Cobwebs and Tail Hair

I was feeling pretty lazy this morning so did not get up and about until late morning and didn't get over to the barn until after noon time. It was a hot day so I decided to just go out for a short ride. And today I actually did keep it short. Lily seemed happy to be heading out on a riding adventure. She was quiet and relaxed while being saddled up and left the barn without hesitation. We headed out the North Trail and then dropped down over the hill and crossed the stream and rode the right bank going north until we hit 185 the High Country Trail. I hesitate taking this trail alone. It's a beautiful trail but sections of it are along the sides of a high bluff with narrow trail and long steep drop offs. I don't mind heights at all, just thinking of for any reason I came off and rolled down one of those drop offs..... well, the older we get the more we think of these things it seems. But, Lily had so far proven to be a very solid and steady partner when we are out alone so I decided to trust her. Lily never took a wrong step and we very much enjoyed the trail.

We looped around and stayed on 185 on the lower trail. There are a couple blow down on this trail and one of them is tough to get around. Lily did a great job and didn't get at all concerned as we bulldozed though some very heavy brush on a bank to get around. We were out 2 hrs. and did 6.5 miles. Lily could not have been a better girl. She impresses me more and more with each ride we do.We came home by way of Blacks Cabin. When we ride into the tie area, there on the fence I spied a HUGE hunk of tail hair hanging off the barb wire fence. For me it was like finding a pot of gold. A dirty matted pot of gold but still.... I jumped off Lily and quickly retrieved that wondering if it might be hair from one of Sally's horses. Someone had cut the tail hair to free it from the fence. I was a matted mess but I know it would be a lot of nice hair once I worked it all out and cleaned it.

A shoo fly I made with some of the hair

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.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day weekend is here. But, it's not a long weekend for me. I had to work Saturday and was just too tired Sunday to do much of anything. But by today, I was ready to ride. I was invited to ride with Loretta and two of her friends that were staying at Double M Camp. It was quite hot and humid today so we were riding out fairly early. We decided to meet at 8:30 am. So, I got to the barn early to feed and tack Lily up. I was going to ride to Double M by way of Thacker Hollow Rd. I messaged Loretta as I was leaving and got a reply just as I got to the end of Cedar Bluff Lane. They were riding my way so we decided to meet at T-lick. Going up the big hill on Black Ridge, 3 or 4 deer crossed the road and that kind of boogered Lily. She didn't do anything crazy but didn't want to walk by where the deer crossed the road. It didn't take long to get her moving though. When I got to T-lick, there were a group of riders there that I passed. I waited for a few minutes then decided to ride down the trail towards Double M. I passed a few more riders going down to the creek. I waited a few minutes there and continued on towards the camp and soon met up with Loretta and here friends.We discussed where we wanted to ride and decided to strike out for Garden of the Gods. It would be a long ride but we had time to do it. We decided the quickest way to get there would be to go straight down Black Ridge Rd. to the Indian Paint wall by Karber's Ridge and ride into Initial Tree heading for High Knob and the R2R trail. It was a hot day and fairly humid so as we were riding, we decided that Garden of the Gods would not be a great idea for today. Less shady trails and very little water along the way. So, we decided to ride out to Rice Hollow instead.

 We had fun riding in the rocks at Cowboy's Hideout. And Rice Hollow is always beautiful. We circled back and rode to High Knob Campground. We stopped there and were happy to catch JoJo in the office so were able to buy ice creams. Actually, frozen fruit bars that were quite delicious. We rode through camp and rode out the back trail heading for the R2R trail. Through this section, it was noticed that Loretta's horse had a lump on his front leg on the inside just below the knee. And, he was slightly lame. Not bad but just a little off. Loretta did not want to ride him all the way back to camp like that so she called a friend of ours that lives along the R2R trail where it crosses Karber's ridge Rd. Our friend could trailer the three of them back to Double M. Campground. When we got out to Black Ridge Rd. (Sparks Hill Rd. on that end of it) I headed the 3 miles back alone. Lily made no fuss at all about leaving the other horses and mule. She was good all the way home. We did 25 miles today.

Note: Loretta took her horse to the vet the next day and he had a hairline fracture. The prognosis is good for a full recovery.

Horses Can Limbo

 I unexpectedly got the day off today. So, I took advantage of this to do a bit of riding of course. I put a post out on facebook to see if anyone was riding out of Double M Campground or would like to come ride from my place. Then fell asleep in my recliner. So, I didn't see any replies until I woke up at 3:00 AM. Steve Kalahar had replied that he had been planning to ride out of High Knob but Double M would be fine also. I was up fairly early so saw the post in plenty of time. Steve's daughter was going to ride also and and had a work meeting in the morning so the plan was to meet at Double M at noon time.

I headed over to the barn around 10:00 AM. I knew Lily would be out in the big pasture and I didn't know how long it would take to catch her. She is not a hard to catch mule but you never know. Lily and Marie were way down by the road and I had to walk most of the way down. But, Lily did come part of the way to me even though I was holding her halter in plain sight. Good girl! Though she did have some second thoughts as we walked up close to the barn and planted her feet once. She didn't make a fuss of it, she just had to make her feelings known. I groomed her and made sure to give her lots of butt scratches for standing quietly. She didn't even fuss when I put SWAT on her udders. She normally isn't fond of being touched there but the flies have been biting her there and she knew what I was doing and that it would help. She was very good about being saddled and stood nicely for me to mount. Ruth had come out to the barn to gather up the dogs and put them in the house so they wouldn't follow me. I rode the path to Cedar Bluff Ln. and down to Thacker Hollow Rd. and headed to Double M by the road as that's the quickest way to get there. The man that owns the big field at the end of my road was just coming through the field gate and I talked to him for a moment. He lives in KY but comes over and checks on things and puts water for riders in Black's Cabin.

Lily was good about going down the road but as usual was a bit snorty about it. We had two cars pass us and she didn't pay attention to them. I had something in my shoe, so I hopped off to get it out a little before the house with the Alpaca. While I was on the ground, a large truck came down the road coming towards us. It was a semi sized truck but with a rack type of body on it. It was empty so other than being big and a diesel, it was not making any really strange noises. Well....... Miss Lily had a melt down as it passed us. She spun around and bolted towards home. No, how stupid is that! That was the same direction the scary mule eating monster was going. Now why would go run in the same direction as the thing you are so scared of. Dork! Thankfully, when she came to the end of the reins, she spun back my way, then tried to bolt again but came my way again at the end of the reins, while I stumbled around in the ditch holding the reins for dear life. The LAST thing I want her to learn is that she can get away from me. At that point, she decided to scramble up the bank on the other side of the ditch. My feet couldn't keep up with that move and I did a face plant but still held the reins and she again stopped when she came to the end of them. She came back down to the road and finally stood still. I walked her the rest of the way to Double M. I got there at 11:45 AM. I tied Lily up to a tree in the shade by the picnic table. She was restless and wouldn't stand still. She wasn't horrible but wiggled around and pawed a bit. I got a message from Steve that he was going to be a bit late. So, I untied Lily and walked her around to graze. She was MUCH happier about that. While I was grazing her, who do I see coming across the field but Sandy and Jake, Ruth's dogs. Sandy came over to say hello and then spend some time trying to catch a mole. Jake got tired of waiting for her and headed east. Eventually, Sandy followed him. I sent a message to Ruth and she came down looking for them.

 Steve arrived around 1:00 PM. His daughter and her friend were with him, Brooke and Tabatha. Lily was the only mule in the group today. I thought I had my map with me but didn't. No one really cared where we went so we just headed out and wandered around with no particular plan at all. We got onto 184, crossed Black Ridge Rd. and at a corner on 184, took a trail I have seen but never taken. It turned out to be a short cut to 185 going south. We stayed on 185 for a while then took 180 over to 146 to one of the Tee Pees. We headed north on 146 and rode by Lost Lake and through Dead Horse Canyon. We looped around along the top of Dead Horse Canyon and Back onto 146 to the Tee Pee again. From there we headed south on 146 towards High Knob. We went down the the R2R trail. The girls picked up a canter on the R2R trail. I trotted for a bit then asked Lily to pick up a canter to follow them. She had to throw in a couple crow hops. Naughty mule! We picked up 185 north and rode back to 184 not taking the most direct route back towards Double M at all. That was the plan...... that's my story and I'm sticking to it.....  185 has multiple blow downs along the trail that are kind of a scramble to get around. Steve and I had gone around one that required a short but steep scramble up a bank go get around it. Brooke's horse was not too keen about trying to scramble up the bank, he thought he just might be able to get under the tree. Brooke kept trying to convince him to go up the bank. Tabatha went around her and went up the bank with her horse hoping Brooke's horse would follow. But he wouldn't as he was just sure he could get under the tree and he made a dive for it. He squatted down and started to scramble under and as we could all see was going to happen, the saddle horn caught on the tree. The horse panicked for a moment and made all efforts to get through. All I can say is whatever brand of saddle that is, that horn is FIRMLY attached. None of us could believe the horse did not break off. When the horse stopped struggling for a moment and was in a sitting position, the girls were able to push him over just enough to get the horn clear and the horse did make it though. Horse and saddle were fine. Lily had to do an impressive but naughty move when crossing a ditch. She decided to hop over it. The first naughty move. Then, in mid leap, she decided to throw in a double barrel kick at Brooke's horse! The move was very reminiscent of a capriole. Impressive... very naughty. It's very unusual for her to kick at another horse or mule.  We varied our pace throughout the ride. Many places are too rough to go past a walk. We did a fair bit of trotting on the less rocky trails and a bit of a canter on the R2R trail. When we got up to Black Ridge Rd, we parted ways with me heading for home and the others riding on to Double M. Lily walked home quietly. It was a great ride