Missing Mule!

My farrier, Hillbilly, had contacted me last night to tell me he would stop by today at 11:00 am to put Lily's shoe back on. Yeah! So, what do I do but fall asleep in my recliner just before he comes and I wake up when he pulled in. ACK, I'd meant to have Lily caught, cleaned up and ready when he arrived. I hustled out and of course Lily was out in the pasture. And no amount of rattle grain in a pan interested her. So, I grabbed her halter and headed out. When I got to the culvert, she decided to come to me. She could have done better however, it could have been worse too. At least I didn't have to chase her.

She just loves Hillbilly and seemed disappointed that he was only putting on one shoe. Hillbilly said he was at Sally's house before me and that she and Josh's mother were going riding and I was invited. I was all over that offer. Hillbilly headed back to Sally's to tell her I was going. I left Lily tied to the post of the overhang and ran into the house to change my shoes and grab a snack to throw in my saddle bag. When I went back outside, Lily was gone! She was not tied to the post any longer. Rope was gone too so she'd untied herself. And the gate was open!!!! But, I didn't see Lily anywhere. I didn't hear her clomping down the road. She wasn't running around the yard.... ????? Well, Hillbilly had dumped the grain we were shaking to get her to come to us into her feed dish and she was in the barn eating. PHEW!!! I've never known a mule to be able to resist an open gate but I guess she is like me, her belly is first priority! LOL.

I saddled Lily up as quickly and rode up to meet Sally and Josie. Josie is Josh's mother and this was the first time I've met her. Sally's dog's Tippy, Lolly and Snip went with us and Snip was and endless source of amusement. His legs are so short but that doesn't slow him down and watching him run is just the funniest thing. We rode to Initial and took a short break there. We took trail 150 around to the Memorial. There are a lot of trees down on that trail. You can get around them all but it's a pain in a few spots. Too bad it hasn't been cleaned up as it's a pretty trail. Then we rode around to NoNo Rock and back by way of No Name tie up. Lily humored me by stepping up on several rock on request. We then followed the creek through Thacker Hollow home. We rode a little over 13 miles. It was a cool day and perfect for riding.

Peter Cave

We decided to trailer out to ride today. I got up early enough so I could get a Renegade boot only Lily's foot that was missing the shoe. I had sent a message to Hillbilly last night but didn't know when he'd be able to come replace Lily's missing shoe. So, I hoped the boot would work well as it was a fabulous day and we had all day to get in a good ride. Loretta picked us up and we decided to ride out of Honey Hole. There were 5 other trailers already parked there when we arrived but there was plenty of room to park. Loretta asked me if I'd ever been to Peter Cave. I had not though I've ridden out of Honey Hole a number of times. So that is where we headed. I can't believe I've never been there as it's absolutely stunning! Just the most beautiful spot and there was water at the falls. I could have stayed there all day. We took our time to explore and have lunch in the cave. The cave property is privately owned. The landowners are generous enough make it available to the public and have put up a high line to tie the horse and mules at. They just request that no equines are ridden into the cave. So, it was disappointing to see so many hoof prints in the cave. I hate when people are disrespectful like that which can end up ruining it for everyone.

 We took a different trail head out from the cave. When it got a bit rough and we hit some barb wire down on the ground, we checked the map and realized we were not on a riding trail. We had not seen a sign but we quickly retreated back in the direction we had come not wanting or meaning to ride where we were not supposed to be. We rode though Petticoat Junction where we took a quick break. And by Blue Hole and stopped for a minute at Haye's Creek high line. It was there we heard something that sounded like a cow mooing. It had Lily interested and had Pepper really concerned. So, we didn't stay there long. We considered riding out to Jackson hole but it was getting just late enough we weren't sure we had time. So, we did a few loops closer to where we were parked. Ride three of zero tolerance snacking for Lily and she continues to improve and need less correction. I found a few rocks for her to step up on. When we got back to the trailer we were only at 18.2 miles. So we did a last small loop near the trailer and got in another mile. I rode in circles around the parking area while Loretta was unsaddling Pepper. Bless Lily's heart she put up with that with very little protest. I thought it was awesome that neither mule was really worried about what the other was doing. I made it to 19.8 miles by the time Loretta was ready for me to load Lily up. My Renegade hoof boot worked perfectly. We certainly put it to the test. We went though some deep mud in spots. Once we even heard Lily's foot make a pop sound when the suction of the mud let go of the boot. We were sure it was gone then but no, it was on and tight. And when I got home and took it off  there were no rub marks. The only downside of the boot is it does not have good grip on the kind of rock we have here where you run into flat rock sections of trail. It was such a beautiful day and we had a great ride.

Skinks at Haystack

Loretta and I were riding from home/camp again today. She was riding Lady today so I was going to meet her at camp. I fed, groomed and saddled Lily up and headed down the road. I led her as metal shoes are slippery on pavement and it make me nervous to ride on the pavement. And there is just really no shoulder to speak of. We spooked the alpaca when we passed them today. They were laying down along the fence near the road. Lily doesn't even seem to find them all that interesting. I surprises me but I'm glad.

We decided to ride on the south side of Karber's Ridge Rd. We rode out to Black Ridge and down to the end and crossed Karber's Ridge there. We took the River to River and then turned off on ... 006... I think... Anyway, we rode out to Haystack and stopped to have lunch there. Today was ride two of zero tolerance of Lily snacking. Again, she tried at first but quickly adjusted and was good with only the need for a few corrections. And of course I had to ask her to step up on a few rocks which she did willingly. We spotted a couple cool skinks/lizards at Haystack. It was such a nice day. We stopped again for a short break at the Stone Cabin.

 We were riding along the creek near the Stone Cabin and I asked Lily to step up on a rock in the water. She was willing to try but did not want to be standing in the water to do it. That worried her for some reason so she sidled sideways until she had her back feet mostly on land and then stepped up.
We'd gotten an earlier start today so were in hopes of getting back in time to get food at Double M Restaurant. We did manage that even though we rode nearly 20 miles. I decided to ride Lily down the road on the way home. Lily was being careful and we stayed on the side of the road as much as we could. We met up with Sally and Josh in their UTV and his girls. Josh pointed out that Lily was missing a front shoe. Darn! I was planning to ride tomorrow. We also had a few cars pass us and Lily was fine about it all. I took care of Lily as quick as I could and got Fred and we headed back to Double M for supper. We at at Loretta and Terry's camp and enjoyed some time by the campfire visiting. It was a good day.

Rock Stepping

Loretta was driving to camp from home this morning so we did not get a very early start. She rode Chance today so we decided to meet up at T-Lick on Black Ridge Rd. I told Loretta today that I was going to have to start with a 0 tolerance for letting Lily snack on stuff while going down the trail. Lily was taking advantage of this BAD. It was getting dangerous as she was not watching where her feet were and zig zagging around to grab stuff and not listening to me. And it was going to be an all or nothing thing as if Lily thinks she can do it at all, she will push the limits constantly. Loretta completely understood. So, the first part of our ride was a bit rough with me constantly correcting Lily every time she tried to grab something. But, as much as I had to get after her, she seemed to understand that she'd been pushing it as she understood what I was telling her and did not seem to hold any grudge or get upset in any way at being corrected. There was a spot on the trail where we were startled by some Turkey Vultures flying up out of a hollow. Lily had stopped and been sniffing the wind pretty hard before the vultures flew up. So, they didn't startle her as much as they did me. Later on we ran into Kathy Lawless and Hope on the trail. She asked if we'd passed a dead horse on the trail. We hadn't but I'm quite sure it was where Lily was sniffing and the vultures were. UGH! Kathy said a horse had been spooked when a dog had popped out on a ledge above the horses head. The horse spun and caught a leg and broke it. Anthony had to ride out and shot it. UGH again. When we looped around and got back to Black Ridge Rd, I crossed and rode a bit further with Loretta and we separated at the creek by the trail that leads to T-Lick. We parted ways there and I had an uneventful ride back to my house.

After a while, she finally stopped trying to grab every green thing we passed and I only had to make a few corrections. It was hugely more pleasant going down the trail in a straight line with her head steady in front of me and with her watching her feet instead of the greenery. When we got to NoNo Rock, there is a big rock there that I've previously asked Lily to step up on and she has never been willing to do so. I think the last time I tried, I was with Anthony and he eventually made her do it with the use of several ropes to make her put her feet on it.  I considered for a moment weather it would be worth asking her as I didn't want to get into a big battle. I decided to give it a try. I rode up to it, getting ready for the big fuss and much to my surprise, Lily didn't even hesitate. She hopped her front feet right up there and then eyeballed me out of the corner of her eye waiting for the praise and treats! And she sure did get them. Good mule!!! Since I've been working on this the past few rides, she now understands exactly what I want. She stepped up on a few other rocks today too without any hesitation.