Monday, July 14, 2008

Ladies Only

My sister and I hit the trails yesterday. It was the first trail ride we've been on since Memorial Day. It was just the girls, as her boyfriend was working. Funny thing, but when we got to the trail head, it appeared to be a girl's only kind of day. There were pairs and groups of women all over the place saddling up and heading out for rides.

It was a warm, dusty day, just over 80 degrees. The creek we cross at the beginning of our route looked wider and bigger than usual, and murky. My Boy started in, stopped, and I urged him again. As he hit the middle I realize it was very deep. He stopped again and I mildly panicked then squeezed him on again, my legs raised up out of the saddle. We trudged up the muddy bank and I heard my sister squeal behind me that she was getting wet! Her 14.2 hand mare had water up to the middle of her chest. Even though we've had no rains, unusually warm weather had caused the snow melt to run-off from the mountains and the stream was a lot higher than usual. It did make me realize that for safety's sake, it is important to take into consideration the depth of a creek crossing. Yep, I was having some minor Lonesome Dove flashbacks there folks, remember the scene with the Irish lad?
Luckily, many of our trails are shaded and woodsy. That also meant swarms of flies. My Boy made up for his irritation at the flies for snagging bites of greenery along the way. Posing in this meadow was particular tricky as the grass grew high in spots and he was perturbed that he wasn't getting to graze.

Here is my sister's very crazy Arabian trail horse. Looks like she's about to bolt at any minute. I'm surprised my sister did not have the grip of death on the saddle horn.

Shortly after that picture was taken, a deer bounded across the road then stopped. We thought it had continued through the brush of the logged area. However, it had stopped and froze in this position as we walked by, surrounded by white and purple foxgloves.

I'm thinking that deer might have a stiff neck today.

My Boy wonders: Does this road lead to home? Indeed it does, my spotted friend.
Guess what my sister did on the way home? She took the long way so she could practice pulling the horse trailer on the freeway. For the first time ever. I had total confidence in her. Look at her. Two hands on the wheel. Mouth pursed in total concentration.

Oops.....nothing like a few photos snapping to distract the driver....wait! Must not forget the precious cargo! I put the camera away.


Guess what the first thing My Boy did when he got home?

Practice his bowing trick?

Nope. Just a good old heavenly roll in the dirt!

And what did Pony Girl do?

Yep, helped herself to a pan of brownies.

27 comments:

  1. Glad to hear the creek crossing was safe. My friend (Kimfer) almost got dumped in a bog on Saturday :-X )

    Thanks for stopping by my blog. Good suggestion on getting someone to rap that... but I'm not going to volunteer! There's no way I could carry that off lol

    How did you get My Boy used to you taking pictures while riding?

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  2. Sounds like a great day! I had a horse roll on me in water one time. It was deeper than we thought and when his belly got wet, he decided to go all the way. I was able to slide off as he went down, but I was totally soaked and had a long soggy ride home.

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  3. what guest ranch are you going to? I hope your chinks get there in time. I've taken a few tours thru Equitours
    http://www.ridingtours.com/
    GREAT company!!

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  4. Sounds as if you had a wonderful day -- and I LOVE the crazy Arabian! :-)

    We used to ride down bareback to the pools in a river nearby so that the horses could play. One of the geldings like to swim and duck his head right under the water. Silly, but fun.

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  5. Looking at those photos, I'd swear you were living in my neighborhood! Sounds like it was a terrific ride. Glad I've finally joined the ranks of ears in the photos like you and your boy!

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  6. Hmmm - Echo loves to snack along the way when we are riding out too - she seems to think that if the greenery is high enough, then it's her right!

    Glad you had fun - lovely photos as usual!

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  7. Wow, what a gorgous trail ride! You guys looked like you had a blast. I love the pir of her crazy arabian taking off- lmao.

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  8. i LOOOOOVE the pic you took from the top of My Boy with his head showing and the road stretched out in front of you! that is awesome!!!

    oh, and i love your brownies. they are a weakness of mine as well...

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  9. Sounds like a fun time. I rode Jones today for a little over 3 hours. She did ok but did crowhop twice because she wanted to go in the direction of home and I wouldn't let her. I almost lost my seat once! That was the time that I had finally remembered to take out my Sony camera in order to get a nice picture of a big pond and a field of sunflowers behind it. I didn't fall off and I didn't drop the camera so I think I did pretty well. I turned that mare in circles and proceeded the opposite way than she wanted to go. She needs more time riding. Today is was a nice day, high of 87 or so but low humidity. I had to cut my ride short cause I had to go into town for more radiation treatments. But afterwards we went to Abby's house for dinner. It was fantastic. Good company and good food. We had fresh green beans and squash our of our garden. Yum yum. On the way home my family stopped at Sonic Drive-In and had Sonic Blasts. They are very similar to a DQ Blizzard for anyone who has not heard of Sonic.

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  10. what a fun day! and to end it with brownies, now that's my kind of day!!!

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  11. How fun! Abu is not allowed to eat even one blade of grass on a trail ride, it just makes the bit, caveson and flash gross!! Tonka on the other hand thinks its a buffet, but he goes in a hack so no mess.

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  12. What a fun trail ride!! I have always wanted to ride across a creek like they do in the "cowboy" movies! You have such fun places to trail ride.
    Your sister's mare looks soooo crazy!! :) Your sister is lucky to have such a great horse.

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  13. Gorgeous! THat is some scenic ride!! AND YES I REMEMBER the river scene in LD!! AHHH thanks for the goose bumps!! Great story and photos as usual.
    You are very welcome for your little award! Meg is right we all need to meet up in Vegas!! We would tear that town up! Ok so you and Meg would... but I could keep up!!

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  14. It was a fun day! Hot and dusty but we made it through.
    Thank you for having confidence in my driving! I only have to drive the horsetrailer on the narrow, country roads. And I have driven it empty on the freeway once. I need to practice with it loaded on the freeway because our family ranch trip is only a few weeks away! So plan on taking the long way home everytime we go trail riding!
    It sure looks like my Arab is out of control on this ride.:) I am starting to wonder if I have lost my spunky, crazy Arab? She was so relaxed today without any other horse around her it really makes me wonder......hmmmm....the family might think I am making this "crazy" stuff up when they see her for the first time in August!

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  15. Seeing/ reading all the trail riding "tails" from you and the rest of the crew here makes me almost green with envy. I got wondering whent he last trail ride I took was, and I am ashamed to say it was over six years ago. I have not owned a horse in almost 3 years now, since old Jack passed away.

    Me thinks the time is near though..... Yes indeedy, the time is near for a new horse to become OUR horse, so that I too can join everyone in the ears int he bottom of the pic ranks (YAY TRACEY!!!)

    As always PG_ love the shots. Glad you guys had such fun. Give that Big Pill a rub from us too! ;)

    And RIDE ON!

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  16. Riding...it seems like such a distant memory. I'm jealous! We had 2 glorious days of nice, cool weather over the weekend and Megan and I spent the whole time on yardwork. It desperately needed to be done, but I sure would have rather been riding. Now we are back to hot and miserable. But the humidity is down, so I should be able to ride in the mornings and evenings again-yayyy!

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  17. Have you ever ridden a horse when it is swimming? It is cool! Though fully clothed and with your nice saddle on is not the way to try it ;-)

    My friend and I went on a trail ride on Sunday, too. The weather has just been amazing lately, hasn't it?

    I thought of you last week because my husband and I were in Winthrop, WA. You have maybe been there- cute little old West town. There was a coffee place called the Pony Expresso. So clever!

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  18. Yeah for a girls' only day! Those are great! Love the deer, man I would have serious issues with my neck if I did that! LOL!

    I have one that rolls everytime after I ride!

    Way to go Pony Girls sista on pulling the trailer! It can be scary the first couple of times you do it, breath and relax, you'll do fine!! The best tip hubby gave me when I started hauling by myself was-remember to put enough space between you and the other cars. You can't stop on a dime with all that weight. Practice is the best thing-it will get easier each time. You will get used to how much space you need and adjust every time. People continue to amaze me how they drive-they are idiots! Pulling out in front of me or slamming on there brakes in front of me! Just p*sses me off, do they not know I have precious cargo! You go girl!

    Riding and end with brownies`WOW you go girl!

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  19. My Misty mare will cross anything as long as someone else goes first, LOL, Sounds fun!

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  20. I forgot to tell the tale that My Boy approached our highest bridge on this ride and for some reason, decided it had a troll living under it. He had been agitated by bugs before this and he took one look at the bridge, backed up, then spun around to my sister's mare. I was not in the mood to deal with this bridge on his back and he's crossed it 100x, even while in the lead, so I knew he was just being silly. So I got off and led him across, without mishap. However, I have never walked across this bridge on foot, and can not tell you how wobbily it felt! The whole thing shimmied like a suspension bridge! Then I saw a little lizard running alongside the left railing. Okay, it was no komodo dragon, but I would much rather have been in My Boy's saddle right about then!

    Heidi: I have heard of Winthrop and it sounds like a lot of fun. When I was in eastern Oregon for a Parelli event in May, I heard of a town called Sisters which is also very old-western themed. We didn't have time to stop, but I hope to someday. And yep, I rode a swimming horse once and I'll have to share that story another time.

    TW: A blogger friend meet-up in Vegas would indeed be something we should plan one day! We need a horse blogger convention! ;)

    KWD: I know my sister will read your comment on hauling, thanks for the advice! It is always the other drivers on the road you have to watch out for.

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  21. You have just inspired me to hit the trails tonight after I get out of work. There is a little pond that we ride to to swim and such. Probably won't get him too deep but it's a nice and quick ride I think may be appropriate for a relaxing night.

    Love the pics. I need to get a camera so I can take pictures of all my adventures, althouth I thinkn it might scare many hahaha. Gotta love the appy.

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  23. hahaaha~ Love that big, round, spotted butt stuck right up in the air! What a silly boy!
    That roll in the dirt sure looked good the way he was all stretched out, though. And I'd say he deserved it after that scary creek crossing. Good job, My Boy (and Pony Girl, too!) for carrying on straight ahead.

    Oh and good job to Sister, too, for crusing the freeway like it was nothing :)
    Brownies seem like the perfect apri-ride treat! :D

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  24. Sounds like you had an interesting ride. We used to cross rivers a lot in the past, mostly quite fast moving even if not especially deep. A tip when the water is rushing past is to focus on the exit point on the far bank. It's very easy, if looking down at the water, to become disorientated and even start to head the wrong way.

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  25. It's so beautiful where you live. We don't have streams to cross like that--just a whole lot of dry dirt. :)

    I think your sister looks cute concentrating like that. Whenever my husband needs me to pull a trailer, I make sure it will not involve any turn around situations!

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  26. What a beautiful place to ride. I am glad it all ended up okay with the rising water level.
    Great pics! I love seeing MyBoy as always!
    Did you eat the whole pan of brownies??... LOL

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I love hearing from my readers!! I truly enjoy all of your feedback, advice, helpful tips, and stories. You all make me laugh and I learn so much from you, too. I will try to post replies to your comments as often as I can.

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