Time to hit the trails!

Saturday morning the boys left to spend a week at Great Grandma’s & Grandpa’s so DH and I loaded up the ponies and headed to Brushy Creek. We decided to try to take a new route to the park to shave some time/miles off only to find out my cell phone includes narrow, curvy gravel roads in its “fastest route possible” directions. I'm not sure how much quicker it was but we made it safely, unloaded the horses and set up camp.

Out on the trail, Black seemed pretty happy to be out and about. Her ears were perked forward and she was moving out pretty well. I was a bit worried when we first started because she took the long, steep hill really slow. I mean REALLY slow!



Even with her new shoes she was still a bit “ouchy” on the trails so I let her pick her pace. We headed to the West river trail. These trails were closed for quite some time due to the flooding and you could tell. They were overgrown and there were tons of wild grapes growing in the trees. Bell got her tail caught in one while we were stopped for a break.



The one thing we encounter I had not anticipated was the mosquitoes! They were horrible. They thought Bell and I were tasty but they left Black and DH alone. At times DH would stop Bell as her entire jowl and neck were covered with masses of mosquitoes. The horses were getting tired and the mosquitoes were making it miserable so we headed back to camp.

Back at camp we started up the grill and sat down to relax with a cold one. As we were relaxing a gentleman pulled up to back into the site two sites down from us. He was having a difficult time backing (I think I could have done better) so I told DH to go help him. Right about then he finally got his rig backed into the camp spot.

Once he was backed in he opened the back doors of his truck and unloaded a little boy. He couldn’t have been more then 3 or 4 and he was in his pj’s with his Jack Russell Terrier following right behind him. Brandon and I got a chuckle out of the little boy and his dog. The poor kid’s pj’s were hanging off of his butt so his cartoon character undies were showing. That didn’t stop him though!

The gentleman walked around to the other side and unloaded another young boy. This boy couldn’t have been more then 1 ½ or 2 (he was walking but didn’t seem to talk much). No one else was with him so DH and I speculated someone else would be meeting up with him later. He unloaded his horses (2), unhooked his truck and they headed off.

We enjoyed our dinner, took care of the ponies and then headed off to bed. The next morning we took out time getting around. The gentleman next door came out of his trailer with the two boys to feed the horses and eat their breakfast. He was still alone so our speculations changed to him being a single father. He looked like the rodeo type so it wouldn’t be that uncommon. Either way we both gave him kudos for taking two children anywhere with no help let alone camping with two horses.

Again DH and I got a huge chuckle out of the eldest boy as he couldn’t keep his wranglers up over his butt. His red/blue undies were showing as the back of his pants were down under his butt. He had that JR on a lead and was dragging it everywhere. After our morning entertainment we decided to hit the trails. The weather was lovely and we didn’t want to miss out.

As I led Black from the hitching rail to the trailer I noticed she was pretty sore. I was very disappointed. I decided to try to boot her backs to see if that would help. She moved a bit better but still not great so DH and I agreed if she didn’t do well after we got out on the trail we would turn around and head back.

The first part of the trail didn’t go so well.  She was moving slow and was taking quite a few bad steps.  As we started to head up a hill I stopped Black to tell DH I didn’t think she could go any further. Right about then Black spazzed since Bell was at the top of the hill and she hauled butt up the hill. I decided if she could do that she could walk some more. The more she walked out the better she seemed to move so we continued on our way.



We decided this time we’d go down the East River trail hoping it would be less rocky. It was and it was beautiful. There was a small stream crossing (I love water crossings) so DH and I let the ponies take a short break to play in the water.





The trails on this side were equally as overgrown as the ones on the West side but it was still beautiful riding.



DH grabbed a tree branch to help keep the mosquitoes off of Bell but it ended up turning into a “persuasion” stick.



When the mosquitoes got bad we headed back to camp. A large group was coming up behind us and it was making Black a bit uneasy so she moved into a trot. I didn’t think she’d stay in it because of her feet so I just let her go. To my surprise she went quite a ways before I shut her down. We stopped and let them pass us but then she wanted to keep up with them. She might be old but she's a long ways from dead and I had my hands full!

After 3 stops to adjust boots I was at my wits end. The last stop came after we almost tumbled down a hill. She tripped, the boot came off and the gator ripped but didn’t tear completely off. How she regained her balance I have no idea! I’m just glad she did. She twists her back feet as she walks so no matter what I do I can't keep boots on for too long (hence why I wanted shoes on them). 

Both ponies were exhausted and ready to be back at the trailer.



Once we were back at camp we took the horses down to the wash rack for a nice hose down. We weren’t in any hurry to pack up and leave so DH and I relaxed a bit. The little boy next door & his jeans were making for some good comical relief. I noticed the dad put the youngest one up on his horse and then he mounted up behind the boy. He started to ride off and I was worried he was going to leave the oldest. I was a bit surprised because he had been so good with the boys the entire time I’d seen him with them. Then, I noticed him side pass his horse over to the picnic table so the oldest could get on behind him.

It was quite the site to see 1 adult, two children AND a dog on a small horse.



They really did help make the weekend that much more entertaining.

Hitting the trails

Friday night Chase and I headed up to Brushy Creek for an overnight trail ride. This was the first “overnight” we’ve done this year. I don’t typically take Chase up to Brushy because the trails are a little more challenging but I felt he was finally up for the challenge. I didn’t think he was up to the challenge w/Abby though so he took Sis and I took Lu.

We got up there late Fri. night and parking was quite the task (he almost backed me into a tree). We finally got settled and snuggled down for the night. Sat. we got up and headed out on the trails.

Right off of the trail head is a steep hill. Chase was a little nervous but this quickly became his favorite trail head.



The weather was perfect and the trees were lovely. We went South on Saturday and ended up down by the river.



One of my favorite signs. It reads “trail closed”



On the way back we found an old warming house. Chase thought it was the coolest thing so he pulled the DNR guy over and asked him what it was for. It was an old snowmobile warming house that hadn’t been used in 20+ years.



Sat. night we had a bonfire with farm fresh steaks, potatoes, green beans and of course – smores! Chase was in bed and out cold by 9:00. lol

Sunday we headed towards the spillway. These are my all time favorite pics from this weekend.





Up, up, up and away



When we made it to the spillway Chase said “I’m not crossing that!” I informed him he had no other choice. He told me he did, he could turn around and go back. In the picture you’ll notice the water in the top right-hand corner of the picture. That is where we normally cross. There is typically a sand bar there that you follow and then you cross a short section of water to the other side. Last time DH and I went up the deep part was up to my ankles. When I took Lu down into the shallow I was in up to my ankles and I could feel her going in deeper and deeper. I was pretty uncomfortable pushing her to go in any further since I know that was the “shallow” section so I backed out and opted to try to navigate the top part.

We don’t typically take the top because a) it is very rocky and b) the current is pretty strong. I coaxed Lu out into it and told Chase to stay behind. After we crossed safely I had him bring Sis on through. You can’t tell from the pic but that is a straight up & down jump up out of the water. Chase (and Sis) handled it very well.



More smiles



And here is the end. Chase heading up his favorite hill.



It was a great weekend!

Time for the trails!

This weekend was our first show of the season. I opted not to take a horse and had Chase ride Sis since he really hasn’t worked Abby too much this year. MIL and Chase both did well. Sis wasn’t at her peak performance wise but that is another post.

At the end of the show I had two tired “puppies”.



After the show DH and I headed off to the trails to celebrate our 11th anniversary. We both chuckled as we set up “camp” for the night. It was a bit different compared to how it was 11 years ago when we first set out for our honeymoon. Back then we had a 2 person tent and it was so cold I slept in the truck w/the heater (running with the heater on) while he slept in the tent with the dog. This time we both slept in the well circulated trailer & left the dog at home.

In the morning we got up and fed the ponies their breakfast only to find Lu had decided to unsnap herself and help herself to some grass. The “neighbors” came over to let us know that the one horse (Sis) beat up the other horse all night. This isn’t the first time Sis has done this and she’s going to learn quickly what a set of sideline hobbles are for. I refuse to give her an entire hitching rail just because she’s crabby.

We were on the trail by roughly 9:00. DH rode Sis and I rode Lu. I was a bit surprised at how “energetic” Lu was at the beginning. Usually she’s the calm one. We weren’t 20 feet into the trail head before we hit our first hill. It was a fairly steep one so I was happy when Lu sucked back and went down slowly, step by step.

Here she is at the beginning. Ears perked forward and ready to go.


The weather was beautiful but the bugs were horrendous! As we got closer to the river you could feel the cool breeze coming off of it. Lu is not a fan of water so I chuckled when we had lots of small water crossings. That was until we got to this one.

Lu says: “You want me to cross what?”



Here she is trying to turn around and go back.



DH and Sis taking a break while checking out the best place to cross.



The top crossing was very rocky and it was hard to navigate so we opted to go through the bottom. It got deep enough to have water up to my shins. Man that is the best way to ride!

After the ride and back at camp. This was pre-bath. Lucy got a wet saddle blanket.



After a sponge bath – “Can I haz treats?”




Just chillin



We headed back home in the afternoon but had to swing by a tack store on the way home. I bought another Cashel Feed Rite Bag. Those are wonderful out on the trail or for a messy eater (like Lu). We also purchased a new Stacy Westfall activity ball for the horses.



I’m hoping this will be something fun for the kids to play with and something to help me challenge my training (is the horse listening to me or focusing too much on the object?).