Stephens Forest

Monday I decided to meet up with a friend (Bobbie) and go to Stephens Forest for a ride.  Since it was the holiday weekend and Cat has been on vacation I opted to take Lu.

Bobbie doesn't live far from MIL so she stopped by and picked us up.  It has been a while since Lu was in a two horse but she went in without too much of a fuss.

Can you tell which one is Lu?

Bobbie and I were saddled up and on the trails by around 10:00.  Bobbie took me on some new trails I didn't even know existed.  They had most of my favorite trail features!

For not being out on a trail for over a year I thought Lu did very well.

After a few hours out we returned to the trailer to give the horses a quick rest while we ate our lunch.

Back out on the trail I quickly became very dissapointed in my fellow equestrians.  It was apparent some didn't believe in the "carry out what you carry in" saying as there were quite a few beer cans left on the trail and along the side of the trail.  

Up in the pines Lucy and I stopped for a rest as Bobbie rode through the pines.

Lucy was happy to stay and guard the tree while Bobbie explored.  During her exploration she found a trail I didn't know existed so we headed out to see where it would take us.

I had a nice, enjoyable ride w/Bobbie and Lu.  Lu was a pretty tuckered little pony though.

Stepehen's Forest

Saturday MIL, Chase and I met up with some friends for a nice trail ride. We couldn’t have asked for a better day. The horses were great, the trails were pretty good and the weather was beautiful!

Here we are all gathered on the other side of the bridge. Danny’s horse didn’t want to cross the creek so Lu and I went first to give her a little more confidence.



MIL and Chase trying to cross the bridge. Black was not comfortable crossing the bridge. She got to this point and then backed off of the bridge. She was ok following but she was not ok leading.



Chase following Lu and I across.





Here is the bridge we opted NOT to cross. It didn’t look safe. The “bridge closed” sign has been washed out along with the bridge.



View from the other side.



Just plunking along.



It was hard to see the trail with all of the leaves on the ground. This trail was covered with trees and leaves so we don’t think it had been ridden much.





Such a cheesy smile.

What a weekend!

By now you should already realize you will be reading a book. LOL

This weekend the forecasters had predicted severe storms to move in Sunday evening. DH and I decided to try to go for a trial ride but where we wanted to go (north) the trails had been closed due to rain on Friday so we decided to go south instead (their trails were still open).

Saturday night we loaded up and headed to MIL’s. We figured we’d spend the night and then leave out early Sunday morning to ride as the trails are only ½ hr. from her place. She was going to keep the boys for us so that we could have some time to ourselves. When we got up Sunday morning it was foggy, humid and warm. The storms weren’t predicted to come in until about 3:00 so we had plenty of time.

I decided to take Lucy. I wasn’t sure how long she’d last since she seems to fizzle out quickly but I decided I need to start using her more and weaning myself off of Max more so no better time than the present to start. We loaded up and headed out.

When we got there I was surprised there were as many campers as there were still there. They had some severe storms the night before and I know a tent/camper isn’t really the place I’d want to be in a storm. We pulled in the day ride area, unloaded and started to saddle up. We threw our saddle bags on, climbed aboard and headed out on the trail.

Lucy was all ears! She was so excited to see what was around the next corner. Well that was until the next corner was nothing but a mud puddle. Seeing all of the mud brought back memories of Max’s first trail ride. He hated mud but after a day at Stephen’s he could have cared less. LOL

Lucy moved side to side trying to avoid the mud but finally went through it. We pushed on and it didn’t take her long to forget about the mud. Then we hit running water! There hasn’t been running water at Stephens in a long time! I wasn’t sure how she’d do but after a few suggestions to go over it she calmly walked over the water. Woo hoo! No jumping!

A ways into the trail we hit a bad spot. It was deep mud and there was no way around it. I pitched LLL the reins and held onto the horn allowing her to find the easiest way through this mucky mess. She did awesome! The trails were starting to get worse and worse. The hills were slick and greasy and the horses were having a hard time making it up the hills. Going downhill was even worse. I like my horses to go slow and steady down the hills but there were a few where LLL started to slide and instead of slowing down she sped up. She tripped on one scaring the daylights out of me but she managed to regain her footing and take me safely to the bottom of the hill. After that little scare I really made her take it slow and easy down the hills.

I can’t tell you how proud of her I was. The trails were a mess that even wore out seasoned trail horses. On one trail there was a huge tree down on the path. Big enough that going around it or jumping it was the only option for continuing on the trail. There was a trail going up the hill around it but it looked like a mess and LLL was already exhausted. It looked like I could cross a section below it and she’d just have to watch her feet between the downed limbs so we tried. HUGE mistake! She sunk and she was sinking fast. I was afraid that when she tried to back up (the only way out) she’d come up fast and loose me so I jumped off (thank god for mecate reins) and allowed her to find her own way out. She did and I’m glad I wasn’t on her. She struggled enough to make it out that she didn’t need my weight adding to it.

DH tried taking Max the top route and it wasn’t much better but they made it. I decided to see if LLL would jump the tree (the easiest solution it looked like at this point) and to my surprise she did without any hesitation. I mounted back up and we continued on the trail. We finally got to the road and I got off to walk. My saddle had slid clear back on her (I’m surprised she didn’t try to buck me off). I’ve never had my saddle slide with a CSI pad or a neoprene cinch! I moved it back up and we walked for about a mile. She seemed to get a second wind so I hopped back on and rode to the trailer.

She was so good! Max looked just as tuckered as LLL. DH and I unsaddled and offered the horses some water. LLL took a few small sips but Max refused. We let them eat grass and cool down before heading back to MIL’s. Once we got back we turned them out with Cat & Sis to play. They all rolled! I think they were happy to be back.

Here are a few pics from the ride:


Can you see how muddy the trail is? This was one of the better spots.



You can’t see it but up at the top is a huge puddle of water. Hey Jaimee – look at those ears! LOL



DH & Max. This is on one of the maintenance roads so it was rocked (no mud).



This is one of my favorite views at Stephen’s.



If you look really hard in the center of the picture is a big hill that we go back up once we reach the bottom of this one.







Can you see how hot they are?





Look at LLL’s neck. It’s saturated with sweat!





I have some more pictures from this weekend but I’m going to leave it at this for this entry.