Through a Wind Tunnel!

 

After the Ball Drag obstacle we hopped into the mule and focused on following the Pink Trail which meant keeping our eyes pealed to find the pink ribbons and spray paint plastered to cholla cactus and juniper bushes across the vast King Ranch. Our next obstacle I chose to photograph would be The Tara Tunnel, or Obstacle #7. We did manage to get lost a time or two but still made it to the obstacle before all but two of the riders.   

 

One of the “mounted” Safety Riders thought he would attempt the obstacle riding his own mule.

 

The wind was even worse at this location because it seemed to come down a small hill into a sort of bottleneck chute, which gave it even more force. The Tara Tunnel was supposed to be a tunnel made using a tarp draped over 4 fence sections, but the tarp was blown so strongly that not only did it threaten to blow away, but it made fierce popping noises and would come down and strongly smack anyone and anything that tried to walk through. It’s doubtful that even the best and bravest trail horses would have dealt well with that, and for that matter, why should we ask them to?

Anyway, Karen and Cheryl, the two judges did their best trying to remain standing, as they were buffeted by the gusts all day.  

 

Our location did provide a forewarning of each group of riders’ arrival.

 

The horses and riders did a great job with this obstacle, despite the winds, and only a couple riders didn’t complete the obstacle.

 

 

In fact, most horses didn’t give it a second thought about entering the jigging white fence panel tunnel with blowing white cloths on all 4 corners, nor walking across the bright silver tarp.

 

 

The only object that got a few of the horses concerned was that row of rocks at the exit of the tunnel.

 

 

Still, the majority of the horses were willing to walk through and some were quite forward about it with a “Let’s get this over with” attitude.

 

 

This was one of the horses that said, “Um, that’s nice. You go on ahead. I think I’ll just watch from here.”

 

And this was the other horse that refused to walk through. He would rather practice side passing and fancy foot moves instead of proceeding forward.

 

The wind was kicking up the dust so thickly that it was challenging to see who the next riders were. But that polka dot spotted horse, with her side saddle rider, could be no other than Lady Bug from Dun Appy.

 

And it was easy to see how thrilled Dawn was to have convinced her high spirited, opinionated Arabian mare to prance her way through the tunnel. But they did it!

 

And it was a piece of cake for Lady Bug and Dun Appy, too.

 

I just had to take a photo of this photogenic four. You can read about Dun Appy’s personal experiences riding the CTC on her blog: Blue Water Rangerbreds

 

Soon another group of riders and horses sauntered down the hill towards us.

 

And my buddy, Matt, from the New Mexico Mounted Search and Rescue, whom I almost didn’t recognize because he was riding his Arabian. His other horse is a huge and handsome Clydesdale. Matt later joked with me that he chose to ride his Arabian on Saturday because then he could take refuge from the wind behind other riders. When he rides his Clydesdale, everyone seeks shelter behind them, whether it be wind or sun. lol!

He did ride his Clydesdale on Sunday and I made sure to take some good photos.

 

Then it was time for Theresa and Zeema to stroll through the tunnel. Easey Peasey.

 

And afterwards I couldn’t help myself. My camera just loves that horse.

 

K, one of the two Junior Riders that day had to work hard to convince her TB to enter the tunnel.

 

But they did it! And the extreme joy and satisfaction from a job well done made this photo one of my favorites from the entire weekend.

 

 

 

 

Another joyful rider proud of her horse. Love it!

 

 

And about 20 minutes later the last group of riders sashayed down the hill towards us.

Notice the side saddle gal on the left riding her lovely Arabian gelding. And Danny is on the right riding his beautiful Arabian mare. And that’s one of the safety riders, Joe, on his PMU Draft cross gelding.

 They went through the tunnel without a hitch.

 

Pleasure riders only had to ride straight through, but Open riders had to not only walk straight through, they had to stop at the rocks and then back out of the tunnel. I was impressed how easily this talented rider made that task look, especially while riding side saddle.

 

Danny and his horse rode through in style as usual.

 

Then it was time for Jessica and her rescued palomino gelding to put everyone else to shame.

 

Same for her partner, Charles and his 2 year old paint gelding. I teased them later asking them if the two of them and their horses enjoyed a margarita cocktail hour before the ride started. lol!  They were just so calm and relaxed the entire day.

 

Then Theresa’s hubby, Joe, one of the New Mexico Mounted Search and Rescue Safety Riders, humored me a little and rode through the obstacle, too. His handsome boy is another horse I enjoy photographing, but Joe had to hold him back as he was ready to be done with the ride and obstacles and head back to the camp.

 And finally, Saturday’s CTC Ride had come to a close. The winners received their ribbons and prizes. Jax helped me burn photos onto CDs and we ended up selling 8 that first day, not including 2 of the Halloween photo CDs from last October’s CTC. Not too bad. It was time to head back home, take a deep, power-wash shower to remove the imbedded sand (Yeah, You should have seen my dirt mustache!), and get a good night’s sleep, so I could wake up and do it again on Sunday.

And this was my favorite photo on Saturday. It’s Dun Appy riding side saddle on her beautiful Lady Bug.

Note: I did use PhotoScape to remove some fence posts, a pile of manure, and a couple of the buildings in the background, but otherwise I left the photo alone.  You can see the original over at Dun Appy’s blog: Blue Water Rangerbreds