Horse Camping ~ The Final Ride ~ Frolic in the Pond

 

On Sunday morning, as soon as I woke up, I went to visit with Apache and saw that she was still lame. She was much improved from the night before and even trotted with the other horses in her field, but when she walked, I could see that she still favored that left front leg as she gimped around, holding it to the side.

(Bella, Rosie, Etta Bay, Jake and Apache)

So, after enjoying a delicious french toast breakfast, we all went out to the paddocks to get our horses, and I was invited to ride either Bella or Rosie. I chose Rosie, just because I’ve ridden her many times before and I was comfortable riding her. I was also hoping our group would do a little trotting and cantering, and I knew that Rosie has a lovely little floaty trot that’s easy to sit.

As soon as I got my saddle on Rosie and mounted up, we rode around the camp to warm up until everyone was ready. I have to admit that I still battle an unwelcome fear each and every time I tack up and mount a horse. For the first 10 minutes or so, I have to focus on pushing back my nervousness and try to refocus on getting comfortable in the saddle and maintaining my balance. I’m getting better each time, and the nervousness is much less than it used to be, but it annoys me that I still feel this way.

Before my injuries caused by Baby Doll, and even before I bought her, I was never afraid of riding a horse. I never felt afraid or nervous. My fears must have been slowly building each and every time I rode Baby Doll, when I was preparing for the crazy shenanigans that my mare would pull each and every ride; the bucks, the crow hops, the spins, the speedy back-ups, the pinned ears, the head flagging, the bolting, and the teleporting. Riding wasn’t as fun back then.

It’s not fair to my horse,  to be so nervous and afraid now. The horses I ride now have never done anything to scare me or purposefully try to hurt me. The horses that carry me now are kind, gentle, calm and willing.

My wish is that someday very soon I will tack and mount up my horse without even a shred of trepidation or nervousness.

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Sorry. I kind of got carried away with my thoughts.

Anyway, after 10 minutes of trotting and walking Rosie around our campsite and out into the field, I felt comfortable, calm and was ready to hit the trails.

We had a mission destination in mind: to visit with The Mother. But we had a long ride ahead of us, between 9-10 miles round trip, through the Carson National Forest, to reach her.

       

That’s my friend Loeta up ahead of Rosie and I. She is actually the part owner of Rosie, and she usually rides her adorable Paso Fino gelding, Profie, but he’s not been feeling very well and seems to have caught some kind of virus or bug. So she was riding the sweet, and rotund Bella. Some of you might remember Bella from the last ACTHA ride, when Bella babysat a ‘never-rode-a-horse-before’ 10 year old boy, nephew of my dear friend Renee. I was very impressed at how well Bella took care of him and gave him a huge amount of self-confidence, too. Such a good mare.

I enjoyed the view of Bella’s lovely dun butt for most of our entire ride on July 4th. Loeta and I stayed at the back of our group and our horses and the two of us had a great little routine going on: “Stop, munch, trot…..stop, munch, trot” That’s what we did when we rode in the meadows covered in tall grass and among the trees that hid apparently delicious scrub oak leaves.

The horses probably got the better deal, because we couldn’t find any plants that grew chocolate bars for us to eat, but I think Loeta and I both enjoyed the trotting to catch up each time we let our horses grab a few bites. After a while, we didn’t even need to cue our horses to catch up. As soon as we let them grab a bite, they bit off a mouthful and then moved right into a trot. It was rather fun!

Along the way through the forest, we came to a pond.

      

The dogs traveling with us took the opportunity for a nice cool dip.

And Deb’s handsome Thoroughbred, Winston, also a former rescue, took the opportunity to play.

It was also a good opportunity to water the horses and take a little rest.

Also a good place to take a few photos. This photo is of Bill and his soon-to-be-adopted rescue gelding, Pal. Bill wore his patriotical (my new word) cheerful, American flag on his hat the entire day. It was a wonderful reminder of Independence Day as we rode down the trails.

Bill took a photo of me and Rosie, too.

All in all, a very nice spot to visit.

The next pond we visited would prove to be much more…….uh...…adventurous.

(A sneak peek……that’s Colleen and her gelding Jake)

 

 

 

To Be Continued………………..