I was determined to post this last night and despite my best efforts I ended up like Denali and Ranger the Shepherds look in some of these photos.
I tend to turn a bit (extra) feral this time of the year. Spring, the precious few weeks after mud and snow and before heat and bugs is when I practically live outside.
The weather has been glorious, making for long days working Mustangs. Then I sit down to write – or do anything – and instead I crash, much to my chagrin and the entertainment of those who’ve ever watched it happen.
So here we are, it’s a gloomy, cold morning here on the mountain and perfect for a bit of storytelling.
This past Thursday I went riding with friends and had this wild idea that maybe I ought to take the new 2yo dun, currently Fiadh, who still doesn’t have a permanent name, and pony her off of Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy Ambassador Mustang mare Lacy.
The filly was exactly 6 weeks out of holding, had only met a few new people, never been off the property, been ponied all of a handful of times, and reliably loaded into my old stock trailer.
What could possibly go wrong if I asked her to hop into a tall slant load trailer behind two other horses, tied her and then took her on a group ride with dogs on thousands of acres of public land that’s also frequented by cows, hikers and bicycles? A whole lot actually.
This isn’t entirely my first rodeo, so I followed my intuition and experience. She had nothing but impressed me thus far and I decided that if she’d load into that trailer – and if my friend would even let me bring her – she could handle the rest.
She did. We rode 10 miles through a beautifully diverse landscape, climbed over lots of rocks, encountered cattle, and other public land users on foot and two wheels. I even pulled a piece of cholla out of her leg.
3 riders with 3 dogs and a total of fun colored 4 horses – a roan Azteca and 3 dun Mustangs(!!!) – and she never once made an attempt to leave. She stood tied like a big girl during our lunch break atop a cliff – no grass and I wasn’t hobbling the mares 20ft from a several 100ft drop off – and kept up with Lacy’s often ridiculous pace.
She never spooked at the dogs and quickly got over being weirded out by riders behind her and by a big tire tank full of water.
I was the one who spooked at a rock pile on a narrow section of the trail, so in one of the photos you’ll see how we got across that. When you’re a bit wimpy sometimes but still want to ride in cool places, sometimes you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do.
I hope you enjoy these pictures of springtime where the mountains meet the desert.
Many thanks to my friends who put up with me, the clueless baby horses I like to bring along and my two big, hairy and completely oblivious dogs.
