Pre-ACTHA Trail Ride

 

Not sure if anyone has missed me around the blogging world, but I’m sorry I’ve been MIA. My kids and I have been sick since Monday with horrible head and chest colds, hubby came home from Phoenix for a few days and then flew back, and it’s snowed several times….the last storm, on Valentine’s Day left behind almost a foot of snow with drifts up to 16” deep.

The scary thing about this new snowfall, is that it covered up the ice patches on the northern sides of the trees and buildings, that still hadn’t melted from the 3 snowstorms and blizzards we received in December, and this makes for some treacherous walking, because you never know if you’ll end up hitting one of those ice patches under this new snow, and end up on your butt. I was really grateful John was home the day after the storm, so he could take care of the llamas, goats and horse, while I took care of the chickens.

Anything more, and I was exhausted and felt even more sick. And going up the steps to the winter feeding station, was like taking your own life in your hands.

 

But enough of the misery. I want to share some of the highlights of last weekend…and there were many!

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On Saturday about 15 ACTHA competitors and judges rode the trails in San Lorenzo Canyon.

That’s me in the red vest on the grey horse, in the middle of the photo below. D is out there in front.

Even Andrew, Bandito was there, too!(and I took my Dobbie girl, as usual, but she was too busy exploring and playing with all the other dogs there, to pose for a photo)

And I rode D’s wonderful mare Splendor again.

Some of us dressed up in Valentines Day colors in preparation for the next day’s Sweethearts of San Acacia ACTHA Trail Ride.

This gal, Peggi and her 4 yr old gelding, Tuff drove up from the Carlsbad, NM area to compete in the ACTHA ride. I wonder if all horses from Carlsbad have heart antennae? That’s Peggi’s hubby in the background, wearing the denim jacket, jumping down from the rock ledge into the sandy arroyo, with some pointers from D.

I had ordered a special helmet cover just for these two rides and was excited to wear it.

My friend Trish, from Santa Fe, who would also be judging an obstacle the next day, was riding, too, on, Lil Dude. (I love that you can see Spa Cliffs in the far distance, just to the right of Trish’s back)

And my friend from Carlsbad, Dora, was also riding, on Ladrone.

This ACTHA competitor was riding her horse, a cute Icelandic.

And after we returned to the trailers at the end of the ride, my friend Shelley had the opportunity to ride this little ice pony and experience the Tolt. She was pretty thrilled! (That’s Shelley’s Fox Terrier pup, Grommit. My Dobbie and he have loads of fun playing together when we all go back to our motel room at night. lol!)

Anna aka DunAppy, another ACTHA competitor, from the Grant’s area of New Mexico, was riding her young mare, Baby Girl.

We covered some of the same trail that I rode during the Poker Ride a few weeks ago.

This photo below was taken on top of that little ridge in the photo above. You can see me and Splendor near the edge, in front of my friend Trish, over on the right. New friend, Peggi and her hubby Robert in the center. (This photo was taken by my friend LuAnne from atop her cute gelding Tippy)

We had a lot of fun, and lots of laughter, too. (Friend, Dora with a heart sticker on her cheek. And new friends, Peggi and her husband, hiding, from Carlsbad, NM)

 

Friend Nancy on the left, friend Dora, on the right and my friend Shelley, in the center, riding her mustang, America’s Favorite Trail Horse(AFTH), Macho of Santa Fe (he has his own FB page, too!)

Lots of uphills and downhills, interesting terrain and gorgeous views. Many opportunities to spread out and make it your own ride.

Lots of mostly flat, sandy arroyos to travel through, too.

 

Sometimes, in the arroyos, we had to hop up onto rock ledges to travel farther down into the canyon.

This photo is one of my favorites taken that day. We had just climbed up from that sandy wash way down below, up to the ridge where Splendor and I were standing, taking this photo. Without the riders to give some perspective, it just wouldn’t have been as interesting.

D even took us to the beautiful and photogenic petrified sandstone bluffs again so everyone could take a turn to travel over a section of the slippery sand. Like Splendor and I below, waiting our turn.

(The gal in front of me, Nancy is 70 years old, a talented rider, and lots of fun to be around. She shared a motel room with Trish, Shelley and I on Saturday night. Nancy rides her mare Aspen, who was voted in last year as the official Pet Mayor of Corrales. And Nancy is a member of the Corrales Horse and Mule People (CHAMP) organization. I’ve mentioned Nancy before on my blog in the Corrales Horse Parade w/ video (the 3rd, 4th and 5th photos, she and Aspen led the parade), and in the CHAMP Obstacle Trail Clinic (she’s in the background of the 6th and the 16th photos). It was a huge honor for me to have the opportunity to ride with Nancy and her mare Aspen.

Here’s Splen Splen and I taking our turns on the Sandstone bluffs. (photo taken by my friend Marilyn, with my camera)

  

(Photo taken by my friend D, with his own camera)

 

(Photo taken by Marilyn) Here Splendor is saying, “I can do this with my eyes closed. Easey Peasey”

This photo was taken by D.

(And this last one was taken by my friend Marilyn)

My friend Marilyn had forgotten her camera that day, so I offered her mine. She took lots of photos of the trail, other riders, and me, too, because I wanted to focus on keeping Splendor moving at a faster pace.

Splendor typically moves at a relaxed walk because she’s an old pro at these types of trails. This is really nice most of the time, but she tends to go agonizingly slow down the steep downhill sections, which can cause back-ups with the other riders.

I wanted to keep her walking faster, and doing more trotting and cantering. It’s really a blast to canter up the steep sections!

It was strange not having my camera in my horn bag, but it was cool seeing the ride through Marilyn’s eyes from behind the lens.

You just never know when someone will take a photo of you on a trail ride. lol! This one was taken by a gal named LuAnne. She drove up to San Acacia with her gelding, all the way from southwest Texas!

My friend Trish took this one with her own camera. This is the start of a very steep downhill section.

We also rode through many different washes and arroyos, too. Some parts required hopping from rocks down to lower sections.

It was comfortably warmer in those washes and arroyos, while the upper terrain was colder and windier.

In this video you can hear how windy it was on the trail as we wound through a more open and exposed arroyo.

 

Saturday was a really fun day with lots of great friends, horses and horseback riders covering about 6 miles through some interesting, challenging and beautiful terrain.

(Do you see the Moon Baby face, behind Shelley’s dog Grommit, looking up towards the sky, in Neptune Canyon?)

Do you see the Moon Baby now?

And the end of the ride, many of us enjoyed some free-spirited cantering down the sandy wash near the horse trailers before loading up and heading back to San Acacia. (See the horse trailers down below)

While we all planned for the next day, Sunday, which promised to be another new and exciting adventure: The Sweethearts of San Acacia ACTHA Competitive Trail Ride! Which I would not only be judging an obstacle (#4), but also getting the opportunity to ride the entire trail to reach my obstacle. This was a big deal for me, and some of the other judges, too. In the past when I’ve judged an ACTHA ride, judges were typically driven out to their obstacles via ATV, jeep or truck. But the trails we would be using for the Sweethearts CTR are pretty rugged and aren’t able to be accessed by vehicle. But for those judges that couldn’t or didn’t want to ride that day, there were two obstacles, the first (#1) and the last (#6) that could be driven, too. But where’s the fun in that?

(Next post: Sweethearts of San Acacia ACTHA CTR)