Oak Flats Group Ride

I'm not a huge fan of riding with large groups, but I did join a local riding group last year to participate in horse camping weekends. They also get together and do local rides, too. So, I thought I would show up for one on a Saturday this past summer.
The meeting location was Oak Flats and, since we live so close, Apache and I were the first ones there.  

We were all tacked up by the time the rest of the group members started to arrive.

(Note: Some of the photos in this post were taken by another member of the riding group)

After everyone got tacked up, we finally got on our way. There were 7 of us, 3 guys and 4 gals.

I always enjoy riding at Oak Flats, and this day did not disappoint. The trail was beautiful.

The energy of the group's horses was high and the other horses were moving fast trying to keep up with the horses in front of them. Apache and I like to avoid all that frenetic energy and we stay back and just relax.

Very early into the ride, there was a problem. The group's leader decided he wanted to leave Oak Flats and travel across a busy highway to ride in a different area called David Canyon.

Well, that's not what we signed up for. The ride was for Oak Flats, not David Canyon.

But I wasn't going to be the sourpuss and say anything, so we just trailed along.

But as the highway noise kept getting louder and we could see the cars speeding past on the highway above us, some of the riders in the group were feeling nervous about riding across that busy highway. We were to cross at a place called Deadman's Curve, if that doesn't sound ominous enough. The speed limit is 55 on this highway, and most cars go much faster than that.

Well, when we arrived at the crossing location and we were told that we would have to cross one at a time or in pairs, one of the ladies in our group refused to do it because she was riding a horse that didn't belong to her and she wasn't comfortable with the reaction that horse may have with other horses leaving it behind or with traffic racing towards it.

The rest of us women breathed a sigh of relief and agreed that we didn't want to cross the highway on our horses. So, we called across the highway that we were going to stay in Oak Flats (where the ride had originally been planned for) and they could go on without us. Essentially, we would be two separate groups.

Everyone seemed just fine with the decision and our two groups went on their separate ways, the 3 guys into David Canyon to ride, and the 4 ladies, into Oak Flats to ride.

Pine cones! Pine cones everywhere!

And I must admit that it was a lot more fun and enjoyable riding with just us women. The 3 men were riding hot headed gaited horses that had super high energy. And in fact, the leader was riding a stallion, that was extremely excited, constantly dancing around and calling out to other horses, especially mares. I was also relieved that we had created two separate groups.

We women had a great time chatting, laughing and just relaxing out on the trail together.

Apache and I got to lead some of the time, which was a lot of fun.

It was definitely a social ride and even though I tend to enjoy peace and quiet when I ride, instead of lots of chatter, it was nice to get to know these ladies.

And all of our horses got along just great and their energy level was calm and relaxed.

The day was gorgeous! Blue skies and sunshine.

But it did get really hot just after noon, so we chose to only ride about 6-7 miles that day, so we could be off the trails before it got much hotter.

We were grateful to ride in the shade of trees.

The trail had a few boulders to negotiate over and around. But I enjoy a trail with some obstacles.

We made our way up to the trailhead and parking area.

When we returned to the parking lot, there were a group of mountain bikers who asked us to take their photo. And then they offered to take ours. Score!

An awesome group photo of us four ladies and our wonderful horses!

They took two photos of us, and because I can't choose which photo I like better, I'm posting both of them...ha!

We had a fantastic ride and got back long before the guys did. It was great to get home and have the rest of the day left to get other stuff done, and to not have to ride during the hottest part of the day.

Life is Good!!