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.