other people’s horses

Epic Tevis Adventure, 2014 Edition: Part One: Extracurricular Riding Time

/ Ashley Wingert / 6 Comments

(These write-ups may be long, extensive, and photo-intensive.)

After what has been somewhat of a teeth-gnashingly stressful last couple of months, I was more than ready for a vacation and a chance to get away. Spending a week covered in dust, dirt, sweat, and horse hair, staying up for all hours, being short on sleep, and running around like a crazy person may not seem like most peoples’ idea of a relaxing vacation (laying out on the beach sipping cocktails is highly overrated…), but in my world, Tevis Week is pretty much the ultimate in vacation destinations. (One of the week’s catchphrases was “Insanity Confirmed!” and I think that pretty much covers it.)
This year, I would be crewing for Lucy, whom I crewed for in 2009 and 2012. She would once again be riding Fergus, the one she finished on in 2012.
The TUESDAY before Tevis, I managed a flight out of Phoenix at a rather civilized 8:30AM, which put me in Sacramento around 10:30. Kaity was already ensconced in Tevis Low Camp (our name for Lucy and Patrick’s place), and as Lucy was still at work, she volunteered for airport retrieval duty, since the faster I got there, the faster we could hit the trails. Part of Kaity’s trip involved bringing her younger endurance horse (Ani) for a couple of weeks of exposure and pre-riding of the Tevis trails to determine his future suitability for the ride, and Lucy once again offered me the use of Roo while I was up there.
I exited the airport a seething, spitting ball of rage (the flight and the airport were both filled with loud, seat-kicking children, and parents who should have known better, but the closer we got to Auburn, the more my Tevis Zen kicked in, and by the time we stopped for the obligatory In-N-Out burger (never mind both Kaity and I have In-N-Out in our respective locations…it’s just what you do in Auburn at Tevis time), I was fully in vacation mode.
A quick stop to Echo Valley Feed (I want to move to Auburn…not only do their feed stores know what endurance is, they stock endurance gear and give an AERC member discount [and Tevis shirts]!) for Fergus-food, a quick stop at Holiday Market in Cool (us girls needed liquid provisions for the next few days), and it was onwards to Tevis Low Camp!
No Hands Bridge — now I know I’m in
Tevis Country

cuddles with Spike, who looks almost
exactly like his big sister
Over the summer, Lucy and Patrick obtained Spike the Decker Terrier, who is a full, younger brother to my own Artemis. (Lucy is also the one who enabled my obtaining Artemis…payback!) I knew a week without my own puppy was going to be tough, so fortunately I had a stand-in! (Plus Finn, the 2-year-old Standard Poodle.) We did a whirlwind meet-n-greet of people and puppies, then donned riding gear, hitched up Kaity’s trailer, gathered gear, and headed out for the trails! (But not before Roo and I had to play our annual “catch me if you can” games.)
Tuesday’s ride would take us from the staging area called “the Bus Stop” through Potato Richardson’s place on the trail he made to connect to the Western States trail, down to Poverty Bar (where Tevis crosses the American River on Ride Day), along the river road towards Quarry, and then back the way we came. (Pretty sure there’s proper names for most of what we were riding, I just don’t know them.)
Ani investigates a creek crossing

manzanita tunnels
Even in the middle of a drought, there was still so much green and so much water! Lots of little creeks to cross, and some very fun, technical single track trails. Kaity is an excellent and fearless trail guide, so I happily let her lead while I hung on and kept Roo to a dull roar and off Ani’s tail. (I tend to have a rather conservative [ok, paranoid] definition of what is trottable and what isn’t, so it helps to have someone show me what exactly you can do and still not break your horse.)
fun single track
We spent some time hanging out in a nice shallow section of the river, letting the boys drink. I marveled at the scenery. Kaity explained how the river crossing worked on Ride Day. We both took pics. (I think we both had our little point-n-shoot cameras glued to our hands all weekend.) Then we headed out of the river and down the river road towards the Lower Quarry check.
love my borrowed grey pone
down at the river — Roo eyeballs rafters
yay, besties!!!
We didn’t go all the way to Quarry – probably about a mile and half out. 
leaving the Poverty Bar area
heading down Maine Bar to the Quarry Road

official signage
We started heading up the Brown’s Bar trail – supposedly the next intersection was less than a mile away, but we never did find it after going what was likely the appropriate distance, and were starting to lose daylight, so elected to turn around and head home the same way we went out. Brown’s Bar was really pretty – all green and lush, but unsettlingly eerie on that particular day, because it was dead quiet. No bird noises, no wind, no leaves rustling, the sound of the river didn’t reach that far up the canyon…a bit unnerving. (I may watch/read too much fantasy/supernatural/bordering on creepy stuff.)
going up Brown’s Bar
Back down on the river road, Roo and I had our annual “discussion” – he does this leapy/twisty/crowhoppy thing, I yell at him, we proceed. Lather, rinse, repeat a time or two, then we’re good for the rest of the trip.
It was great fun bombing back up to Sliger Mine on some fairly narrow, twisting single-track…this is the kind of trail where I really love riding the short little go-kart ponies. They zoom.
Roo got in front…and then decided he didn’t
want to be there. And then DEER happened.
It was all very exciting. :)

zooming on single-track

We got back to the trailer right at dusk, spent a moment picking fresh blackberries around the trailhead, then headed back to Low Camp for pizza and an evening of staying up way too late (a recurring theme).

WEDNESDAY was our big ride day – Kaity and I trailered to the new Chicken Hawk staging area and rode out from there, backwards up the trail to the Deadwood vet check and back. The new staging area is very nice – both beforehand and on Ride Day. There’s a lot more space than what the old check used to have, from what I understand.
all dressed and ready to go
going down Chicken Hawk Rd towards Michigan Bluff

trotting on Gorman Ranch Rd 

Michigan Bluff signage

official historical information signage
I got to see part of the trail back in 2009 when Lucy took me riding from Foresthill to El Dorado Creek and back, but my memory of it wasn’t all that clear, and I knew I had seen the easiest parts. Going down the Michigan Bluff side of El Dorado Canyon wasn’t bad. There’s a lot of trees and vegetation, and with exception of a couple of rock sections, pretty smooth.
Here we go! Down into the canyon…

nice balancing act…

leading across El Dorado bridge
Going up the Deadwood side made me squeak. 
this was towards the bottom…I didn’t have the camera out
on the scarier parts — I was not letting go of the reins
what goes up…

drinking at Kaput Spring on the way up

picking through a rocky section

Because it’s a long climb up – about 3.5 miles – we were taking it easy and walking most of it. The Deadwood side of the canyon has more exposed areas, and going at a slow pace, even going uphill, gave me entirely too much time to think about the fact we were going to have to come down this same trail again. I will admit I was pretty unnerved by the time we reached the top – Insanity Confirmed, again, and who thought Tevis was a good idea anyway??? – and I chose to pretend the location of Deadwood Cemetery at the very top of the canyon was an unfortunate coincidence in placement, and not an ominous sign.
passing by the cemetery
We continued on to the site of the actual Deadwood vet check – out of the canyon and on nice, trottable roads and trails now – and stopped for a quick lunch. There’s a pump (potable, we later found out!) and trough at the site, and the Ride Day port-a-potties were already in place. The boys had a drink, then got tied to the hitching posts while Kaity and I broke out sandwiches, ate, then took turns pumping water while the other dunked and soaked her head/hair.
convincing the grey one to drink
trough cooling!
port-a-potties already in place for Saturday
40+ minutes later, we headed back down the trail. This was the part I was dreading…and it went so much better than I thought. A lot of the Deadwood side of El Dorado canyon is a fairly gentle downhill slope, easily trottable in many sections. So we trotted. Ironically, I did better trotting than walking. When trotting, I feel like I’m more actively engaged with how I’m riding, and I have more to think about and focus my attention on other than “look at that drop-off…”
If you are afraid of heights, I apologize in advance for this next series of pictures. You may wish to swim by them quickly if you have no desire to see some of the [potentially dumb] stuff I do on horseback. I apologize in advance to my mother.

Also, Kaity is braver than I am, which is why she had the camera out and I didn’t.

Roo tried to climb into Kaput Spring on the way down

the trail past Kaput Spring, looking in the
direction the ride runs
at the bottom of the canyon, bridge over El Dorado Creek
I had a couple of heart-seizing moments when Roo would trip on an embedded rock, but it was minor stuff that he easily recovered from and kept on trucking. And the cliff back up to Michigan Bluff wasn’t bad at all – I could handle the slower walking pace on it.
going back up to Michigan Bluff
manzanita tunnel = nearly at the top
So the good news is, my nerves cope with the trail better when taking it the same direction The Ride goes, and not backwards. The other good news was I’m pretty sure half of my nerves were from being on a horse I still don’t know all that well. Granted, Roo knows the trails and has done the canyons multiple times…but I know I would have been more comfortable on my own pony that I know inside and out and trust on anything. So hopefully by the time I get to Tevis, it will be on a horse who I have already logged extensive riding hours and trail miles on and I will feel comfortable moving out and making time where I can.
Through Michigan Bluff and back to Chicken Hawk, we let the boys move out where we could, and they were flying! Roo got so mad at the fact Ani (at 16 hands) can easily out-trot him (in all of his 14.1 hand glory) and he was clearly pouting as he watched Ani roar away from him down the road. But we made up for it with pans of sloppy mash back at the trailer.
yay for a fun ride and good buddies!

Wednesday evening is the Tevis BBQ, although by the time we got back, uploaded, cleaned up, and got to Auburn, things were pretty well wrapped up for the evening. I like the socializing, but I was really glad for the chance to get to see more of the trail. We did the traditional perusal of the barns, drooling over the gorgeous horses (nothing like a barnful of athletes in tip-top shape), then headed back to Low Camp for the night.
Part 2: Tevis Prep and The Ride to follow…

splish-splash

/ Ashley Wingert / 5 Comments

I’ve mentioned the Salt River before, and the numerous trails around it. It’s becoming one of my favorite places to ride, not only for the abundance of different trail options, but also for the fact that the river is so accessible. In the summer, it actually makes riding in the heat feasible, even bordering on pleasant. (If you’re  a heat-conditioned desert rat who thinks anything below 70* is cold.)

I got to take Khan out yesterday on the Stewart Mountain loop. Decently early start, lots of water, semi-cloud cover, breezes on the ridgeline, and artificial breezes from trotting and cantering the washes made for a pleasant ride.

Wading in the river with the horses when we were almost finished made for a great cool-down, and the chance to just have some fun and enjoyment.

looking down at the Salt River
such a good, fun boy to ride

on the ridgeline, looking out to Saguaro Lake

This was my first time really going into water with a horse. Mimi and I have done stream crossings, and she’s gone maybe mid-cannon-deep into the river when I’ve taken her there, but she’s never been what I would consider fond of water.

It was a blast! We didn’t actually swim — Khan likes standing in the water, but not keen on the swimming idea — but we went wading until it was about chest-deep on Khan. It was a great way to cool off both horses and riders, and based on the splashing and pawing, the horses seemed to enjoy it too.

Ride Story: Bill Thornburgh Friends & Family Ride 30 & 25

/ Ashley Wingert / 4 Comments

(Only two months late…)

My 2013 ride season has come full circle. I started the year in January with the Fire Mountain ride on Kaity’s horse Kody. Last weekend (last weekend being the last weekend of October), I did what is likely my last riding ride of the season (since I’m committed to working the McDowell ride next month) on Kody. As in January, our purpose was again companionship and babysitting of “greenie-brain” Ani, Kaity’s up-and-comer.

In between January and now, Kody has done three 100s, including Tevis and Virginia City. Needless to say, I felt very privileged to get to ride Kaity’s Tevis!pony.

I also decided against a repeat of the tire incident from the Fire Mountain trip and elected to fly out to Kaity’s this time. (Turns out this was also more economical than filling my gas guzzler.) I flew out bright and early Tuesday morning on a packed Southwest flight, stuffed my bags in Kaity’s car, and we zoomed back up the hill to her place, with stops along the way for Starbucks, pony food, and girl food. (Did you know you can fit two girls, two suitcases, two sacks of feed and a dozen grocery bags into a four-door Chevy car? Neither did I. But you can.)

Packing and prep went without incident, including being warm enough to give the boys a bath. (“Woe is us,” says Kody and Ani.) We pulled out of Kaity’s mid-morning on Friday with one very stuffed truck and trailer, since apparently packing for two girls + two ponies + two days = a lot of stuff.

The Bill Thornburgh ride is located in Inyokern, about 2-1/2 hours or so from Kaity’s place. That is, if 395 isn’t shut down due to a shooting/police chase in Ridgecrest that detoured us out and around the long way. We did go through Red Rocks State Park, so got some pretty scenery.

Just a small sampling of the pretty. If we didn’t
have Places To Be, I would have loved to explore.

Once we checked in and got our rider packets, we set up camp (weather was nice enough to tent camp this time), then took the boys out for a leg stretcher. Since I’d flown out, I decided against trying to wrangle my own saddle through the airport, instead electing to ride in Kaity’s FreeForm. I’d had a chance to do a couple of short training rides in a FreeForm this summer, and didn’t dislike it as a saddle. And I figured I could put up with almost anything for 25 miles…but it would be nice to know what I was in for by doing a short pre-ride.

Turns out that once you get the stirrup length right and the stirrup position/leg hang right, the FreeForm is wonderful. Not to spoil the ending, but this is the first ride I’ve ever done where I haven’t come off of the weekend with tight, crunchy calves. Two back-to-back days with lots of trotting and I felt fantastic. One of them has definitely been added to my wish list.

Derp faces all around.

Kaity and Ani on our Friday leg-stretcher ride.

We vetted the boys in after our pre-ride, and Kody vetted in “nearly dead” with a pulse of 30(!). We also continued our trend of completely sucking at trot-outs. (At least we provide entertainment, since it was soft sand and I thought I might fall down at least once.) The rest of the afternoon was spent packing the crew bag and hauling it back to the vetting area — camp was about a block and half away from the check-in/vetting area, so we treated it like an “out check” with everything at the check area instead of traipsing back and forth to the trailers.

Per the ride meeting, we would have two loops: Loop one was 11 miles out to the water/number-check/turn-around point, and back on an approximately parallel track into the check for a half-hour hold, then back out for a 9-mile short loop. Vet criteria was 56. It was warm and ponies were woolly, but there was lots of water along the way, with enough to sponge/scoop, and as far as I know, there were no treatments and only a few minor pulls over the two days. And the start time was an incredibly civilized 8AM. 
Every other time, I sleep like the dead. But for whatever reason, the Friday night before a ride is usually more like zombie-apocalypse restless dead, and this Friday was no exception. Not made any easier by the water truck pulling up right outside our tent and re-filling the giant water trough that we had so conveniently parked right next to. Sleep happened, but it didn’t seem like it at the time. I’m also not used to this “sleeping in” concept, so was up before the alarm, slowly pulling on my riding clothes and shivering.

Surprisingly, the typical “Battle of the Breakfast” was not a part of the day’s scheduled programming. I was able to eat a yogurt, a hard-boiled egg, a banana, coffee, and juice without any protest and/or mental trickery.

The boys got festively adorned with Halloween decor all around.

Kody’s witch hat and mane clips
The boys ready to go.

Ani’s pumpkin heads and mane clips
glittery spider on the tail

And us riders didn’t do too bad in the festivity department, either.

Orange in my helmet, tights, and Kody’s boots
Kaity wins (this time) for most orange, an honor (?) usually
taken by myself

Ride start was a very civilized 8AM, IIRC. (I think…I stopped this partway through, and am picking up writing it again two months later.)

dust cloud of the rest of the pack ahead of us

We casually meandered out of camp, pretty much the last ones to leave, and tiptoed past the scary stuff along the road. (The usual suspects: tires, trashcans, other horses, barking dogs.)

And then we were on the trail, and this series of photos shows a pretty good idea of what the next 11 miles to the turnaround point looked like:

turnaround point is a water stop just past those vehicles

Yup…flat, straight, sandy. I was warned ahead of time that the Inyokern rides are “good ones to do with a good riding buddy.” And it’s true. Kaity and I chattered and laughed pretty much non-stop through both days. To me, at least, I found the scenery to be interesting and pretty, since it’s a different desert than my desert. I was on a good horse, the weather was good…and flat, fast trails are their own challenge, since you the rider have to consciously think about things like changing gait, changing positions, and making sure you and your horse don’t get sore from the “sameness” of it.

at the turnaround point…Kody noms alfalfa
while I rummage for something
(probably food)

lava flow — we rode right at the base of it to the turnaround
me-n-Kody, heading back after the turnaround point

Kaity and Ani on the trail back to camp, part of which was an
old railbed trail

baby pistachio trees

heading back into camp for lunch

shabby view, eh?

monitoring the hoover’s food intake at lunch

I don’t remember how long lunch was — 30 minutes, maybe? I just remember thinking, “Ugh, not long enough.” I don’t like having to eat that fast…but whatever. The thing about riding with Kaity is she makes sure I take care of myself — “Are you drinking?” “Are you eating?” “Ash, leave the horse alone and sit down and eat.” Yes, ma’am. So I sat. And I ate. Bologna/cheese sandwich, tapioca pudding, Kern’s nectar.

And then it was time to put bridles on, tighten girths, and head back out. (Yes, I used the big water trough for a mounting block. No, I did not fall in. Yes, this is considered a bloggable accomplishment.)
Loop two was shorter — approximately 8 or 9 miles…whatever made up the balance of mileage after the first loop (22ish miles) to get the distance up to a 30.
And loop two was fun.
It was a lot of single track, which Kody and I lead through at a great, zoomy canter. (Hey, cantering through the desert…I feel almost like a real endurance rider!)
skeeery tire. brave Kody had to lead past it.

more pistachios

the start of the really fun single track

I’ll let the next series of photos speak for itself. This section of the loop was gorgeous, with the Sierras always in sight.

And then we were out on a road that paralleled Hwy 395…

And then turning off onto part of the trail we had pre-ridden the day before…
And then we were done! Both boys pulsed down immediately, giving Kaity and I finishing places of 12th and 13th, respectively. (Out of 18. Started dead last and still made up a few placings.)

(photo actually from Friday pre-ride, but you
get the idea…snorkeling pones)

And then we took advantage of the perks of riding the LD: shower, sit in the sunshine, nibble on snacks. Watch exhausted (uh huh…) ponies nap.

poor 100-mile pone, exhausted after 30 miles…not

Ride dinner was delicious…tri-tip with all the appropriate sides. (Beans, corn on the cob, salads, and a huge dessert table.) Day one completion awards were t-shirts, and Kaity won a Halloween bucket of goodies for “Best Coordinated Horse and Rider”.

Fortunately, I made up for my Friday sleep deficit on Saturday night, and it probably would have taken something running over the tent to actually wake me up.
Sunday morning was a repeat of Saturday, food-wise, and Halloween decorations were once again installed on pones. (Except Kody lost one of his little witch hats from his mane somewhere along the way.)
Sunday’s trail headed us out in the vaguely same direction as Saturday — towards the lava flow — but we paralled Hwy 395 for a while before peeling off, doing some loops through the desert, and coming back in the same way.
even more orange today…

Lather, rinse, repeat for lunch…

And then back out on the same loop two as Saturday. More cantering, more views. And because we knew where all the dips and soft spots were, we made better time.

photo by Tony Wilkie

We finished in 12th and 13th again, out of 24 on Sunday’s ride. And Kaity and Ani won the overall LD horse of excellence award for the weekend!

The boys got to snooze in the sunshine while we packed up camp — the wind had really picked up, and predicted to get worse, so we wanted to head back before Hwy 395 got closed due to blowing dust.
We got back to Kaity’s early enough to unload the boys, clean up, then head out for Mexican food and obligatory celebratory margaritas!
 I still had a couple of days to spend at Kaity’s, and we filled the time with things like off-roading with Kaity’s boyfriend KC:

And admiring the high desert mountain weather:

And the general, life-enjoying shenanigans that Kaity and I manage whenever we get together. Woe, as always, that we live in two different states, but glad, as always, that I’ve got such an awesome friend that shares in the craziness of endurance, horses, and life.

pre-ride shakedown cruise…for the rider

/ Ashley Wingert / 2 Comments

Today involved a fantastic, 18-mile ride on Khan again with Lancette. Parts of it were entirely new-to-me trail, as well as reinforcement of some trails previously ridden. (It’s an area of criss-crossing and intersecting trails, sand washes, and service roads — keep heading in the general direction of your intended destination and you’ll probably get there in some form or fashion.)

It was good timing, too — one last big ride before next weekend’s Man Against Horse ride. I’ve stayed in good riding shape all summer, so I wasn’t concerned about that part. But I did have some new gear I wanted to thoroughly test out before going into a ride environment, including new stirrup leathers.

new stirrup leathers passed the mileage test

I’ve been riding in Zilco leathers, but the stirrup bars on my saddle make it impossible to ride with the buckle at the bar — the pressure point it creates on my thighs is pretty uncomfortable after a short while. I can get around that by rotating the leathers so that the buckle is at the bottom, on the stirrup top bar. The downside to this is the flopping tail of stirrup leather, solved by covering the whole apparatus with fleece stirrup leather covers. The problems with this set-up: It’s harder to adjust the stirrup length, which I frequently need to do depending on the horse I’m riding, and the fleece adds extra bulk under my leg.

A couple of weeks ago, on a whim, I ordered a pair of stirrup leather from Schneiders Saddlery. They’re the kind with the buckles riveted to the top of the leather, and they’re supposed to be thin and low-profile and not bulky. The price didn’t exactly break the bank, and if they didn’t do exactly as I hoped for log-term use…well, it never hurts to have an extra pair of stirrup leathers around.
They passed last weekend’s arena test, although I recognized that an hour in the arena wasn’t anywhere near the kind of workout a good distance ride will give them. I’m happy to report today’s ride did just that. Ton of trotting and cantering, ups and downs, twisty single-track and wide-open roads. How I feel tomorrow morning will be the ultimate test, but I didn’t feel the buckles under my thigh while riding, and I don’t have any soreness or bruising now. It was kind of nice to be able to ditch the fleece covers — that much less between my leg and the horse now. The leathers are nylon-lined to prevent them from stretching, and they have some nice “give” to them, so I wasn’t feeling any shin pressure either.
I’m definitely comfortable enough to leave them on the saddle and do the ride next weekend in them. I’ll probably bring the fleece covers just in case, but if I did 18 miles without a problem, it’s only 7 more miles for the 25.
wild horses at the trailhead

We saw a number of wild horses today! Apparently there are bands of them that live down by the river. I’d heard of them, but until today, I’d never seen them. We came across them three different times today, and I think it was three different bands. They were vaguely curious about us, but very wary and preferred to move away from us when in doubt. It was fascinating to watch the stallions do their rear-guard duty, and the body language between the herd members.

They all looked healthy, so whatever they’re living on out there, they’re doing okay.

Lancette and “Hot Lips” playing in the river.

We went down to the river as the halfway point and gave the horses and drink and sponging. I never get tired of river-time and it will always remain a novel concept to this desert rat.

The river was running really clear today, clear enough to see to the bottom.

Obligatory response photo for those who say
“hoof boots can’t do water.”

I sank Khan’s Renegades in about 3′ of water for a good 10 minutes, then we turned around and went back up the sand wash, up a very steep, rocky climb (which we trotted the last part), and then took off trotting down a service road. Boots didn’t budge the entire time.

It’s like a “Where’s Waldo?” photo.
Can you find the hidden shoe?

Right about the time I was admiring how crystal-clear the water was, and how it would make for a great “boots in water” shot, I looked over to the side and saw a horseshoe wedged under a river rock. In the photo, it’s below the center of the photo, just above the blobby bits of green underwater vegetation.

One of the more unusual bits of river debris I’ve encountered. Much more typical is beer cans.

Horse ears. Sunshine. River.
Some views never get old.

The river was absolutely gorgeous today. Running a bit higher and faster as a result of monsoon season, but there is a great area to water the horses that is quiet and shallow and sandy. There was a ton of loose water grass being carried with the current, and Khan greatly enjoyed reaching out and snagging the floating grasses. Yummy.

looking downstream on the Salt River

Pony time for me tomorrow, then before I know it, I will be Prescott-bound for Man Against Horse! I started some packing and organizing today when I got home, and will get more done tomorrow in the form of cleaning grubby tack after the pony gets done adding yet another layer of grunge to it.

a weekend of horses: Sunday edition

/ Ashley Wingert / Leave a comment

As if Saturday wasn’t enough fun, I got a message from A Saturday night asking if I wanted to come ride with her on one of her horses on Sunday. Of course!!!

Bonus points for the fact we were going to somewhat new-to-me trailhead: the newly-opened Brown’s Trailhead in the newest part of the Scottsdale Sonoran Preserve. Now, Dad and I used to ride the trails around Granite Mountain years ago back when he first got his mare Kelly. So I was somewhat familiar with the east side of what is now preserve land, but we’d never gotten as far west as the new trailhead.

I was distracted (fitting and booting horses, tacking up, trying to beat the heat), so didn’t think to get pics of the trailhead…so I will the next time. But until then, just take my word for it: It’s cool. They even have a concrete horse trough with a drain in it, so you turn it on and get nice, fresh, (somewhat) cool water when you want to water your horse, versus a slimy, overheated, nasty trough.

And it looks like there are a ton of trails there too. We did what was I think about a 9-mile loop and barely put a dent in the trail availability. Definitely want to come back here again.

A offered me her very experienced endurance gelding Majik to ride. Fun, fun horse! He’s bold, dominant, and forward, the kind that, as long as he knows you know how to sit up and ride, he’s wonderful. Those are my favorite kind of horses to ride, so we had a great time together.

Bringing up the rear of the Endurance Parade.
(Yes, riding yet another Grey Arabian Gelding.)

 I also got to try A’s Lovatt & Ricketts (Arabian Saddle Company) Sylvan, which is their all-purpose, fewer-rings-than-endurance-saddles model. An ASC has also been on my “want to test” list after sitting on a Rubicon in a store…I like these saddles. Will definitely consider one of them in the future.

Balancing Rock

 It was a small group of four of us riding, and we took turns swapping positions, trading off who was leading, or in the back. Great group that all got along well and had a really fun time.

desert in bloom

I love this north Scottsdale/Rio Verde area. I’ve been coming up here to ride, off-and-on, for the past 13 years, and I’m still not tired of it. The only reason it doesn’t qualify as my favorite spot to ride is it is a little more out of the way than the San Tans. But in terms of overall views and amount of trails available, I have to give this area the nod.

Trail obstacle. We had to go between the rock and the tree.

So, a very horsey-filled weekend that left me with a smile on my face and some muscles that are in that much better shape for the fast-approaching fall ride season.