Riding With the GunDiva - continuation

At the end of the last post, we had just crossed Fox Creek and made the decision to head for the lake (OK, more of a pond for those of you who have real lakes!).  That meant heading up quite a steep hill...

... continuing up the hill; the trail turns back on itself several times ...

Now, about 2/3rds of the way up, this trail takes a 90* turn and 'hops' up some rocks.  If you look closely, you will see that Mr. Beel almost had a 'seat fail'.  I looked up just in time to see him sliding precariously back onto Ranger's flank.

Of course, in a couple more steps, he had righted himself, but it was a snafu you don't see from Beel very often.  GunDiva was prepared and slide an inch.  A little further and we started hearing the frogs from the pond - which brought huge smiles to our faces, as we had not yet reached the top of the ridge.  And then we saw this ...

Where's the water????  All that light coloration should be covered in pretty blue water!  So, we started around the lake to see just what there was.

 The lake from the other end; some water, but you notice the aspens are not budding out yet here, so there is still hope that we will get run-off when it warms up again.  This is not NEARLY enough water.  It should look like this towards the end of July (only with leaves on the trees, of course.).

Back down the hill, continuing on another trail, to one of Ranger's favorite spots.  He just can't pass up good water, so he holds up the crossing.  Yes, Mr. Daddy, I realize you don't have to do these kinds of stops on your quad - unless it happens to die in the middle :)

Jesse has to be urged to get OUT of the water....

And GunDiva sees it as good obstacle practice ....

So, now we are headed back towards home, having done a clock check.  Darn!  We took the straightest route back to the lodge and did find a snow bank that really needed skirting.  Yeah!

We actually did just skirt the tip of this, leaving little horsey prints at the edge, and got back on the main trail.  We wanted to check the next 'water hole', which turned out to be pretty mucky.

 Now you see where the mud came from in the hoof pictures.  It was right after this ride that we took those shots.

We all got through, and headed up the hill to the 'Hangin' Tree', which we knew was down, but Ranger hadn't been with us that time and HE didn't like what he saw - so he and Beel had a little touching practice.

Oops.  Better get a move on, so with a little trot out, we high-tailed it for home.

So, here I sit, watching it snow.  One side of me very excited about the additional moisture; we had 3 inches when we got up this morning, some sunshine, and now more snow - hopefully another 3 inches.  The other side of me can hardly wait for more ride time.  Wish my GPS was working.  This is the earliest we have been able to ride in years, and I would love to be tallying up miles.  We were out for about 1 1/2 hours and  I would say we covered close to six miles.  Our guys walk about 4 mph when they are in good shape, which they are not right now, so they did well.  Not endurance speed, but a whole lot of fun!  Thanks GunDiva.
Bionic Cowgirl

Riding With the GunDiva

A couple days ago, GunDiva, our oldest daughter, was able to break away and drive up here for a ‘real’ ride, not just a short around the block. We were all pretty excited; it’s fun to get all three horses out without someone being towed by a lead rope. She was limited on time, so we dispensed with the idea of tacking up (not sure we remember how, anyway), hopped on bareback and ‘headed for the hills’.

 GunDiva was telling a story about some guy who dressed his horse up like a motorcycle, complete with the tall handlebars, and competed in a reining competition that way. She was showing how his hands would have been and trying to imagine riding like that. I think she was just doing a “Yahoo – finally on a horse!” I know it was only Washoe, and not her beloved Estes, but he really was a pretty good boy for her that day.

 They had a mild discussion early on about "thou shalt not eat grass while I am on your back!" and he decided to listen.  On the other hand, Beel and Ranger decided it was a matching day, so if you find it difficult to see Beel in the pictures, it's because he and R are camouflaged.

Over the top and down the first slope to the known snow fields.   Uh, there was a lot of snow here a few days ago.  Just smallish drifts now, but we still had to play in them....

We finally hit the meadow, not a sign of snow, lots of dry grasses (too early to look like this!), lots of downed trees from the high winds, and finally up and over another hillock to find very small patches on the northern slopes.

"This is pretty dry.  Shall we try Pinkie's Gulch?"  OK, this used to be GD's least favorite trail - well maybe behind the goat trail - so she was less than enthusiastic.  She's never enjoyed downhill, even in a saddle, but she is a much better rider since going 'saddle-less'.  A short discussion about the possibility of encountering a bank of snow part way down, with a reminder of how well these guys can maneuver on narrow trails.

This is quite a steep trail and tight up against the trees, but Washoe says he's game!

GunDiva brings him down like a pro...

Of course, we find some icy spots and snow, mostly at the bottom, but the horses traversed them like they didn't exist.  Remember the pictures of their big feet?

The snow naturally dumped us right into the first water crossing of the day - Fox Creek.

Where to now?  Let's go to the lake!
To be continued....
Bionic Cowgirl

Should I be Worried?

Sometimes I feel concerned about my wife.  Like an hour or so ago.

I had been working around the lodge.  Fixing a window lock, fixing the vacuum cleaner, cleaning the sinks, tubs showers and such.  I had been whistling an old ditty most of the morning and it reminded me of a story.

I walked into the office behind Juanita while she was making entries on the computer.

I said "So this frog walks into a bank."

Her arms went limp to her sides, her head dropped to her chest, and I think I may have heard her moan.

Do you suppose it is some sort of neurological disorder?

Bill

A Few Hoof Shots

I've wanted to get pictures of the Mustangs' feet for a long time; just never seemed to remember until we had already turned them loose from a ride - we are really bad, we ride right back into the corral, pull their halters and let them head to their favorite rolling places.  They seem to prefer a good roll after a sweaty ride to being brushed out; I think it is part of their wild nature.  Anyway, our farrier had suggested we give them a couple rides after their trims before taking pictures, so ... here goes (and yes, they have dirty feet; we found mud on the way home and no amount of cleaning short of washing, was going to make a difference.)   Beel was only patient enough to hold two feet per horse.

Jesse's left front:  Jesse is a mare about 14.2 hands and I would like to keep her about 1000 lbs; right now she is closer to 1200, maybe.  We are working on weight reduction right now, but she is very heavy boned and has no trouble carrying the weight - but I worry about keeping her feet good.

Jesse's left hind.  This girl can walk on anything like a mountain lion, with her broad platter feet; a definite give-away to some draft in her heritage.

Washoe's left front:  Washoe is a gelding about 15.1 hands, maybe 1000 lbs; looks like some Arab in his way back history.

Washoe's left hind.  He has the thinnest sole of the three, but he never shows any tenderness.  He has a lot of suspension in his movements.

Ranger's left front:  Ranger is the 'old man' of the bunch; a 22 yo gelding about 14 hands, 900 lbs or so of feisty wild blood with some Spanish Barb from waaaaay back in his herd, hence his cute, curly ears, dorsal stripe and zebra legs.  He is a one of a kind.

Ranger's left hind.  All of them have very thick and tough hoof walls, but his are extremely difficult to cut through, even with good nippers.  He does walk a little toe-in on the front, so we can tell his hoof prints on the trail from the tell tale flat front that develops by mid-summer.  I suspect a lot of his hoof toughness developed from his growing up on the lava flats of NW Nevada, where he roamed wild until he was 8 yo.

I think we are ready for a summer of lots of mountain miles.
Bionic Cowgirl

A Sunny Gray Day

Juanita and I took the two grays out on the mountain today to check the snow-pack up there.

A quick warm up on Washoe.

He measures a little over one hand taller than Ranger, but in reality, he's a full forehead taller.


It's going to be a long ride if Jesse has to check out ALL of the rocks out here.

Oh no... there is something in the trail!

Oh.  A puddle.

Just poke'n along.

Mount Meeker in the background.

Moose duds.

 

There were a bunch of trees downed across the trail.  We had more wind than usual this winter.

The old "hangman's tree" didn't make it through the winter.

 

These 3 fell across the trail.  They may be to big to drag...

  Ranger didn't seem to like being left behind this time.  He hollered a LOT while we were gone.

I accused him of screaming like a little girl.

 Nice ride.

Bill

Eggs, Spring Break, & Pedicures

I guess it's time to catch up here, too.  Last Sunday, the whole crew met at Great-Grandma's house for the traditional egg coloring.  It's one of the looked-forward-to events of the year, along with pumpkin carving .... so you have to start with the basics - cups of many colors ...

... then you add the newest fads, such as teeny paint rollers ....

... and 'candy apple paints and fuzzy hair to turn some into 'monsters' ...

... to finish off the paint wars, our newest DIL made Clyde the Bunny - almost too cute to eat!

This week was spring break for some of the grandkids; Autobot asked if she could come stay at the lodge and have some horse time.  Well, we all know what happens to the best laid plans of mice and men - Mother Nature happened and we had eight inches of snow two of her three days with us, so we made the best of it by tearing down all the tack and between a little elbow grease, a bar of saddle soap and some leather conditioner, we now have shiny, clean saddles and headstalls.  The big plus was the great horse epics we watched while we worked:  The Man From Snowy River, Return to Snowy River, The Young Black Stallion, Cloud-Wild Stallion of the Rockies, and Cloud's Legacy.  How much better does it get if you can't get outside to ride?  Well, you have to catch up on your reading, too, and it's hard to beat a dog cushion...

I promised her mom she would at least come home smelling horsey!  The last day came up sunny, so we headed out for a short scouting around town before the farrier arrived.  Pedicure day ... it turned out to be 54*, sunny and NO wind, but you can see the remnants of the snow.

Anton decided to start with the toughest horse, Ranger, who turned out to be the jewel of the day.

Washoe, who was trying his darndest to stay awake.  Part of the time he would rest his head on my shoulder; he looks like he's going to fall over.

And Jesse, who rests with her right rear cocked with no weight on it while she gets her left front trimmed.  She was goofy the whole time, but now they all have great looking feet and are ready for the year.  I'll get foot pictures soon.

Time for work ... we have a wedding party for the next three days, so we have to pretend our real job is running the lodge.
Bionic Cowgirl

Llama More

It snowed today, but a couple days ago you couldn't have asked for nicer weather.  Saturday we saddled up and went for an hour or two ride around town.  I was on Ranger, Juanita was riding Washoe and ponying Jesse.

Things were pleasantly boring until we reached the local llama ranch.

Now, Jesse and Ranger have met most of these llamas before.  But Washoe has apparently NEVER SEEN THE LIKES OF THESE THINGS.

WHO?! WHAT?!?

 They are llamas, Washoe.

 Llamas! But Jesse doesn't care...

 Too many llamas.  I'm outta here!

We're outnumbered!

Things got a little too exciting for me to take pictures for a moment or two...

I ended up with Jesse so Washoe could focus on living through the upcoming "attack of the uglies".

No, really.  Jesse doesn't care.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful, even with the new downed trees by the road.

Another ride survived.  But just.

Bill

A Dream Come True

Early this morning I had a very vivid dream.

I dreamt I was driving the minivan with Juanita down in Longmont, about an hours drive from here.  I stopped at a stop sign and looked out the window and saw Jesse and Washoe standing in the road right next to me. I cussed and tried to figure out how I was going to get those stupid horses back up the mountain in a stupid minivan.

It woke me up.

 I rolled over and went back to sleep 'cause it was only 4:am.

When I did finally drag my rear out of bed, I looked out the upstairs hallway window and saw Jesse and Washoe wandering around the neighbors front yard.  Ranger was still standing in the pen where they all belonged (he no longer goes through gates uninvited).

After we caught the pair and put them back in the pen, our neighbor told us the grays had been running around, bucking and kicking and generally having a great time on the "wrong side" of the fence, but not causing any problems.  She said they were having so much fun, she just couldn't "rat them out".

At least I didn't need to get them in the stupid minivan.

Bill