Archives for 2014

Friday, June 27, 2014 – First Ride Day At Jack’s Creek

June 27, 2014 By Admin Leave a Comment

Had a pretty good night's sleep, pretty quiet here, though there were a few early risers we heard talking a bit before we got up. Kind of surprising that it wasn't the mules in the corral next door, actually, I expected them to be our rooster while we were here, but they were quiet, too. Morning temps in the upper 40's so heat was certainly not a factor in the night! Had a good breakfast, then got the horses ready to go. Even though I had rasped Apollo's feet a little yesterday, I still had a little trouble putting his boots on, so I had to rasp him and Clio again. We didn't need boots at the last place, but this one apparently has rocky trails (typical in the mountains), so we saddled and booted and were on our way by about 10:30. We decided to take a trail that would lead us to the Iron Gate campground, which I had figured on Google Earth to be about 2.75 miles away, then return on the same trail. Tammy asked us to check in on a camper that was along the way as well. Headed out on a trail to the south, thinking there was only one trail out, but no sooner did we get out of the campground than it split in about 5 different directions, so we took a chance on the one that seemed to head downhill, which, according to my Google Earth-made map was the right one. The idea was to have an easy day in order to acclimatize everyone to the altitude, so down was better at first. The trail was rather rocky in some places, but a lot of just dirt, too. We did go gradually downhill, then uphill a bit, until we finally reached the bridge. At other intersections there had been signs to keep us on track for Iron Creek, but at the bride, the trail went straight up the creek or across the bridge with no indication which way to go. We went over the bridge, then carried on for just a few hundred yards before my GPS compass was saying we were going south, which wasn't right, and off the track as well, so we turned around (though later I was told it was the right way to Iron Creek, I'm still not convinced!) Anyway, we backtracked, then continued on the other trail just to find the campers, which we did, checked in on them, then headed back. We had already gone two miles, and we didn't want to make it a long day, so that was enough. The only challenge was that Apollo was incredibly frisky this morning. He was so excited to be back on engaging trails that Clio was having to trot just to keep up with his walk, so I was having to slow him down. Once we left the bridge and headed back he started to get so antsy I had to get down and run him around in circles for a few minutes, just to calm him down a bit. Once he settled down we continue on our way, and at the first opportunity on an uphill slope, I gave him permission to run, and run he did! He galloped for a dozen strides before the terrain forced him to slow down, but he went like a maniac up that hill! I was hanging on tight, and Clio and Hubby were the same, riding like we stole 'em! Apollo was a little better after that, and by the time we got back to camp, having taken an alternate route back up the hill, he was actually willing to stand still for a couple of minutes while we chatted with Tammy, the first time he had stood still all day. Well, as Hubby said, "Wouldn't you rather have a frisky horse than a dull one?" Yes, as long as he doesn't go crazy on me : -). I told Apollo I was looking forward to seeing how he behaves on Day Three. Anyway, we spent the rest of the day relaxing, reading, watching TV, while our bodies continued to acclimatize. Looking forward to another ride tomorrow!

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Thursday, June 26, 2014 – Travel Day to Jack’s Creek in Santa Fe National Forest

June 26, 2014 By Admin Leave a Comment

Up at the crack of dawn again, out by just after 7:00, first stop Walmart in Clovis to do our shopping, as there wasn't another one on the way for the rest of the trip. Grabbed a bit at McDonalds (AWFUL compared to the great breakfast sandwich we had the on Tuesday!) And headed northwest on 84. I had arranged to pick up some hay/alfalfa mix in a little town called Ribera, which was on the way, though it turned out he was south of town, making it a bit more out of the way, and once we got close by my cell phone ran out of signal, so I lost track of his directions. I turned on to the county road he mentioned, but before going a hundreds yards, the road became WAY to narrow, and I wasn't about to try to get my big rig back there. A helpful biker came by and confirmed it was the right road, and he was kind enough to lead Hubby there, who confirmed that NO WAY could I have gotten down that road, and that he, in fact, almost didn't make it! I had even told Joe, the hay guy, that I had a big rig, and asked if there was room to turn around, and he said yes, but he never mentioned the rest of the road was impassable! Anyway, they loaded a small pickup with the 13 bales I needed to top off, and we got it loaded up. It took us about twice as long as I had allotted for the diversion, but we finally got on the highway again just after 2:00. Turning north at Pecos, we followed a long and windy road, though fortunately paved, nearly 28 miles until it ended at the campground, with the equestrian campground veering off to the right. It was packed! The wide open, hilly field, with one loop driveway, was crammed with day riders and campers. Miraculously, there was one open side (well, actually it was a double site, but since we had two vehicles we didn't mind paying for both), and we quickly filled the RV with water and moved in. Hubby had already gotten the horses moved into their corrals (4 in all at that site) and then proceeded to fill up one of the portable rain barrels in the back of the horse trailer. It wasn't too long before we got settled in, satellite dish up and running. Water here is at two different spigots, both of which had a spring loaded handle, and, of course, the consummate stone laying near the bottom of the pipe for propping it open. The camp host, Tammy, was very nice, and lent us a map I could copy so we at least had some idea of what the trails were like, and I spent a little time talking to our neighbors, one from Georgia and another from Texas, who had met the night before at a popular stopover in Tuscarosa (?) and who both happen to be coming here. As we're at about 8800 feet altitude, it was a bit of a challenge getting all our chores done without getting out of breath, but we managed pretty well. Had to chock the tires with big stones and disconnect the truck in order to get even moderately level because of the slope of the site, and didn't quite make it even then, but at least we're not so steep we're stumbling around (hey, that happens!) Of course, no cell phone signal, so we'll be incommunicado while we're here. Nice and quiet! Unfortunately, someone had come into the camp the night before and stolen a saddle and some other tack, so we were advised to lock everything up, which is such a shame, since that's atypical of horse camps. I guess there's a feud going on between the locals and the Federal authorities, hope it doesn't escalate into anything while we're here. Anyway, there's supposedly a 30 minute every 3 hour limit on generator use, so we cranked ours up and charged the batteries in a hurry. Had a little trouble getting them to stay on, they kept cutting from charging rpm to idling rpm, so we had to use both for the job, which is unusual. Will look at it again tomorrow. To bed early, in preparation for our ride tomorrow!

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Wednesday, June 25, 3014 – Our First and Only Ride at Oasis State Park

June 25, 2014 By Admin Leave a Comment

Such a great night sleep! Other than waking up once and having a hard time getting back to sleep, we both slept very well, and it cooled down so much, at one point I was tempted to reach for another blanket! Perfect! Let ourselves sleep in to help with adjusting to the time change, had breakfast, and were out saddling the horses by 10:30, though it seemed later. It had been very cloudy earlier, and we actually had some rain overnight (I had to get up and close the vents and a couple of side windows), but by the time we got on the trail, it was just starting to clear up. We headed out west of the ranger station and around the workshop area, quickly coming to the park boundary, and headed cross country to the "sand dunes" promised on the map. We had been warned twice about the snakes out here (diamondbacks and sidewinders), and sure enough, just after climbing the first ridge, I heard a small squeal, and saw a snake had just wrapped itself around some kind of small mammal. Not sure what it was, it was wrapped so tight, but I guess I'll say it was lunch for the snake. In any event, as it was obviously occupied, we bypassed it and continued on. Very shortly afterward, we came across another dune, though an actual trail was a bit more challenging. We finally found something that looked like it would pass as a trail and followed it up over another ridge. From there we saw the campground just on the other side! Already? I checked my map again, and sure enough, we had already crossed "the dunes!" I knew this place was small, but I didn't realize it was a postage stamp! We followed the road around, passing several work areas, including an out of order dump, and a crew that was putting up cement block walls to create a small pavilion at every site along that loop, as well as putting cement pads in on top of perfectly useful gravel pads. What a waste of taxpayer money! This tiny little park, and they're spending tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to upgrade it beyond what it needed. Crazy! We kept following the road until we came to the "lake." More like a fishing pond, it had been stocked and several families were dipping poles around the perimeter. It was also surrounded by a cement break wall, and was smaller than some holding ponds I've seen in developments in Florida. Managed to find the trail that circled the pond, stopping by a bench for a pic, then headed back around, trying to find any additional trails to follow. Tried one that actually had a sign at the trailhead, but all the trees were very low, requiring us to duck under limbs, and only served as a "sidewalk" of sorts between the bathhouse and the regular campground loop. Not exactly inspiring trail riding. In all, we managed to clock up nearly 2.2 whole miles! Well, at least it got us back in the saddle again, after nearly a month, and the horses got to stretch their legs a little bit. Apollo was a bit antsy with all the rest and the activity going on in the park, but he behaved himself. I took a rasp to his feet when we got back, just to keep his feet in shape. Last month I had a guy come out and do them professionally, he did a real nice job and explained a few things to me (always something new to learn!), so I want to keep them in as good a shape as I can, by rasping early and often. Spend the afternoon catching up on my blog and confirming a hay pickup, ready for a relaxing evening and another early morning tomorrow! A bit lengthier drive, plus with a couple of stops, plus another climb of 4000+ feet in altitude, it promises to be a long and tiring day!

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Tuesday, June 24, 2014 – Travel to Oasis State Park, Portales, NM

June 24, 2014 By Admin Leave a Comment

Once again up at the crack of dawn, got out even earlier as we had less to pack and the horses were in pipe corrals, so no high line or portable corral to put away. Hubby had a great night sleep and was feeling much better today, thank goodness. The radar showed two huge patches of rain, one north and one south, but we timed it just right to get out between the two. We didn’t stop until we go just about past them, when we went into a cute little cafe on the corner in a small town, where they made us about the best breakfast sandwich we’d ever had! Fried egg, bacon, cheese and some hash browns between a couple of pieces of thick bread, almost Texas Toast. Delicious! Filling, too, it held us for most of the day. Arrived at Oasis State Park around 1:00, with just one stop to top off fuel in Lubbock, found the cheap stuff thanks to my Gas Buddy app! A good 15 cents a gallon cheaper than every station nearby. Love it! No trouble finding the park, but it was kind of disappointing. The “horse camp” was just a small loop right across from the ranger station and work shop area, so naturally it was the busiest and noisiest place in the park. There were no corrals, and all the trees in the campground were pretty dead. The ground was really uneven, so even it I had been able to put up a highline, they would have been standing on a slant. Eventually, we decided to put up the portable corral across the driveway from us, there was one tree that still had a few leaves on it (the only shade around), and the ground wasn’t too bad. At least we could see them right outside the window. Got them settled, and us settled in shortly thereafter, only about 2:30 when we finished, then realized we had entered Mountain Time, so we gained an hour. Spent the afternoon once again looking for hay (New Mexico still has little grass hay, almost all alfalfa) and found two places on the way to our next stop, one with pure alfalfa @ $10 a bale, and another with a grass/alfalfa mix for $9.50. Think we’ll go for the mix, straight alfalfa just isn’t what I want my horses on. Anyway, once the rangers left for the day, it was nice and quiet, just one tent on the far side of the horse camp (sans horses, of course), and we as it had been cloudy all day, the temps had never gotten quite as high as predicted. Once the sun went down, it cooled off nicely, and we’re looking forward to mid-60’s sleeping weather tonight! Hope so, as we have no electricity, so no AC unless we want to gang up both generators, but honestly don’t think that will be necessary. Looking forward to a good night sleep!

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Monday, June 23, 2014 – Finally on the Road Again!!

June 23, 2014 By Admin Leave a Comment

Set the alarm for the crack of dawn, did our final packing within an hour, and were on the road at 7:18 am, raring to go! Unfortunately, Hubby had a terrible night sleep, but we were determined to get out today, no excuses, so off we went. Stopped at H.E.B. to top off our fuel tanks and at Whataburger to do the same for our stomachs, and headed west by northwest! It was already warm by the time we go going, not surprising since it didn’t get below 75 degrees overnight, with high humidity, but we passed through a couple of light rain storms and it cooled down just a bit. Arrived in San Angelo by noon, stopping at H.E.B. for fuel again, then followed the GPS to the State Park. Of course, I had forgotten that the GPS actually takes me to a utility building rather than an office, so we were re-directed to the south park entrance, paid our crazy fees there, then headed another 8 miles to the horse camp. One other camper was there, looked like the host from the appearance of the big corral and bikes laying around. We used the dump first, doing a good flush, then got the horses and everyone else squared away, all settled in by about 2:00, satellite and all. Hubby fell asleep in his recliner, which was a good thing because he was so tired, while I got a few other things done on my computer, including trying to find some hay. More scarce than I thought it would be, this is going to be a challenge! Only spending the night here, as the heat is forecast to be just as scorching as ever, and we want to get north asap! To be VERY early, with the alarm still set for an early morning, as our next leg is an hour longer than today’s.

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Friday, May 23, 2014 – Another Great Ride at McKinney Roughs

May 23, 2014 By Admin Leave a Comment

Parking once again at the Pope Bend North Trailhead, we had another great ride at this fabulous park! It's quite possible this may be out last chance, as we have a long trip ahead, then we'll be leaving here the week after, and the heat is getting so bad now we're not likely to want to go out in it, unless we decide to go early in the morning, which means trips closer to home. Anyway, this trip was great, the horses were brilliant. We took about the same trails as last time, but in reverse to keep it interesting. This is really a great place to ride, with a lovely variety of terrain. The river had a little more water in it, as we've had some rain lately, but nothing was boggy, so it was a great ride. Still, I can't wait to find some NEW trails to ride next month!

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Friday, May 16, 2014 – Nice Ride at Reimers Ranch

May 16, 2014 By Admin Leave a Comment

Yesterday, we drove all the way out to McKinney Roughs for a ride, only to learn the trails were closed because they had 3 inches of rain a few days ago. Note to self: Call Ahead! Since we had had two dry days after the rain, it never occurred to us the trails might be closed. Anyway, I had called Reimers yesterday and they said their trails were open, so I knew they would be today. We've only been here once before, and it was nice but not too challenging (i.e. Boring), but it's close, and we wanted to do the same trail in reverse. We arrived to find that two rangers were working on the parking area, with new wood chip surface, and building a railing around the entire parking lot, will make it look a lot nicer when it's finished. One other trailer was there, and we met the owners a bit later, an English woman and her American husband, when they returned from their ride. We were delayed quite a bit because I had to trim the horses' feet, as they were way out of whack, and none of the boots fits. That took nearly 1 ½ hours, so much needed to be done. Plus chatting with the couple was a small but interesting distraction. Finally got on the trail about 1:30, heading north so as to take the loop clockwise. Lots of opportunities to canter and the horses behaved beautifully, having as much fun as we did. Only twice did Apollo try to add an extra leap in his transition, but I managed to stop one and ride out the other until he settled down. At one point about halfway around, Clio brushed Hubby up against an unforgiving limb, which caught his stampede strap and broke it, so that his hat came off. Once retrieved we carried on for a bit, before he realized he had lost a hearing aid. Knowing it had to have happened during the branch incident, we headed back to that tree limb, and, miraculously, after about 5-10 minutes of looking actually FOUND the tiny little bugger! Yeah! Once plugged back into his ear, we continued on our way, getting a few more lovely canters in before getting back to the parking lot by about 3:30. From there, we met with my brother and his friend Dely for a birthday get-together (he celebrated his 89th yesterday) at a nice little place called J-5 Steakhouse on Hwy. 71. Got home around 8:00, bedded everyone down, and had a relaxing evening, after a very nice day.

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Thursday, April 24, 2014 – Ride Day at Pace Bend

April 24, 2014 By Admin Leave a Comment

After a week of recovery and catching up, it was time to get the horses back on the trail, but since we had so much going on, we elected to just go to nearby Pace Bend Park. In search of new trails to ride, we headed north from the Day Use area along the edge of the beach. We passed through a few fields of beautiful blue bonnets and other spring wildflowers, a beautiful sight to see! As we reached the beach, the sand was firm for a short while, but then Apollo balked when the strip narrowed between the edge of the water and the base of the cliff, so Clio took the lead momentarily, but the sand was so soft, she sank in so deep her knees buckled and she essentially laid down, her belly resting on the sand. She didn't struggle, she just sat there waiting for help, so Hubby stepped off her, and she popped right up again. After re-mounting, we headed back up to the top of hill and followed it along the edge for a while. Eventually it curved around until we hit the perimeter fence, then we followed it down through some very nice fields on a narrow trail, with more wildflowers and a few cantering stretches along the way. Not a long ride, but a very nice one, it was good just to get out again. After so much riding last week, we don't want the horses' fitness level to drop any more than necessary!

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Thursday, April 17, 2014 – Final Ride at Hill Country SNA

April 17, 2014 By Admin Leave a Comment

Got up around 9:00 today, had breakfast and hit the trail before 11:00, for our last ride here at Hill Country, at least for this trip. The only trail long loop left for us was trail #8, which looked very easy, a simple loop by the primitive campground and the group camp, and partially along a utility line, but was pretty rocky so it wasn't quite as much fun as we thought it would be. Couldn't get much trotting or cantering in because of the rocks, and frankly, the horses were quite a bit more lethargic today than on previous days, not used to getting ridden every day. Generally they would get a day off in between long rides, or at least no more than two ride days in a row, so I think by the third day in a row, they had had enough. Nevertheless, they were troopers, and we only went about six miles, mostly walking, so it was still a good ride. Saw some spectacular cactus blossoms coming out, saw some pig sign and then one black pig crossed our trail in front of us, getting just a little reaction from the horses, though their noses were up in the air, heard gobbling of wild turkeys as well, as quite a few birds were out today, too. It was pleasant, with only the amount of rocks being the only detraction. Got back before 2:00, got the horses settled in , had lunch, then went into town for a conference call regarding our meeting next week. Overall, it's been a great week, much needed for us to get away, and for the horses to face new trails for a change. Thoroughly enjoyed it, and will likely come back again, just to finish off the few minor trails we didn't get a chance to do. Glad we came!

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Wednesday, April 16, 2014 – Another Good Ride

April 16, 2014 By Admin Leave a Comment

Slept later today, another sunny day, just a bit more wind from the south, warming things up a bit, though the overnight was quite cool. The gas furnace went off multiple times during the night, and it was only set at 63 degrees! After a late breakfast and a bit of computer work, we hit the trail about 12:30. Since we went 9 miles yesterday, with lots of tough climbing up and down on pretty rocky grades, we decided to take a nice easy ride today, mostly along the bottom land area. We covered a good portion of the northeastern side of the park, which was a lot of open fields and just a little climbing now and then, skirting along the side of some of the hills, which again offered some really nice views, digressed a few times as we elected to take some wider loops, getting in a lot of cantering, which the horses seemed quite up for, despite their long day yesterday. We started out with a plan of going about 5.5 miles, but ended up doing more than 8 once we took those wider loops. Great ride, though, but there were some pretty rocky sections again in the middle, pretty much par for the course here on the majority of trails, I'm afraid. Glad we have rubber boots for the horses, good traction! Got back by 3:30, took a quick run down to the Ranger station where they were kind enough to let me use the phone to return a call from our local client's staff as we prepare for a meeting next Monday, then settled down for a quiet evening.

Filed Under: Ride Day