The Heat Is On
We thought we were going to luck out and miss the last hottest week of the year. We were in Utah and it hit 110+, we came home and it was (and is) still 110+.
I'm ready for Summer to be over.
The trip went excellent by the way. We got in three rides over the three days that we were up there (five days off, but it takes a day to drive up and a day to drive back). Thursday we were able to get a ride in with Grandpa. Chris was on Charm-N, Grandpa on Sassy, and I was on Cinnamon. My preferred mount, Ebony, is apparently up in the Tetons with my Uncle Jim doing one of the Rough Rider rides. Grandpa speculates that they golf more than they ride these years (apparently they stay at a resort or something). So I rode Cinnamon and swore to be just a passenger since I'm not supposed to be pushing it. Chris reminded me "lots of Lindahls have ridden that horse and not died, you just have to ride like one of them!" Which pretty much means just being a passenger.
The first ride was a bit short in distance. Charm-N made it across the first water crossing with a little rushing jump, but was not convinced that she had to cross the second one. It doesn't help that Charm-N is not terribly herd-bound. Last trip Ebony and I would get more than 30 ft or more ahead and she wouldn't even thing of changing pace to catch up. It's actually a good trait, but when you want the horse to "just follow" lack of herd-bound behavior tends to shoot a hole through that. We even had a pair of cowboys herding a dozen or so cattle come through and make the crossing and Charm-N still wasn't convinced she had to go across.
Chris and I eventually dismounted and I climbed aboard and had a nice conversation about why she really did have to cross the water and it really was much easier to just cross it than to try and push through my hands and go back down the trail. The slightly muddy footing didn't help much and neither did the little dip in one spot on the crossing (it was pretty flat going in in one section and then a little ledge appears if you go further rather than just straight into the water). She finally started to sniff the water, which eventually lead to her actually stepping into it. After that it was as if she's been crossing water her whole life. I took her through a couple times to be sure it was confirmed before dismounting. Grandpa had thoroughly enjoyed the "show" while sitting on a nice, soft bank of grass. We all re-mounted our respective horses and continued down the trail. Charm-N did excellent with the next two crossings, even the small, narrow one, and we called it a day after encountering some rather nasty deer flies that even got Charm-N to kick out a little in annoyance.
Cinnamon took the lead heading back. She wanted to just rush and it look a little to settle her into a nice walk. She definitely knew we were heading home because usually it takes some convincing before she will lead out, but no encouragement was required there.
Friday my grandparents headed back to California and Chris and I went out for another ride. Our parking spot at the trail head was a bit crowded so we parked lower and lead the horses to the trail head. As we approached Chris and Charm-N got a little ahead of me and I paused and asked "Chris, where's the saddle?" Chris was slightly confused, for a moment he wondered if he had indeed forgotten to put the saddle on. No, the saddle was technically on the horse, but it had rolled completely underneath Charm-N's belly! It definitely says she's a good horse as her stride did not change one bit as the thing slipped up under her belly.
We got the saddle straightened out (and tightened!) before mounting up and heading out. Since we didn't have Grandpa and Sassy Charm-N got to lead the whole time and she did excellent. She'd look at the water and pause slightly, but would march right across. We saw the cattle around the second water crossing, they were headed the opposite way and a bit further down Charm-N became quite aware of something and a deer appeared across the little valley we were in. She relaxed a bit after she saw what she'd been smelling. We also ran into some campers and heard an eagle or hawk.
There was one tricky spot as we came around the beaver dams. The trail isn't terribly wide, not much more than a game trail with the hill going up on one side and down about 20 feet or so to the beaver pond on the other. A little spring was coming out of the hill and created a bit of a muddy spot. Charm-N and Chris went through it fine, but Cinnamon shifted left (downhill) instead of going straight through and her hip slipped and we had a couple moments of wondering if we'd stay on the trail or not. I stayed out of her way and pushed her forward and we found our feet again.
As we neared the end Charm-N had a little spook, but came immediately back to herself (Chris said he didn't even touch the reins and from my view she had dug in quite hard so it was a little surprising that she came back so quickly). Cinnamon also startled, though I did have to take a little hold of her to keep her together, then Chris said "Oh, hello!"
I was slightly confused and then a deer bounded out from behind the bush not much more than ten feet away from Chris and Charm-N and headed back the way we had come.
Saturday's ride was pretty good, though we didn't see any deer we saw the cows again. The cows were a bit confused that we weren't herding them. They moved away from us and when they realized that we were just walking by they stopped and stared, wondering why they weren't being herded. Charm-N tried to follow a black cow and her calf (perhaps she thought they were her kind, she seems attracted to dark-colored horses at least!).
We saw a red-tailed hawk and ran into a dozen or so hikers. The horses were okay with them at first, but they got a bit nervous once the people stopped talking and the horses realized they were a bit surrounded. We had moved off the trail on the hill side to watch them pass. They all had large daypacks on and I think Cinnamon was set off by the clanging pots, Chris things Charm-N was slightly offended by their smell. It didn't help that as the horses started to get a little restless the people tried to scuttle by faster (they're moving in for the kill!). I asked them to please just stop and stand still, though it took a moment for them to realize I was talking to them and not the horses. Once they stopped moving the horses relaxed a little, and once they started talking they relaxed a bit more. They offered to stop and have us pass them, but I felt it was better if they walked by as I worried about the horses sucking their butts under once we got the hikers to our backs. So they marched by and the horses settled and we continued on our way.
We didn't do the full loop this time as we wanted to try and catch breakfast at Daniel's Summit. We did get some pictures and then headed back. The hikers actually moved out pretty well and kept ahead of us. Granted, had we kept the horses moving a bit more and not allowed for snacking we probably would have caught up.
Did I mention that the grass was up past Charm-N's chest in most places? They thoroughly enjoyed snack time along the trail.
Cinnamon and I
Chris and Charm-N
We enjoyed a really good breakfast and then went back to the ranch and got ready to head back in the morning. Chris offered to tack up Charm-N once we got back to the ranch so I could ride the good horse. It was tempting, but my seat bones were already a little sore and the draft saddle does not agree with my seat bones. That and we did need to get all the packing and such done and Charm-N had already done quite well for the trip.
Sunday we drove home. Yesterday we hid in the house. Today I taught three lessons, picked up some new panels, and have been hiding inside. I've also been working on "Fire Forged Key." The last week I managed to write a few good pages more on it and also have updated lemyes .
Last Monday Muss and I went over her manuscript and for some strange reason as I go over her stuff I get a little extra oomph and inspiration to work on my own writing. Now I just need to translate my scrawl as I did much of the writing on the drive, heh.
I'm ready for Summer to be over.
The trip went excellent by the way. We got in three rides over the three days that we were up there (five days off, but it takes a day to drive up and a day to drive back). Thursday we were able to get a ride in with Grandpa. Chris was on Charm-N, Grandpa on Sassy, and I was on Cinnamon. My preferred mount, Ebony, is apparently up in the Tetons with my Uncle Jim doing one of the Rough Rider rides. Grandpa speculates that they golf more than they ride these years (apparently they stay at a resort or something). So I rode Cinnamon and swore to be just a passenger since I'm not supposed to be pushing it. Chris reminded me "lots of Lindahls have ridden that horse and not died, you just have to ride like one of them!" Which pretty much means just being a passenger.
The first ride was a bit short in distance. Charm-N made it across the first water crossing with a little rushing jump, but was not convinced that she had to cross the second one. It doesn't help that Charm-N is not terribly herd-bound. Last trip Ebony and I would get more than 30 ft or more ahead and she wouldn't even thing of changing pace to catch up. It's actually a good trait, but when you want the horse to "just follow" lack of herd-bound behavior tends to shoot a hole through that. We even had a pair of cowboys herding a dozen or so cattle come through and make the crossing and Charm-N still wasn't convinced she had to go across.
Chris and I eventually dismounted and I climbed aboard and had a nice conversation about why she really did have to cross the water and it really was much easier to just cross it than to try and push through my hands and go back down the trail. The slightly muddy footing didn't help much and neither did the little dip in one spot on the crossing (it was pretty flat going in in one section and then a little ledge appears if you go further rather than just straight into the water). She finally started to sniff the water, which eventually lead to her actually stepping into it. After that it was as if she's been crossing water her whole life. I took her through a couple times to be sure it was confirmed before dismounting. Grandpa had thoroughly enjoyed the "show" while sitting on a nice, soft bank of grass. We all re-mounted our respective horses and continued down the trail. Charm-N did excellent with the next two crossings, even the small, narrow one, and we called it a day after encountering some rather nasty deer flies that even got Charm-N to kick out a little in annoyance.
Cinnamon took the lead heading back. She wanted to just rush and it look a little to settle her into a nice walk. She definitely knew we were heading home because usually it takes some convincing before she will lead out, but no encouragement was required there.
Friday my grandparents headed back to California and Chris and I went out for another ride. Our parking spot at the trail head was a bit crowded so we parked lower and lead the horses to the trail head. As we approached Chris and Charm-N got a little ahead of me and I paused and asked "Chris, where's the saddle?" Chris was slightly confused, for a moment he wondered if he had indeed forgotten to put the saddle on. No, the saddle was technically on the horse, but it had rolled completely underneath Charm-N's belly! It definitely says she's a good horse as her stride did not change one bit as the thing slipped up under her belly.
We got the saddle straightened out (and tightened!) before mounting up and heading out. Since we didn't have Grandpa and Sassy Charm-N got to lead the whole time and she did excellent. She'd look at the water and pause slightly, but would march right across. We saw the cattle around the second water crossing, they were headed the opposite way and a bit further down Charm-N became quite aware of something and a deer appeared across the little valley we were in. She relaxed a bit after she saw what she'd been smelling. We also ran into some campers and heard an eagle or hawk.
There was one tricky spot as we came around the beaver dams. The trail isn't terribly wide, not much more than a game trail with the hill going up on one side and down about 20 feet or so to the beaver pond on the other. A little spring was coming out of the hill and created a bit of a muddy spot. Charm-N and Chris went through it fine, but Cinnamon shifted left (downhill) instead of going straight through and her hip slipped and we had a couple moments of wondering if we'd stay on the trail or not. I stayed out of her way and pushed her forward and we found our feet again.
As we neared the end Charm-N had a little spook, but came immediately back to herself (Chris said he didn't even touch the reins and from my view she had dug in quite hard so it was a little surprising that she came back so quickly). Cinnamon also startled, though I did have to take a little hold of her to keep her together, then Chris said "Oh, hello!"
I was slightly confused and then a deer bounded out from behind the bush not much more than ten feet away from Chris and Charm-N and headed back the way we had come.
Saturday's ride was pretty good, though we didn't see any deer we saw the cows again. The cows were a bit confused that we weren't herding them. They moved away from us and when they realized that we were just walking by they stopped and stared, wondering why they weren't being herded. Charm-N tried to follow a black cow and her calf (perhaps she thought they were her kind, she seems attracted to dark-colored horses at least!).
We saw a red-tailed hawk and ran into a dozen or so hikers. The horses were okay with them at first, but they got a bit nervous once the people stopped talking and the horses realized they were a bit surrounded. We had moved off the trail on the hill side to watch them pass. They all had large daypacks on and I think Cinnamon was set off by the clanging pots, Chris things Charm-N was slightly offended by their smell. It didn't help that as the horses started to get a little restless the people tried to scuttle by faster (they're moving in for the kill!). I asked them to please just stop and stand still, though it took a moment for them to realize I was talking to them and not the horses. Once they stopped moving the horses relaxed a little, and once they started talking they relaxed a bit more. They offered to stop and have us pass them, but I felt it was better if they walked by as I worried about the horses sucking their butts under once we got the hikers to our backs. So they marched by and the horses settled and we continued on our way.
We didn't do the full loop this time as we wanted to try and catch breakfast at Daniel's Summit. We did get some pictures and then headed back. The hikers actually moved out pretty well and kept ahead of us. Granted, had we kept the horses moving a bit more and not allowed for snacking we probably would have caught up.
Did I mention that the grass was up past Charm-N's chest in most places? They thoroughly enjoyed snack time along the trail.
Cinnamon and I
Chris and Charm-N
We enjoyed a really good breakfast and then went back to the ranch and got ready to head back in the morning. Chris offered to tack up Charm-N once we got back to the ranch so I could ride the good horse. It was tempting, but my seat bones were already a little sore and the draft saddle does not agree with my seat bones. That and we did need to get all the packing and such done and Charm-N had already done quite well for the trip.
Sunday we drove home. Yesterday we hid in the house. Today I taught three lessons, picked up some new panels, and have been hiding inside. I've also been working on "Fire Forged Key." The last week I managed to write a few good pages more on it and also have updated lemyes .
Last Monday Muss and I went over her manuscript and for some strange reason as I go over her stuff I get a little extra oomph and inspiration to work on my own writing. Now I just need to translate my scrawl as I did much of the writing on the drive, heh.