The Big Team, Again, and Again, and Again......

It was another good day so I didn't see any reason to end my string of riding. I drove over to the barn wondering how Lily was going to feel about a 3rd day of riding. When I got to the barn, Lily was out in a corner of the pasture. I got her halter and walked stepped through the barn door to the pasture, called to her and held out her halter. She walked right up to me and put her head into the halter. I took that as a sign that she was ready for another adventure.

I have her a thorough grooming which she loves but only managed to get her to a shade of pale yellow. She was quiet about being saddled up and stood still for mounting like a good girl. My plan was to just do a short ride of 6 or 7 miles out to Double M Campground for lunch and back. Lily left the barn happily with no hesitation. She seems to actually enjoy our solo rides which is wonderful. We headed out the north trail from the barn and rode up to Black's Cabin and out to Black Ridge Rd. and took trail 184 all the way to Double M. I spotted a young buck just off the trail and stopped to watch him. I didn't think he'd stand there long enough or though the sounds of me getting my phone out of my saddle bag to take a picture. But, he did and I managed to get a photo. When I rode into camp, Sally and Josh were there with the big team and wagon and Chi Chi tied on back. I stopped and chatted with them for a moment, they had seen a cougar on Black Ridge Rd. near the ridge the previous night. I then rode down to the restaurant, tied Lily to the rail and had lunch. Lily stood quietly though she was the only equine at the rail.

When I finished lunch and rode back up through camp, Sally and Josh with the big team were still there. I considered asking to go along with them but decided that since Lily was being so good I would just continue on my way. As a matter of fact, she was being so good I didn't want to head home yet so I decided to follow the wagon trail out to Black Ridge and though maybe I'd ride home by way of Initial Tree. A lot of work as been don on the wagon trail and it's real nice now..... for speed..... Lily and I trucked right along the whole length of the trail. Mostly at a good steady trot but we got in a few nice canters also. Once I got out to Black Ridge, I changed my mind again as I'd spent the last two days riding the trails on the west side of Black Ridge Rd. So, I took the trail that starts along the Ridge where the bald rock is.Trail 103 to 183 that connected me back into 184 going back to Double M. Trail 103 runs very close to the wagon trail in a couple spots and I saw Josh, Sally and the team going the other way heading for Black Ridge Rd. We waved and laughed out running into each other again. A lot of 183 and 184 going back to Double M is real nice and Lily and I trotted most of this. We rode by the end of camp and stayed on 184 for a while still trotting right alone. I was just wondering where the turn off was for the shorter trail to Black Ridge when we came to a side trail and Lily told me it was that one. I trusted her on this one and she was, of course, right. The only down side to this trail for Lily is it is a long steep climb out of the creek up to Black Ridge but it was the trail she chose. We trotted most of the Black's Cabin access road and then cruised back to the barn nice and easy to let Lily cool down. When we got back to the barn, there was Sally and Josh with the big team in the driveway. Our 4th meeting of the day. We did 14.16 miles today and it was an absolutely fabulous ride. Lily was as steady as a rock the whole time and willing to go any direction and speed I wanted. She is turning into one fine riding partner that is for sure.

Riding With the Big Team

Today was another beautiful day. So, I decided to ride again. I walked over to the barn and could see that my neighbors, Josh and Sally, were going to take out their big team. Lily came to greet me in the barn. I gave her a good grooming as she just loves that. Then got her saddled up and headed over to Sally's house. Josh and Sally were just getting ready to head out. They had their horse Chi Chi tied behind the wagon. I asked if I could go along with them. A great training opportunity for Lily to ride along with the wagon.

We headed out down Ceder Bluff Lane onto Thacker Hollow Rd. and then headed south on Black Ridge Rd. heading for the River to River wagon trail going to High Knob Campground. Lily didn't have any issue with following the wagon. The sight and sound of it in front of her didn't bother her one bit. Chi Chi had never been ponied along with the wagon but he went right along with no problem at all. The big team, Major and Rory set a good pace. Not too far along on the River to River trail, there is a place big enough to get the team off the trail and Josh pulled the team in there to let them rest. Sally got on Chi Chi there. Things got interesting shortly after that. There are some tight S turns in the first section of the trail that the wagon just barely fit through. And one of the big team, Rory, was a little excited about his buddy Chi Chi being up ahead of him. Josh displayed some impressive driving skills and navigated the team expertly through that section. The trail was very good after that section.

I found a spot to safely pass the team and I put Lily in front of them. She did NOT like that at all at first. She pranced and danced and jigged sideways down the trail for a bit. But, it didn't take more than a mile for her to settle down and soon she was paying no attention at all the the team behind her. We took another break at the top of High Knob, then went down into camp. When we got out to the road and I realized that they were returning home by paved road, I chose to split off from them and ride home by the trails.

Lily did not even bat an eye about leaving the team and Chi Chi. She trucked back up High Knob willingly. I rode back along the River to River to trail 185 and followed that all the way home. Lily just froze up on me once when we came to a puddle of water along the River to River trail due to the way the late sun was glinting off it. It took a minute to get her feet unstuck and get her moving through the puddle but was really pretty minor. Trail 185 is a really nice trail with some very cool rock formations along it. Lily was just perfect all the way home. Keeping a nice steady pace, calm and relaxed. I was so enjoying our solo riding time. Out in nature.... just the two of us.... listening to the sounds of....... my tinnitus and my very squeaky, in need of oil, saddle... and some nature sounds slipping in though that. A really great day that gave me so much more confidence in Lily.

Tee Pee's and Circles

Well, I got an unexpected day off from work today. And, it was a lovely day, low 80's and LOW humidity! So, of course I had to take advantage of this and go riding! I was up fairly early this morning but didn't get going until after 10:00 am. I wandered over to the barn and chatted with Ruth and Delbert for a while. Then finally got Lily and attempted to make her looks somewhat clean. It was a futile attempt but I tried. She was a good girl and stood quietly to be saddled. Lily just loves attention and being brushed.

Now, my plan was to ride over to High Knob Campground by the shortest route possible. I had studied the map last night intently and decided that I needed to get onto 185 south until I got to 180C which would take me to Circle Rock and from there I would take 180 to R2R trail into High Knob. Great plan right? Ok, So Lily and I headed out. I led her down to the bottom of the big hill out of the barn and mounted up in the stream due to the availability of good mounting rocks there. Lily headed out quietly though was pretty intent on snacking for a while. When we got to Black's Cabin, Sally's three horses were up there hanging out. Lily thought for a moment that maybe she might just want to stay there with them. I persuaded her to move on down the trail. I decided to take Black Ridge Rd. to trail 183 instead of dropping down the steep hill to the creek to 185. 183 would get me there also.

Not too far down 183 from Black Ridge Rd. we came to our first blown down tree. It was big and a bit tricky to get around but we managed it and continued on our way to where the trail meets 182 then we went north on 185 and came to another big blow down. This one not so easy to get around. In fact, I decided to back track and see if I could find a trail around. And that's when I got kind of lost. I had crossed the creek and was on a trail marked 104 but there was no trail 104 on my trail map. I saw a marker for 180C but wasn't sure where on the trail I was at this point and when I saw a marker for 180, I followed that as it would also take me right into Circle Rock..... except I got off that somehow and next thing I know, we are heading to the Tee Pee. Lily knew right where we were and what was coming up as she stopped on the trail several time to let me reconsider my direction. The climb up to the Tee Pee is a long, hard, steep climb. I didn't want to turn around and Lily finally agreed to lug my fat butt up the hill.

From there we took trail 146 south to the R2R and went on into High Knob Camp. It was very quiet there. David Borntreager is holding a colt starting clinic there this weekend but that was in the morning and there was no signs of activity in camp. Lily was all silly and snorty riding through camp and got super boogered about all the things around the camp office. Silly mule. She kept all feet on the ground so we had no incidents and we headed back out on the R2R trail Other than her silliness at camp, Lily was very quiet and relaxed today. She did have a few strong opinions on what trails she though we should be taking but didn't fuss for long at each disputed intersection.

I decided to try riding the originally planned trail on the way home to see if we could get it right. I got to Circle Rock with no problems and I stopped for lunch there. I was able to pick up 180C with no problem from this direction and made it down to where the downed tree had stopped me before. I didn't want to back track so I looked the situation over a bit harder this time. I could not go around on the left hand side and the ground dropped right off very steeply. The right hand side was very overgrown with small trees very close together. I got off Lily and led her through this. I didn't want to get all tangled up in the trees and get dragged off her. Lily had to pretty much bulldoze her way though which she happily did. She didn't care at all. I mounted up on the other side and we continued on our way.We stayed on 185 on the low trail by the creek. I wanted to go all the way down the creek as far as I could and go up over the hill close to the barn. We came to a trail intersection with the creek on our left and Lily just made an abrupt turn and marched very determinedly into the creek. I thought she was indicating she was thirsty so I let her go. She did take a sip of water but then tried to cross the creek. I was sure that was not right and was surprised she's take a wrong turn. We got out of the creek and headed north on the bank and soon ran out of trail. ???? I knew we had to be close and was a bit confused so we bushwhacked our way to the top of the hill and did hit our trail but not as far down as I'd planned to be. That's when I realized that Lily had been correct. We did need to cross the creek and ride a short section along the left bank and then cross again to finish along the right  bank. I should have trusted her.

Lily is turning out to be a wonderful solo riding mule. She is solid and steady on the trail and pays no attention to other riders and their horses and mules that we encounter. Today we only saw one other couple on the trail and Lily only stopped for a moment to look when she first spotted them, then quietly continued on her way. And while she did fuss briefly a few times at turn gong away from home today, it was fairly minor and once moving she was fine. And when heading towards home, she does not rush or get anxious. She just keeps a nice steady pace in both directions.

Just a Quick One

It was very hot and humid today. I dragged myself out to do some yard work, when I came in around 1:00 or so, I saw there was a message on my phone from Sally inviting me to go riding with her at 11:00. Well, too late for that. I messaged her back and said I would have gone if I'd seen the message in time but did jokingly say that she had 3 other horses to exercise. And she said she would go out again on another horse. I was surprised as it was so hot. But, I figured if she did the first ride and was willing to go out again, I was game. I got Lily saddled up and we headed out. We didn't do a long ride. I'm guessing only 5 or 6 miles. And though it was surprisingly cooler in the forest, it was still hot and humid. It didn't slow down Sally's mare Dancer though. She has one speed...... fast! Lily was a bit silly going down hills today. First time she's been like this since I started using a britchen. Possibly because Sally and Dancer were going down the hills fast and Lily was falling behind... I'm not sure. But, overall she was still a good girl and we had a nice ride. I didn't get any pictures today.