Dead Horse Canyon Day 2

 Today Amy and I decided to ride with Ross Bird who was taking out a smaller group. Bonnie decided to take a day off from riding and Donna was going to stay close to camp as she had her eye on a mule that was going to be in the sale on Thursday. Ross was going to ponying his little mule Ruthie as he is working on getting her broke to ride. He and Suzanne are hoping to find a new home for her. Amy is quite smitten with Ruthie....... I can see the writing on the wall here.

 I wanted to stay with a smaller group as I discovered that Lily had a rub under her tail from her crupper. First time that has ever happened. I sure didn't want to put the crupper back on her and make it worse so I went over to  Tucker Tack 's trailer and purchased a britchen for Lily. She has never worn a britchen for riding. I have put a harness on her before but just for ground driving so she's never had pressure on it. I asked at least a half dozen people if they would like to ride Lily first with the britchen on but didn't get any takers...... cowards.....Well, there was nothing to do but climb aboard and hope for the best. I really didn't want to provide the group with a rodeo performance. Much to my relief, Lily had no reaction to wearing the britchen at all. Phew!

We rode the top of Hurricane Bluff, went to the Teepee, out by Lost Lake and stopped for a short break at Sand Cave. Amy climbed to the top of Sand Cave to get some pictures. There is a stuffed horse in a tree on the top of the cave. Amy got on Ruthie at Sand Cave just to sit on her. Ruthie didn't seem to care at all. We then rode into Dead Horse Canyon and did the tough climb out. That climb is a bit of an adrenaline rush. This was the first time I've ridden Lily up the canyon. She did a great job. It was chilly when we started out this morning but warmed up to T-shirt weather by the time we were headed back. A lovely day and a wonderful ride.

Dead Horse Canyon

Today was even chillier than yesterday. It was cloudy all day but no rain thankfully. We joined with a larger group today heading for Dead Horse Canyon.We rode 7.2 miles today and were out about 3 hrs. It was a large group and we kept an easy place with stops at all the scenic spots along the way. When we got to Dead Horse Canyon, Donna and I and a small group rode to the top of the ridge before getting to the really steep trail. I didn't really want to come up that way in such a large group. Amy went with the group going up the steep trail but got caught in riders going down that trail and ended up just riding down through the canyon to where we all met up at the end of it.

Lily was extremely good today. She only had one spell where she crow hopped down one hill. When we got back, I found she had a rub under her tail from her crupper. First time I've had that happen and most likely what caused her to crow hop down the hill.

McAllister and Friends SNF Mule Ride 2018

The 2018 McAllister mule ride 2018! A much anticipated event for me as my friends, Bonnie and Amy are coming down from Maine. Amy's friend Donna is also coming. Donna bought her first mule last year and though he is a fine mule, they haven't been the best match personality wise so Donna is kind of hoping she might find a more suitable match for herself here at the mule ride. Amy and the others decided to stay at camp this year rather than at my house. A good decision for all of us as it would save a lot of time in trailering the mules back and forth each day. And with them in camp, I was able to make arrangements with JoJo, the camp owner, to bring Lily over and leave her there for the week so I wouldn't have to trailer her back and forth. This would allow me to spend more time in camp enjoying all the events.

This year there are the usual vendors. Tack vendors, saddle makers, mule items and gifts, mule trailer sales, etc. There will be a mule sale on Thursday. All mules in the sale have to be consigned to the sale ahead of time and in camp to be viewed and tried out all week. This year they are also adding a fun show every evening. Then Saturday, the hog roast/pot luck and dance with a live band.

The long range forecast for weather for this week was originally not all that good. But, as the week approached, the forecast kept improving. It was cold yesterday and today with some snow flurries but better than having rain. My Maine friends headed out Saturday and were due to arrive Sunday. I kept tabs on their progress with the plan to bring Lily over just after they arrived. They had reserved stalls in the barn by the office and JoJo was letting me have a stall also so we'd all be together. When I knew they had arrived, I went to the barn to pick up Lily, she jumped right into the trailer excited to be going on an adventure. When I got to the campground, JoJo showed me what stall to put Lily and and I put her in with some hay to keep her busy. But, she seemed quite unhappy about being put in a stall. This was not her idea of an exciting adventure apparently. She was quite restless but I figured she'd settle down after a while. She's been stalled before and never had any problems with it. I was taking my truck and trailer home so it wouldn't be taking up space at the campground and would just be using my little truck and would keep my tack in that for the week as it has a cap on it.

I dropped off my truck and trailer and was just heading back to camp in my little truck when I got a text message from Bonnie. She said that Lily was being VERY bad and JoJo wanted her OUT. She was trying to tear the stall apart trying to get out. Amy had to take her out of the stall and was holding her until I could get back. !!!!! ACK! So, back to the house I went, got my truck and trailer and returned to camp. Once there, I found my mule in the care of Crazy Charlie with Amy keeping an eye on her. Apparently Lily took to Charlie and was behaving better for him then for Amy. Both of her front feet were covered in red paint from pounding her feet on the red metal stall gate. JoJo told me to try a different stall that was more open than the one she was in. I did that and while Lily was somewhat better, she still was not quiet enough for me to feel comfortable leaving her there. So, much discouraged, I decided I'd have to take her home.

I had just gotten Lily loaded into my trailer when Anthony came by and asked what was going on. I told him my mule was so naughty, she was being kicked out of mule camp. He told me I could try putting her in his paddock or pasture that he has use of for this week. So, I took her down and put her in Jackie's Leuking's paddock, across from Anthony's camp. There were 3 other mules in that paddock. Lily was happy there and the mules all got along fine. So, problem solved. I would not have to suffer the shame of my mule being kicked out of mule camp. Bonnie was going to be riding Anthony's mule Harvey for the week. We'd been keeping an eye on Harvey out in the pasture and he seemed to be laying down a lot. Enough so we were kind of worried about him.We came to the conclusion after talking with Cathy that he might be having mild colic. We gave him some banamine and walked him. Anthony took him and walked him some more and they gave him some oil. Harvey was having bowel movements so it wasn't a blockage. Harvey seemed to be doing better later that evening much to everyone's relief.  We all had supper at the Snack Shack that evening. It was so good to spend some time with Bonnie and Amy, to meet Donna and to have my mule happily settled into camp.

This morning I was up bright and early. I wanted to get to camp in plenty of time so I would not have to rush to get Lily ready for any ride we decided to go on. My neighbor Delbert is selling his truck and trailer and had brought them to High Knob to leave for the week. He had parked right across from the Hotel where my friends were staying and their trailer was parked giving me a very convenient place to tie Lily to tack up. There was a meeting this morning to let everyone know who the ride guides were and set up the rides for the day. Bonnie and Donna didn't really want to get into any big groups for this first day. Donna has not ridden her mule Ike in large groups and Bonnie being on a mule she had never ridden, they wanted a quiet day. So, we decided to strike off on our own with me as their guide. Such brave souls to trust me. The decision was to ride to my house and back. I still don't know the trails that well around High Knob but knew if we made it to Initial Tree, I could get them to my house from there. So, we saddled up and headed out.

Well, Miss Lily White decided to be quite a handful this morning. She was over excited, wanted to be in front and wanted to do fast. And when she didn't get that, she decided to do a bit of bucking and rearing. Nothing big but horribly disruptive and annoying. After doing many circles I did take the lead and that settled her down quite a bit though she was still pretty light on her feet for quite a while. BAD LILY! She did however, continually improve throughout our ride and was quite good the 2nd half heading back to camp.

 We got to Initial tree with no problem and from there I got out to Black Ridge Rd. via the Indian Paint Wall trail. We crossed over Black Ridge Rd. taking 183 to the wagon trail and Elbow Tree. From there we got on an unmarked trail that took us further towards Double M Campground than I planned. I did get us onto 184 and back to Black Ridge Rd. We rode down to Black's Cabin and took a break there. At this point I realized it was going to be a longer ride than the girls had been expecting. That's what they get for trusting a rookie guide. We studied the trail map and made our plan for getting back to High Knob the quickest way possible. We ended up missing one of the trails we were looking for and ended up riding some repeat trails to get back into camp. But, at least we didn't have to spend the night out in the forest. We rode 15 or 16 miles today. And other than Lily's bad behavior at the start of the ride, it was a good, if long, ride. I didn't take any pictures today as it was a 2 hands on the reins kind of day.

The Flood

I decided to venture out on a solo ride with Lily today. Though I did more walking than riding. It was a lovely day and Lily was excited to get out. I did a lot of trail clearing today and the reason I walked more than rode. It was a day full of adventures though, we encountered dinosaurs, floods, shadow figures and cows. We encountered the dinosaur along the trail from Black's Cabin leading out to Black Ridge Rd. It was sitting on a log just waiting for unsuspecting prey. Lily stomped it saving our lives! Hahaha.

We took trail 184 to 183 and crossed over Black Ridge Rd. towards Double M. Campground. But, due to time constraints, doubled back after a bit and rode home down Black Ridge Rd. There was a good view of the flooding on Leamington Rd. from the top of the hill on Black Ridge Rd.  Daffodils are blooming and the grass is getting green. The neighbors cows were laying in the field enjoying the sunshine. I stopped and let Lily graze for a while on the grass growing on the back side of our property. Then when we came by my house, I brought Lily into the new barn for the first time. She was not impressed. She said I have a lot of work to do to get it up to her standard of living!

Gum Springs

Another adventure and some new territory covered today. I joined up with Keith, Gaby and Chuck at The Hitching Post. This is the parking area north of Trigg Tower where the River to River crosses the Trigg Tower Rd. I was able to locate it on the map so felt sure I would be able to find it with no problems. I was a bit slow getting going this morning. I'd been sick on Thursday but had felt a bit better Friday. But, lack of sleep and long work schedules made it hard to get going this morning. I knew it was going to be a lovely day though and was excited to see some new territory so I dragged myself out of bed and hustled around to head out on time. Lily loaded right up in the trailer with no hesitation. I thought I would need to fuel up and was not sure if there was anywhere to do so on my way to where we were riding. Hathaway's was the closest place I could think of and was not far off my path. When I got out to the intersection where I'd have to turn out of my way to get fuel, I decided that I have enough to get to our riding spot and make it back to fuel up on the way home. So, I kept going. I was glad I did as I'd forgotten about Mitchellsville Country Store that was right on my way. I was running close on time though so still decided to fuel up on the way home. The plan was to meet at 10:00 and I got there just a few minutes after 10. Lily was kind of excited when I unloaded her and I kind of rushed trying to get her groomed and tacked up. That did not help to settle her down. But, she was not really bad either, just a little squirmy. Once we were mounted and got moving, Lily settled right down fine.

We rode out to Gum Springs. What a lovely spot! We had a slightly tricky stream crossing there. Lily was a bit hesitant at first as we split up and crossed in two different spots so I was in the lead for where Keith and I crossed. But, Lily went and and made the steep climb out in true mule fashion. We came out to a dirt road with a wide concrete bridge. I happened to be in the lead there and could feel Lily tensing up as we approached the bridge. I told the others to let me get her across in the lead. Well, that plan didn't go so well. Lily was pretty convinced that bridge was a giant mule eating death platform and tough she kept making some honest efforts to work up the courage to cross in the lead, could not quite do it. And my legs cramped up bad from using leg pressure to get her to cross. So, Gaby led the way and her mare. Darn.....

We rode up over a ridge looking for a Mormon plaque out in the woods that Keith wanted to show us. We never did find that but did come across an interesting little cemetery with gravestones marked from the 1800's. We ended up on a trail that Keith and his group had never been on before that took us along a bluff beside a late that had an absolutely stunning view of a dramatic bluff across the lake that jutted out into the lake. This trail was a really nice trail and brought us back around by the bridge. I was in the lead here so again asked Lily to go across the death trap first. This time she worked up the courage to do it. Good girl!!

We stopped for lunch along the trail. When we headed out again, Gaby wanted to ride Lily. I was fine with this of course though hoped Lily would behave. Other than Anthony, who started her under saddle and put 1/2 dozen rides on her, only one other person has been on her and that didn't go very well. Gaby is quite a bit more petite than I am so my saddle was not very comfortable for her. The stirrups on her saddle were not easily adjustable so we left them where they were so I was riding her mare in Jockey position. Lily was not bad but she was not her best either. She kept snaking her head and breaking stride. Gaby's mare was a very good girl for me. I was in the lead on her mare and trying to stay on trail where we were was a real challenge. The trail was not real clear and with the leaves down, it was hard to follow. So, we did not ride all that fast though this part of the trail. Gaby was ready to switch mounts again fairly soon. Pretty sure she is not going to be rushing out to buy a mule anytime soon.

When we got back to the trailers we only had 10 miles in so decided to ride a little longer in a different direction. This was trail I have been on before when riding out of Jack Davis Camp. Very dramatically beautiful trail with the rock formations you ride though. Chuck wanted to see if there was still a big tree down on the trail by the railroad tracks. We had stopped to take some pictures by a pretty bluff wall and two people on mountain bikes came up on us. Mountain bikes are not allowed on the trails. That group has been fighting hard to gain trail access and we've been seeing them on the trail more and more. I am not against sharing trail with other users. But, I have to admit that many of the trails in the Shawnee are not safe for the equine/bike mix. Keith only asked them to speak whenever they were approaching equines so they would not spook them.  The tree was still down on the trail so we turned around and rode back the way we came.

Once back to the parking area, Keith and I both did a practice trot out. Lily did NOT load up like a good girl for the trip home. It still didn't take me long to load her but she let it be known she would rather keep hanging out with her gaited friends. Naughty mule..... The drive down to the main road was so beautiful. We were up on a hill and the view driving down was stunning. I stopped at the Mitchellsville Country store on the way home to fuel up and...... the truck decided it wanted to stay there. It would not start. It wouldn't even consider it. So, I called Delbert first as I knew I'd need him to come with his truck we we couldn't figure out what was wrong with mine and get it started. Then I called Fred and told him to come out with Delbert. Lily was such a good girl while we waited to be rescued. She nickered at me a few time and I realized she had not taken a drink while out on trail. So, I got a bucket and got it filled at the store and she gratefully drank that down. When Delbert and Fred arrived, we had no luck getting the truck started so Delbert pulled my truck out of the way of the pumps and hooked up to my trailer and got us home. Having the truck break down again is so frustrating BUT, at least it broke down on the way home and didn't spoil a great ride!