trailers park at the Wartrace show grounds and around 10 a.m., the riders head out. They mostly travel around two farms, one owned by Garrett Winnette and the other by Finley Mahaffey.

"It's very picturesque," said Ray. "There are big lakes in the back of the woods, and they have all kinds of animals back there: cows, horses, sheep, goats, emus. It's a regular McDonald's farm back there."

After a couple of hours, the ride stops in the woods near Horse Mountain Road, where the ground crew will have lunch waiting on them.

During the hour-and-a-half luncheon, 500 or more people will be entertained by a live bluegrass band and get prizes for being the oldest, the youngest, and so forth.

"I always get a bunch of ribbons for the youngest," said Ray. "It never fails, there will be a couple of kids who are 6 years old."

After lunch, they saddle up and head out again for another couple of hours of riding. This year, however, the trail master is going to have to rely on his trail bosses to keep the riders on track and on time. His doctor said he can't ride for another two months.

"But I can start them off," said Ray. "At the beginning and after lunch. I've got a megaphone ..."

IF YOU GO

The trail ride begins at 10 a.m. and costs $10, which includes lunch. Trailers should be parked at the Wartrace Horse Show grounds and all horses must have a negative 12-month Coggins test. For more information, call Raymond Pimental at 685-9041 or 580-2426.