Fort Stanton Ride

The second day of our weekend down in southern New Mexico, we decided to ride at Ft. Stanton.

There are wonderful facilities here for equestrians, and every summer, a couple hundred endurance riders flock to Ft. Stanton to do a multi-day endurance race. There are many miles of trails on varying terrain to keep endurance riders very happy.

There is no official parking area, but you can park just about anywhere. There are some official campsites, but for the most part, you just pull your rig in and set up camp.

Here we all are parked for the day.

I led the way the entire day as Judith and Dana had never ridden at Ft. Stanton before and weren't familiar with the trails. I had ridden at Ft. Stanton a few times, and even though it had been a few years, I have a photographic memory for locations and directions. So, with a map and my GPS, we rode onwards and upwards!

Apache and I with the Capitan Gap and Capitan Mountains in the back ground.

There were many beautiful views the higher we rode.

Taking a rest and checking my map.

Apache and I with the Capitan Mountains in the background.



Trail Selfie

Up we go!

A photo I took of Judith and Bucket with the Capitan Mountains as their backdrop.

Apache and I with the snow-covered White Mountains as our backdrop.

Apache enjoying the view, too!

Judith and Dana riding uphill.

Enjoying the views out across Ft. Stanton.

Dana smiled most of the day. Can't really blame her with incredible vistas like this!

Riding into the sky!

Eventually we rode back down from the high ridges and into the actual Fort itself, where we rode past some of the old historic buildings.

And we crossed the Rio Bonito.

And let our horses stop for a drink.

And then we rode past some of the old houses that residents of the Fort lived in.

And we even rode past a very spooky resident!

I decided to take everyone to the old Chapel for some photos.

Dana and Blaze in front of the Chapel.

Judith and Bucket in front of the Chapel.

Apache and I in front of the Chapel.

Great close-up shot showing all the amazing stonework on the Chapel.

Then we rode through the old Fort.

What fun it was to explore on horseback, imagining the cavalry and previous residents of Fort Stanton doing the same years ago.

Between the Ears Fort Stanton.

Apache and I inside Fort Stanton

Dana and Blaze inside Fort Stanton.

Then we headed up the road past the old Merchant Marine Cemetery.

And connected back up with the trail system again.

As we were riding back towards the trailhead, clouds were moving in and the temps grew bitter cold. But the sky was gorgeous!

We rode back across Rio Bonito, several miles north of our last river crossing.

In the distance, is the equestrian parking area and trailhead. We were glad to get back as the sun was low and the temps had dropped and winds had picked up. We had been in the saddle for over 4 hours and 11 miles. But it was an awesome day!

Apache was a tired pony!

 Life is Good!!

Capitan Trail Ride, Visit with Friends and Riding a Friesian

Before Christmas, my friends Annette, Shelley annd Jill, who live near Ruidoso, NM, invited my friend Barb and I to come down for a visit and ride with them. Annette offered her gelding Luke for me to ride and Shelley offered her other gelding to Barb to ride. It had been cold and snow had fallen just a week before, but this day was warm and sunny with temps close to 60F. We met up with our friends in Capitan at the equestrian camping area. While Barb and I waited we played on an ice sculpture someone created by leaving a hose on. I thought it rather strange, though, to leave water running, considering we do live in a desert state that suffers from drought. But we still enjoyed playing on the ice sculpture.

Barb being silly.

Me, Annette, Shelley and Barb. Jill took the photo. We are all members of Cloud Riders of NM and were all wearing our Cloud Rider hoodies.

The name of this trail made me miss my Apache mare back at home.

Annette, Barb, Shelley and Jill way up front.

Me on Luke and Annette on her Friesian mare, Katja. Jill on her palomino.

Luke really liked to lead.

Shelley, Barb and Annette following behind.

Annette, Shelley, Barb and Jill.

Barb and I.

Stopping for lunch beside the river. Jill, Annette, me and Shelley.

Barb and the gelding she loaned from Shelley.

Beautiful river to sit beside and enjoy our lunch.

Enjoying our lunch beside the river. Shelley, Barb, Jill and Annette.

Annette and I beside the river.

By the end of the day Barb was wanting to shoot Shelley's gelding for refusing to cross water and threatening to buck several times. lol!

Annette is a beautiful person both inside and out. She is always smiling.

One of many water crossings that day.

Jill went back into the water to try and help convince both of Shelley's geldings to cross the river. They both refused.

So Barb got her feet wet in the cold water and led her horse across.

And Shelley had to get her feet wet, too.

And then we rode uphill.

And then downhill.

And the across the meadow.....

And through the woods............

And over the river.............

Such a pretty river. Barb and Shelley were glad there was a bridge over the river. hehe.

Riding beside the river......

Ooops. Another water crossing.

Barb and Shelley got their feet wet again. Naughty ponies!

Oh my! Another water crossing!!!

Time for Barb and Shelley to get their feet wet again. By this time, their boots and jeans were soaked. And Barb was getting very annoyed. Bad ponies!!

Thankfully, we were almost at our final destination......

Time to tie up our ponies......

And then go explore!

Beautiful waterfalls!

Shelley and Barb crossed the river to explore the waterfalls, since their boots were already soaked.

Cloud Riders!! Me, Annette, Shelley and Barb.

Me, Annette, Shelley and Barb.

I hope to come back to these lovely waterfalls during the summer so I can swim in that beautiful grotto. But for now, it was time to get our ponies and head back. Crawling past a tricky, slippery section.

Barb taking a photo of me, taking a photo of her.

Riding back down the trail.

Luke happy and eager to lead up the steep jeep road trail.

Annette and her lovely Friesian, Katja following behind.

Gorgeous views of the Capitan mountains and Capitan Gap, as we climb higher.

The sun was dropping lower in the sky, giving everything a warm glow.

When we got back to the horse trailers, I asked Annette if I could ride her Friesian mare, Katja. I was thrilled when she said yes!

Katja was such a sweet girl letting me ride her after we'd just finished a 4 hour trail ride. She was so good, and so sweet. Riding her felt like riding a very comfortable fancy sofa. haha!

We rode off into the sunset together! Riding a Friesian was on my bucket list, so this was the cherry on top of such a special day!

But the day wasn't over yet! Annette and her husband invited everyone over for dinner at their house after the ride.

Such a great day with good friends and wonderful equines! Life is Good!