Geocaching on Horseback

Carmen came to visit, adopting barn kitties Max and Maggie for her barn.  She happened to introduce me to geocaching (there's a cache at the town hall, 0.17 miles from me! Who knew?!) and now I'm hooked!  Being a fellow endurance rider, of course we made time for a ride.  What better to do than to combine riding and geocaching?

Objects in mirror are closer than they appear!  See Red in the mirror?  Yep, we "ponied" him from his barn to mine. 

Red is thoroughly unimpressed with this mode of transportation. 

We plotted out several potential caches to ride to, loaded up the coordinates into our GPS units, and got the horses ready to ride.  Carmen had brought her Specialized saddle along for me to try, meaning she was going to get to try my Synergist.  I am still trying to sell my second Synergist, the one that no longer fits Rhio, and I'd like to replace it with a Specialized when I do.  This was a great opportunity to ride enough miles in a Specialized to really get the feel for it.  To sum up briefly - I loved it!  Of course it took the first mile or two to get used to it, but after that I just felt comfortable and no longer was conscious of it being "different" than my saddle.  I was very secure in it, and best yet Rhio seemed to like it also.  We moved out, especially on the way home, using all three gaits, and he & I felt good in every gait.  I hadn't done any shimming or adjusting of the saddle, and I did have a little bit of dry area on either side of the spine behind the withers - it was just a teensy bit too wide for him - but that would be easily adjusted with the saddle fitting system Specialized uses.  Best of all, Carmen liked my Synergist as well!

Carmen and Red made a great team!

Now to the riding and the caching.  Carmen rode Red, and they spent a little time getting used to each other in the outdoor arena.  That was successful, so we headed out down the road.  I hadn't realized that a major road nearby was closed, and so the route we rode had a lot more traffic than normal. It also has pretty narrow shoulders and the ditch is swampy - so probably not the best choice of places to ride, but we survived.  Luckily my boys are traffic safe, but with the excitement of a fast ride going home, both horses got a little goosey with the big trucks whizzing past.  Carmen is a great rider and handled Red's excessive enthusiasm very well.  It was NOT a ride for the faint of heart, that's for sure.

We did make it to the normally quiet gravel road which had 2 geocaches along it we could hunt for.  The gravel road wasn't quiet at all, with many vehicles passing us.  Geez!  Talk about bad karma in the traffic department!  The horses were both happy to move out, and Red can out-trot Rhio by a mile, so I spent some time eating Red's & Carmen's dust.  Rhio didn't seem to care, though he usually much prefers to lead.

Our GPS units told us we were getting close to the first cache, and the description had said it was back in the woods, so we dismounted and led the horses into the woods, then tied them to trees and set off on foot.  I love having horses that I can tie to the trees in the woods and walk away from!  They would have preferred a grassy meadow to eat in, but they patiently waited for us to return and didn't get into any trouble.

That fly mask kind of makes him look like he has mule ears, don't you think?

I love this look as he peeks around the tree at me.

Finding the cache didn't turn out to be the successful portion of our ride, unfortunately.  Number one rule of geocaching in northern Minnesota in the summer - bring bug spray!!!  It was a bit difficult to concentrate with all the slapping and hopping around (oops).  We found the indicator marker and decrypted the clue to finding the cache, but were ultimately unsuccessful.  Boo!  You'd better bet I'll be going back there later in the season, hopefully with fewer bugs and more time, and finding that darn thing!

Looking at our timeline, we realized we didn't have any more time to spend searching, headed back to the ponies, led them out of the woods, mounted up, and headed home.  It was such a fun ride, despite its challenges, and I was so happy with the saddle.  I wish Carmen lived closer so we could ride together more often!!

Best of luck to Max & Maggie in their new home, and thank you Carmen for coming to visit me :)

Even Cricket got in on the action, see him half in the corner of the shot? I love that Carmen & I are both kind of cocking our heads the same direction, obviously responding to Becca who took our photo, while the horses are all focused on each other.

So Where Does That Trail Go?

Yep, way behind on blogging again!  You may think I haven't been riding, but that's not it.  Luckily, I have been riding and enjoying my ponies - so these next few posts will be "catch up" posts about rides over the last few months, and I will try yet again to get back on track and keep up in more "real time." Do forgive me, gentle readers.

Several weeks ago Gesa & I had the opportunity to head back to one of our favorite riding spots up in Brimson, about a 45 minute drive from the farm.  This was only our second time to ride up there this season.  Last time we rode here, in May, we followed an old logging road that petered into a well-travelled ATV path.  It was so well-travelled that we assumed it went *somewhere*, but we didn't have the time to explore, so we vowed to come back and find out where that trail went.

Deer flies were still in full force, and our boys sported their fly masks for the entirety of the ride.  Even with the masks, we also needed rider-applied fly control to keep our mounts happy.  Rhio & I employed several leafy branches (it took me three tries to find a good one!), and Gesa found her crop to be an excellent fly swatter.  The flies swarmed the lead horse, and switching off leading was a welcome relief for the following horse.

For those of you who don't ride ATV trails horseback, here's something to note:  humans on horses are much taller than humans on ATVs.  That translates into lots of ducking and dodging for us riders!  Our helmets & sunglasses are employed as branch-control devices, and we must stay alert for the next face-slapping twig.  This trail was much like other user-created ATV trails I've ridden in that you must be loose & limber in your saddle and your horse must be instantly responsive to leg & rein.  Rhio and Paco were very good all day, and we emerged after our 15 mile ride with only a few superficial scratches and no major mishaps.  We did have one large tree crosswise across the trail which was too short to ride under, but our little horses were able to walk under it once we dismounted.  Whew!

We kept following the trail, eventually emerging at a minimum maintenance road and a set of railroad tracks.  To my knowledge, Rhio has never crossed tracks before, and he did very well.  The minimum maintenance road was smooth, level, and relatively soft - begging for a long, easy canter.  We took advantage and cantered the boys quite a ways, with a few scoots to the side when we crossed a large cement culvert and passed by a monster pile of logs.  Eventually the road ended at the county highway, and we crossed it briefly to explore further ATV trails, which were clearly on private property (though it wasn't signed as such) and led only to deer stands.  We made the turn for home, retracing our steps, and the boys were, as always, very motivated to head back to the trailer.

Both boys wore boots for this ride, Paco on his fronts only and Rhio on all four hooves.  Paco's boots only lasted the first few miles however, as one of the gaiters finally bit the dust (it had been on its last legs anyway) and Gesa had to carry the boots on her saddle the remainder of the ride.  Paco seemed to do well barefoot, though he did seek the side of the trail on some of the rockier sections.  Rhio's boots worked well, as usual, though he has been battling scratches (a skin infection) on both his hind pasterns, and one front pastern (all his lower legs with pink skin instead of pigmented skin).  I was concerned about the gaiters rubbing on this raw skin, so I outfitted him with some old socks from my sock drawer; it turns out his feet are a bit bigger than mine!  It was a little bit of a struggle to get them over his hooves. The socks stayed in place, and because I used non-cotton they seemed to perform well even when wet.  Upon removal of the boots & socks, his pasterns looked just the same as they had pre-ride - no rubs!  I was dismayed to discover about 15 minutes returning to the trailer and removing his foot & leg wear, that all of his affected legs swelled!  His right front is especially prone to swelling, and I can only presume it was due to using the socks & boots over already compromised skin.  He didn't seem sensitive, sore, or lame at all - he didn't seem to notice he was swollen at all.  After the trailer ride home, the swelling was reduced and he remained completely sound.  How frustrating!

It was a great ride, though - one I wish I could repeat more often.   Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures as my camera has died the true death - have no fear, however, the new hand-me-down camera is working well and future posts will be adorned with my usual assortment of photos.

And, as a side note, Rhio's trailer loading was very good this time - walking onto the trailer instead of leaping, and only having to consider the big scary box for a moment or two.  I hope this trend continues!

Plan B

Friday was our first opportunity to ride together in nearly two months, and despite the high dew point and stifling humidity, Gesa and I loaded the boys up for the short trek to our local snowmobile trail.  This spot was a favorite training trail last summer, and the footing was great, barring a couple of dodgy culverts, for about 3 1/2 miles (giving us a 7 mile round trip).  Early this spring we discovered a side trail that will make it a 9+ mile training ride, and we can do it at speed, and it has hills.  Did I mention it's only a few miles from Gesa's farm?  Yep, pretty much perfect for a quick ride...  Except not this summer!  We haven't been over there at all since our difficult ride in the spring (mucky with frost coming out of the ground), and were dismayed to find that it has not been mowed at all.  The snowmobile trails are usually mowed to maintain their condition for winter use, as well as having trees cleared, etc.  The great state of Minnesota endured a government shut-down for nearly all of July, and I wonder if this was one of the many tasks set by the wayside.  I don't actually know who mows the trail, but the belly-deep grass was not conducive to a training ride, though the boys did enjoy munching at chest-level as we traversed the first long hill in hopes of discovering mowed trail at the top.  So, we decided to move on to plan B....which we didn't have in our back pockets, but the ride back to the trailer yielded one!

Good thing we left our skis at home!

We would drive just a few more miles, parking at the base of the Amity Creek trail, and utilize both the Amity trail and Lester Park trails for some conditioning in the heat and, we presumed, bugs.  Rhio has never been there, so it would be new to him, and neither of us had ridden there in over a year.  It is an extremely popular spot for hikers, runners, bikers, and dog walkers, but as it was a weekday morning we were in luck with just one car in the parking area.  It is designated as a city horse trail, but it's brevity (3 miles total) and inaccessibility for trailer parking (our one little rig takes up the majority of the available parking) means it's mostly used by locals with horses near enough to ride to the trail.  The non-horse users are somewhat used to seeing horses, though, and that makes for generally pleasant encounters.

Rhio says, "Really, Mom, you want to ride in this weather?  Shouldn't we just stand here in the shade and eat hay?"

The poor horses were dripping sweat just from a 10 minute trailer ride, it was that hot & humid.  We tacked up for the second time, applied more bug spray, and headed up the trail.  This trail was formerly a road, so it is a very solid gravel - dirt base and includes two stone bridges at its base.  It is entirely shaded, tucked into the backside of Hawk Ridge, and with the Amity Creek rushing (lots of rain recently, usually by August it's more burbling than rushing) along the other side, it stays relatively cool and fresh.  To our utter amazement, it was also virtually bug-free.  We didn't need the fly masks we'd put on the horses, and I think I only had to swat a half-dozen deer flies the entire ride!

The tip of the trail, near the ford

Given the other trail users, we kept our speed to a slow trot and just enjoyed our surroundings.  The boys were eager despite the heat, and once Rhio figured out that the noise was rushing water (we couldn't really see the creek at the beginning), he was constantly asking for more speed, ears pricked ahead to see what was around the next bend.  We stopped for a cooling drink at the ford used by a local riding stable, and got back to the trailer feeling great and ready for more!

Standing on the bank of Amity Creek

Heading back to the trail-side of Amity Creek

We had about 1/4 mile of paved road to travel to get to the lower trails, and being out in the full sun with the heat radiating up from the pavement was a whole 'nother world!  It would have been an extremely unpleasant ride in the sun, but was a magnificent ride in the shade.

There was a lot of water damage to some of the trails from our recent torrential rains, with deep fissures in the red clay which Paco was pretty wary of but Rhio barely seemed to notice (so much that I was worried he might step in one!), as well as multiple areas where the vegetation was swept all in one direction, showing how much water had flowed overland to get to the creek and river.  We crossed a metal snowmobile bridge, which was covered almost completely in run-off clay and made hardly any clanging noise because of it, and were off for another 5 miles of hill work.

We did a lot of walking the whole ride, with our overall average speed a mere 3.8 mph.  But, with the weather conditions and the hills, the boys were both panting when we finished our total of 9 miles, and had begun stopping at every mud puddle for a sip or three.

Does it taste like chocolate milk, too - or just look like it? 

I was very pleased with Rhio's loading on this trip, since it's been a few months since we've gone anywhere.  He walked on each time, calmly, instead of his customary leap into the trailer.  It still was not a shining example of trailer loading (like Paco), but his hesitation was probably only for 2 minutes each time.  I hope this was a sign of permanent improvement!

Looking ahead to a 50 miler in two weeks (fingers crossed that the logistics all work out to get there), I need a few more good rides on Rhio to feel confident for that competition.  After Friday's heat, humidity, and hills, he got Saturday off, and Sunday we went for speed work.  We did half the distance at more than double the pace, 4 miles at 8.2 mph - whee!  He feels great, now if only the last of his scratches will clear up and his leg will quit swelling up at every little thing...

The boys rubbing each other's heads after sponging.

A July Cool Front = Time to Ride!

This week has been gloriously cool and breezing, giving us all a respite from the unrelenting heat & flies.  The horses seem so relaxed, and of course it has been lovely riding weather.  On Tuesday, Rhio and I headed out for our first solo conditioning ride in a very long time (almost 6 weeks!).  It was only in the upper 60s and mostly sunny with a light breeze, so I thought we'd be pretty safe from flies for the most part and off we went.

Heading out the driveway

The neighbor's are cutting hay, which is now in our indoor arena awaiting unloading.

Rhio argued, and then moped, about going out alone, but pretty soon was merrily trotting along with his ears pricked as usual.  We were trying out the attempt boot repair on the Renegades, and a few miles in to the ride he suddenly seemed "off."  His right front boot had turned on his hoof, so I hopped off to fix it.  At this point, I realized the adhesive I'd tried to repair the boots with was clearly not up to the job and the cracks were already bigger & badder than they'd been to start.  Quickly revising my route, we opted to do an out-and-back just on gravel roads rather than the "big loop."

After that one boot adjustment, and many, many glances down over his shoulders to check boot status, we had no additional difficulties and completed our 9 mile route easily.  The boots are definitely in worse shape after those miles, though, and I am debating whether to attempt another repair with some other kind of adhesive, or just give up on them.

Poor boot

It turns out I was partially correct in my assumptions about the fly situation.  Along the open road, the flies were minimal and neither one of us was bothered.  As soon as we hit a stretch of road with trees along the sides, however, it was a deer fly frenzy.  Poor Rhio did not have the fly mask on (my fault) and was being driven progressively more insane by the flies.  I was doing my best to slap the ones I could reach, but they have a nasty habit of landing somewhere where I can neither see nor reach them, and my only clue to their presence is Rhio's frantic head tossing.  Slowing even to a slow trot was miserable, the flies were swarming & biting us both, so I broke a bit of leafy branch off as we passed by a likely looking small tree and proceeded to "beat" my horse upside the head with it.  At first he thought I was offering him something to eat, and kept turning & trying to grab the leaves to munch on.  He quickly realized the utility of the branch, however, and seemed to welcome my waving it around & bonking his face with it.  The rest of our ride was much more peaceful, fly-wise, and I discarded that branch only when we got home to the barn.

Rhio's opinion of being gooped, daubed, and slathered with various ointments before being turned back out (SWAT for his bitten sheath, sunscreen for his sensitive pink nose, and desitin for his scratches-prone pasterns)

An Adventuresome Weekend

Gesa & I found ourselves with a coinciding schedule for this past weekend, so we tossed a bunch of stuff (but not all the right stuff, though we got by with what we had) into the truck & trailer and loaded horses for a weekend of horse camping.  Kelso & Berlin came along, too, and we had a full load with horse gear, dog gear, and human gear (we pack nearly as much for a weekend trip as we would for a week long trip - just less hay).

Our original plan was to camp & ride at Wild River State Park, which neither of us has ever visited before, but along our way we stopped for gas (and Benadryl for poor Berlin who was a bit carsick) and decided to change plans at the last minute and head to Tamarack horse camp in the St. Croix State Forest.  I had been there once before as a day trip (it's about a 2 hour haul for us), but never camped there.  Pulling in to the horse camp (you have to know where it is to find it - we ended up in the "regular" campground on our first attempt), we drove around the loops to discover that we were the only people there.  Hmm.... this might have been our first clue, but instead we took our time choosing just the perfect campsite (a double so we had lots of space) and as we were backing in, another rig pulled in.  They picked a site on an entirely different loop, so we did pretty much have the place to ourselves.

We set up camp in a flurry, putting up our fake electric pen for the boys around the base of the permanent high lines and pitching a tent for me & the dogs.  Gesa brought her camp cot and was excited to try out sleeping in the trailer (cleaned out, of course, and with a tarp down over the shavings) - luckily the trailer has screens on the windows so she could have ventilation with minimal mosquito invaders.  Rhio & Paco are pretty respectful of a non-electrified pen (Rhio was very wary after getting his big shock from Donna's pen back in May at MnDRA1), but we didn't leave them unattended in it and we tied them to the high lines at night.

Rhio & Paco settle in Friday night

With my little propane grill, I cooked us up some marinated chicken breasts  & zucchini and we ate dinner by headlamp, tired from packing, loading, traveling, unloading, setting up camp, pumping & hauling water (pumped by a poorly-functioning hand pump which stuck at the top of every full stroke, and hauled by wheel-barrow back to our campsite - let me tell you, that water was precious!), dousing ourselves in copious amounts of bug repellant (oh the clouds of mosquitos!), and all the various other tasks that come with setting up camp for 2 people, 2 horses, and 2 dogs. Why is it that we willingly work so hard to have fun? 

I slept great (except for 3 or 4 times I came awake with a start, feeling crawly and pulling ticks off out-of-the-way body parts), snug in my sleeping bag with the snoozing dogs snuggled up in their beds next to me.  Very early in the morning, just as it was getting light, I heard wild turkeys gobbling off in the woods somewhere,  but the horses were still quiet and content on the high line (so different from ride camp, where as soon as the first horse is fed in the wee hours, all the horses in camp are clamoring for their breakfasts), and I happily rolled over and went back to sleep.  We all got up around 7, and Gesa & I thoroughly enjoyed a leisurely morning with our respective mugs of coffee and tea.  We took the horses for an amble down to the day parking area, to check out the trail map and plan our ride for the day.  We were very pleased that the hordes of mosquitos of the evening before were gloriously absent, but still applied bug spray to ourselves & the boys and tacked them up with their riding fly masks. 

Around 11, after settling the dogs in the trailer, we mounted up and headed off on our adventure.  The first marked horse trail we took directly out of camp was twisty, heavily overgrown, and difficult to follow in spots.  Interesting.  This one must not get used much, we thought.  We popped out on the gravel road that leads to the campground and decided to follow it for a bit, as we couldn't quite make out where the horse trail was supposed to go and I'd noted on the map quite a few ATV/snowmobile trails, which I knew would be wide and easy to follow, if nothing else.  We hit a parking area for motorized users, and stopped to consult the map again, determining that with a mixture of ATV & horse trails, we could make a long loop (loops are my favorite!).  While we were map reading, a small group of ATV riders, followed shortly by two rangers also on ATVs, passed us & continued along the trail in the direction we were headed.  We also met a couple of geocachers with their beautiful collie, who was staring wide-eyed at the "big dogs" we were riding.  Off we went, with some idea of where we were going and plenty of get-up-and-go from the horses.  

The ATV trails proved to be a sandy dirt base with plenty of mid-sized rocks both embedded in the surface and strewn about, and a healthy population of mud holes to either balk at, drink from, or trot right through (which ones fell into which category was a mystery to me, but the horses clearly knew which type was which!).  Just going based on what I'd memorized from the map and my sense of direction, with periodic map-checks when we came across them, we made a few wrong turns and trotted a few sections of gravel road in leu of trails I wasn't quite certain were going in the right direction.  It was a nice mix of moderate trotting & technical work on the ATV trails, with some nice long canters and long trotting on the gravel roads.  The horseflies & deerflies were definitely making themselves a nuisance at grazing stops, but while we kept moving they were pretty tolerable. 

Eventually, we found our goal - the Gandy Dancer State Trail, a former railroad grade that is now a gravel-surfaced ATV and snowmobile superhighway.  The horses really enjoyed moving out & we handily covered a few miles at a good clip before reaching the St. Croix River bridge (hello, Wisconsin!).  This is one impressive bridge!  It's a wooden former railroad trestle, resurfaced with tightly abutting wooden planks and a central rubber matting and with tall, secure railings.  But this thing was high, and quite long - I've never ridden across such an imposing bridge.  It was prominently signed "Bridge Closed to Vehicles over 1000 lbs," and we debated whether we counted as "vehicles," since horse+rider+tack was a bit over 1000 lbs each.  Deciding to play it safe, and not wanting to get caught on the bridge with an ATV crossing at the same time (it was too narrow for any passing), we only ventured about a quarter of the way out onto the bridge, to take in the view of the St. Croix River way down there below us.  I was perfectly happy out there snapping pictures while leading Rhio, but decided to mount up for a photo and immediately felt the insecurity of realizing I was taller than the railings.  It was a little unnerving sitting up there on top of my not-very-tall horse on this bridge, and I decided right then that I was going to make myself ride off the bridge (back the way we came, not across it) and that I probably don't ever want to cross No-Hands Bridge at Tevis (as if I thought I'd ever be riding Tevis anyway!).  I'm not exactly afraid of heights, but I was definitely not feeling super comfortable up there, and breathed a sigh of relief when Rhio stepped hoof back on solid land.  

We were both very happy to have our hoof boots for this ride, as the rocks & gravel would have been tough to cover at speed if the horses had been barefoot.  I was using Red's Epics on Rhio's fronts, and his own Gloves on his hinds.  Paco sported a pair of Epics on his fronts, and was bare behind. I was very pleased with the traction provided by both styles of boot, as some of the muddy spots were slippery and we crossed some wooden bridges and a hill made of cross-wise cement "timbers" later in our ride, with both horses being completely surefooted all day.  

The few ATVers we met along the way were all very considerate, slowing down to pass us and even a few giving us a jaunty wave.  Everyone seemed to be enjoying the beautiful Saturday afternoon.  

Gesa spotted the horse trail branching off the Gandy Dancer trail, and we set off into the woods to complete our loop.  We'd done about 12 miles at this point, in 2 hours.  Little did we know we had 6 miles and 2 more hours of riding ahead of us before we'd finally make it back to camp. 

The horse trails are in very poor shape currently.  I don't know if it's budget cuts, or just the long and brutal winter & wet spring we've had, but the trail was horribly overgrown so much that it was hard to follow at times.  There were numerous trees down that we had to skirt around, and the insect population was pretty spectacular, combined with our forced walking speed, and I would say it was a fairly unpleasant situation.  At first the horses thought the single-track trail was fun, but they quickly lost their enthusiasm when it became apparent we weren't going to be able to do much more than walk, and walk, and walk.  We crossed rickety bridges, or in places had to clamber down & up small ravines where the bridges had been completely washed out.  Some of the hills had originally had horse-friendly stairs for erosion control, consisting of 5' or 6' square timber "boxes" filled with earth, such that the horses could have all 4 hooves on each "step."  Many of these were washed out completely or had the dirt eroded out of them such that they were obstacles and hindrances rather than helping the horses negotiate the slopes. Our boys were wonderfully brave and willing the entire time, with the exception of Rhio refusing to cross a flat plank bridge with no sides which was elevated about 8" off the trail surface.  Gesa & Paco had to ride out of sight before he would follow me across it, and even then he crossed it in two big leaps, knocking me into a patch of stinging nettles (in case you were wondering, summer riding tights are NOT thick enough to protect from stinging nettles!  Yowzie!).  Rhio did perform an interesting feat of acrobatics, in which he managed to chew on his right hind pastern on a single-track trail with me still mounted (can you say Gumby?), and we only had one tree-encounters-riders-leg incident despite the narrow single track trail winding through plenty of knee-knocker trees, so all in all it was a successful though mentally and physically taxing last third of our ride. 

We returned to camp, released the hounds from their confinement, pulled our camp chairs up to the pen to watch our sweaty, filthy ponies happily munch hay (er, well, actually I guess they were frantically swishing, stamping & biting at the hordes of flies), and reveled in our ice-cold beverages.  Once recovered, we grabbed our sponges and headed down to the Tamarack River to cool the horses and clean them up a bit.  Both boys willingly walked into the river, and as I was sponging the dirt and sweat off Rhio, I realized that many of the "dirt" spots on his legs were really ticks!  Ai - yi - yi!  The horses danced out of the river and up the trail, antsy as all get out as they were being mobbed by horseflies.  I quickly washed up our hoof boots in the river (can't waste any of that precious camp water we sweated & huffed to pump by hand!) and we high-tailed it back to camp to apply tick-killing fly spray and then pick the nasty buggers off our horses' legs.  For once I was grateful to have a gray horse, as the ticks were very easy to spot.  We each got about 30 ticks off our horses, with most of them being the regular dog ticks and just a few being deer ticks.  

We discovered our steaks were still frozen, so we had vegetable medley (carrots, potatoes, asparagus), hard boiled eggs, and bread for dinner, with s'mores roasted over the campstove for dessert!  Completely bushed from the day, we rolled into the sack and one again slept well, though it was pretty chilly this night, possibly getting down to the high 30's.  Berlin woke me up in the middle of the night, so I had a chance to enjoy the brilliant stars on display and listen to the coyotes' song before discovering that he couldn't sleep because he was cold.  Instead of getting out of my warm sleeping bag yet again to fetch a horse blanket, I simply emptied all my clothes on top of him in a heap as extra insulation (he was already wearing a polarfleece doggie jacket) and fell straight back to sleep.  In the morning, he looked amusing, adorable, and slightly ridiculous buried in his mound of clothes, but at least he was warm - and of course I didn't have my camera in the tent!

One of many maps we encountered throughout the day

Gesa & Paco approaching the massive bridge

Gesa enjoying the magnificent view of the St. Croix River

Ok, so it doesn't look very scary in the photo - but I wasn't thrilled.

Berlin, a happy 16 year old, still has the camping mojo!

St. Croix River, Minnesota on the right and Wisconsin on the left

Our little camp

The ATVers obviously love their mud - we saw a group dressed head-to-toe in rain gear, which seems like a good wardrobe choice if you're blasting through mud puddles, I guess. 

I made myself ride my horse off this bridge. Next time I'm there, I just might force myself to ride across the whole thing...... or maybe not!

That's Wisconsin way back there across the bridge!

Probably the best piece of single-track trail we saw all day.

Hand-walking down the steep hill which is stabilized with cement "timbers" like a boat ramp at a public water access.  

A close-up of the cement we were traversing - the boys' hoof boots were excellent on these, and I absolutely would not have taken a horse in steel shoes on this hill - it would have been horribly treacherous.

The Tamarack River

Rhio looking for more goodies, like the wasabi peas both he & Paco developed a taste for.  Yes, you read that right, our horses LOVE wasabi peas! 

We had a quick breakfast on Sunday, tacked up, and headed off to try the ATV trails heading in the opposite direction.  We had about 2 hours to ride, and set off happily enough, only to discover that the trails in this direction were in rough shape with many more rocks & mud holes than Saturday's trails, and an even greater army of horse- and deer-flies on a mission to suck every last drop of blood they could from us and our horses.  We made it about 4 miles, then hit a gravel road which we thought might be better - though it was better footing and allowed us to outrun the bugs at a pretty handy canter, the flies were actually worse out in the sunlight than they had been in the shady woods.  We detoured to a small lake and let the boys have a little grass (the least buggy spot of the day, actually), then turned back for camp.  We started to run into ATVs at this point, and this trail was not a good place to encounter them, as it was so twisty-turny that we could never get to a spot with a good long sightline for them to see us before bursting upon us.  As a result, we surprised nearly all of them, which can be a bad situation for all involved.  We, of course, knew they were coming because we could hear their engines, but they had no idea we were there. The horses didn't care one whit about the ATVs, but *hated* having to walk or, heaven forbid, stop, as the clouds of buzzing flies descended upon us, driving the horses absolutely nuts.  All the fly spray in the world couldn't have helped this situation, because although they would land & fly off again immediately (I was using Endure fly spray - little product endorsement here - and  it really did keep them off Rhio, but of course it doesn't stop them from buzzing around), they were still causing immense mental distress for both horses.  I didn't even try to hold Rhio back, but let him run everywhere I possibly could, as it was the only way to deal with the flies. I can't think of a time I've been so grateful to get off a trail as I was when we finally burst out of the woods and hit the gravel road leading back to camp.  I let Rhio run home, a bad habit but an utter relief to us both.  In the end, we'd done about 10 miles in an hour and half of mostly desperate trotting & cantering to escape the bugs.  I have to say, big kudos to Rhio & Paco for keeping their cool, mostly, and not simply dumping us & high tailing it out of there.  

Grace Lake

Amazingly, there was hardly an insect here at the boat landing, and plentiful grass, so we took a welcome break on our Sunday ride.

Paco

We packed up in record time, loaded the horses into a horse-fly infested trailer (Rhio was extremely reluctant to load - perhaps because of the flies?), and climbed into the truck only to hear click-click-click instead of the expect va-room! of the engine.  Oh, no!  Dead battery!  Luckily for us, Gesa was prepared with a jump pack thingee, and we were able to jump start ourselves and be on our way in under 5 minutes.  Since we had the drained truck battery at MnDRA 1 and required a jump, we've known there's a short or something in the trailer or the truck which kills the battery when the truck & trailer sit hooked up.  We'd unhooked the lights for the weekend, and only plugged them in just as we were loading horses.  Somehow in the 10 minutes it sat with the trailer lights attached to the truck, it drained the truck battery - and we'd even started the truck prior to plugging in the trailer to make sure it started!  There is definitely something not right in the electrical systems or connections of either the truck or the trailer or both, but at least we were well prepared for the situation (many thanks to Lynne for showing us such a thing as a jump pack thingee even existed!).  

Thankfully the trip home was utterly uneventful, and I loved every second of my hot shower, complete with a full-body tick check (no ticks!), when I finally got everything unpacked, cleaned up, and put away.  The next day I found one deer tick on Rhio, and he had a couple of minor rubs from the Epics gaiters in the front (I'd forgotten to put vet wrap on his pasterns), but mostly he was just pissed that he hadn't been able to go to the cow pasture to graze when we got home but had to eat boring old hay all night instead.

It was really a great weekend, and overcoming adversity makes it all the more memorable.  But I do think I'll avoid Tamarack horse camp during bug season in the future! 

Pasture Paradise

Rhio in his ugly-but-UV-protective fly mask, coming when he's called despite the acres of lush green grass he's turned out on! 

Next to the horse pastures is a huge field that has been completely untouched this spring.  It is normally the cow pasture, but there are no cows this year.  It is fenced with 5 strands of barbed wire, so it's not ideal for horses.  But, all that beautiful grass is going to waste just sitting there while our horses are still eating hay... so yesterday we began the "Pasture Paradise" program here at Meadowbrook.

My two, Rhio & Cricket, can both use the grass, as well as two other boarders, Levi & Quick.  These four horses get hand-walked over to the cow pasture in the mornings to stuff themselves in the knee-deep green goodness all day long.  This leaves 2 fields with 1 horse each, so those 2 horses get to spend the day together for company.  Then, at the end of the day, everyone is put back into their original fields for the night (with shelter and safe fencing).  These four are now getting a pittance of grain in the mornings, and no feed at night except some hay.

Cricket ready to "go home" at the end of the day

Day one, yesterday, went pretty well, considering.  I had an internal debate regarding my level of comfort with the barbed wire fencing, after walking the fenceline the evening before (in shorts, and without bug spray!  not my most brilliant move, I must admit).  The fence is intact and in reasonable repair, but it is not perfect.  The lushness of the grass and the vastness of the pasture, however, give me some assurance that the boys will have absolutely  no reason to even go near the fence.  I decided my desire for them to be on good grass far outweighed my concern over the fence, and so I was pleased to watch them behave beautifully all day yesterday and to find them without even a scratch in the evening.

Quick (grey) & Levi also enjoyed the day on grass

The other element which could have been an issue was horse dynamics.  Rhio & Cricket are buddies, and Levi & Quick are buddies, but the two pairs do not know each other at all.  Quick can play pretty rough at times, and is a bit of an "enforcer" in his pasture.  I expected that Rhio would protect Cricket, and that is exactly what happened.  Rhio & Cricket were turned out first, took a bit of a run about, then settled to munching.  Levi was next, and walking him past the goat/alpaca pen was a big challenge.  We made it to the gate, and I turned him out, causing quite the stir across the farm.  Winston & Tomas were on alert, watching intently from the furthest pasture, while Quick & Duke were trotting the fenceline and whinnying for their missing companion.  Rhio & Cricket came over to investigate Levi, and they all trotted off together for a bit, then Levi made a beeline for the fenceline nearest his buddies in the other pasture, and Rhio & Cricket resumed eating.  Quick, while also afraid of the goats & alpacas, was very motivated to join his buddy and galloped off as soon as I released him.  Now for the scary part!  How were the two groups going to interact, and was anyone going to get hurt?  (And, why didn't I bring my camera at least, or a video camera, which would have been even better?)

As you might expect, the four horses ran around for a while, with the two greys (Rhio & Quick) herding their two buddies around, and keeping them away from the others.  In very little time, each pair seemed to have a declared "territory" and they all settled down to the knee-high buffet.  Throughout the day, Quick & Levi remained together along the fenceline closest to their regular pasture and in the front corner, which Rhio & Cricket also remained together and wandered about the middle and back of the pasture, evidently enjoying the wooded area as well.  There were zero altercations, and almost no interaction after the initial brief period.  All the other horses on the farm are now in pairs as well; I find the symmetry of the pairs of horses very pleasing, somehow.

In the evening, Rhio & Cricket came running when they were called (good boys!), while Levi & Quick refused to walk along the fence near the goats & alpacas to the gate, so had to be fetched.  I expect in a few days they'll be completely unconcerned about the scary ruminants and will also (hopefully) come when they are called.  Replete with fresh green grass, none of the four minded missing their usual grain supper at all.  They did all drink immediately, however, which means they probably didn't use the nice, clean tank I'd scrubbed & filled for them in Pasture Paradise, despite the fact that I led each one to the tank to show it to them before turning them loose in the morning.  The grass is plenty wet on its own, and I assume they'll start using the tank as they get used to the whole plan.

Operation Pasture Paradise was a resounding success!

And what a beautiful evening! 

Pants on Fire?

Red was channelling his inner racehorse today, apparently.  I walked out to get him this afternoon, and every other horse in the herd walked up to me; Red, however, took one look and galloped off.  Oh, boy.  It's one of those days, is it?  He conveniently galloped himself into the adjoining, and currently unoccupied, pasture, so I closed the gate on him and watched him gallop & whinny & snort & fart his way around me in huge loops until I could see his sides heaving & his nostrils flared as big as they go.  At that point, he slowed to an extended trot and continued for another while.  He sure was pretty running around like his pants were on fire, and I did kind of enjoy watching him.  I wasn't in a hurry and didn't have an agenda, so I just waited until he'd had enough.  Finally, he quit putting on a show, and walked calmly into the barn with me for saddling.  What a weirdo.  He wasn't worked up, or hyper at all.  It was almost like I was just an excuse to run around & show off or something.

Red looking as cool & calm as a cucumber despite his earlier period of insanity

We set off on a nice short road ride, and stopped by to pick up a few extra companions on the way home.  The first official Meadowbrook trail ride of the season was a hit!  Leah rode Rhio (who was a perfect gentleman), Christine rode Tomas, Kristi rode Winston, and Red lead the way.  It was a gorgeous evening with enough breeze to keep the mosquitoes mostly at bay, and we had a grand time.

Kelso supervising while Leah & Rhio got to know each other.

Looks like this pair is a hit! 

Setting off

A grand mini-adventure

My Pony & Me

All suited up for a summertime ride (though yesterday still felt like spring, & early spring at that!)

Despite the oppressive humidity, Rhio & I geared up for a nice, long, sweaty, and, it turned out, buggy ride.  I had difficulty convincing him that we really did want to leave the lush green grass he'd been grazing for the previous couple of hours (lucky boy got a pre-ride treat today, and was happily stuffing himself full of the green grass in the round pen when I so rudely decided it was time to work), but once we'd passed the 2 1/2 mile mark, he was eager to move on down the road & trail.

Our route was nothing fancy - the same loop we've done a few times already this year, although the last time we did it there was still snow on the ground!  You never know what you'll encounter, however, and this day that included a bulldozer in full dirt-moving mode.  Rhio barely batted an eyelash at the thunderous, stinky bulldozer and, although I had him walk until we were past it (we were moving much faster than it was), there was really no need to do so.  Crossing the busy road, we made our way through the closed gravel pit (I had an alternate route all planned, as I'd expected the pit to be open & working on a Friday) and Rhio was able to pick out our cut-through trail, which I was completely unable to locate through the new foliage - he knew where we were going, and I just let him go.  We did surprise a few deer, does with fawns would be my guess as the trail we pop out onto is very infrequently used and the area is pretty secluded, shady, and seems like a perfect fawn nursery to me.

The bright green of spring has finally arrived here in northern MN.

We pass the halfway point of our loop somewhere on the snowmobile trail; I like to think of the 1+ mile of gorgeous trail with excellent footing, steeply rolling hills, and big mature trees as the whole point of the entire loop - the best 10% of the ride by far.  Sadly leaving the trail behind, we have two less-than-stellar dog encounters but with no harm done to any party.  A collie burst out of the woods at us and proceeded to attempt to chase us, and at first Rhio was thinking full-flight mode was a good idea (could be a big scary! must run!), but I got him turned to see it was a dog and he immediately agreed with me that we should chase it instead of run away from it.  I used my best growling "Get outta here" and the collie chose the safety of barking from the woods.  A mile later, one of the bulldogs on the corner raced out the driveway with what appeared to be full intent to bite Rhio's leg.  I'd stopped and turned to face it, as I am familiar with the two bulldogs that live here - one is horse friendly and wants to say hi, the other just wants to bite legs - and an associated human yelled at her and got her to leave us be.  I know Rhio didn't see her as a threat at all, and I actually think she is more likely to be a problem than the collie that chased us, who was clearly afraid of, or at least leery of, the horse.  The bulldog is not at all afraid.

We had to pause for traffic before crossing back to "our side" of the busy road, and there was a guy on a bike waiting to come our way.  He was extremely polite and waited to see that we were mostly across the road before crossing himself - again bikes are not an issue for Rhio, but it was really nice of him to be so considerate (and it seems somewhat horse-savvy).  At this point, we were faced with the long trot down 2 miles of straight-as-an-arrow shoulder with a somewhat busy road.  This is the spot where Rhio was acting up on our previous rides of "the loop" this spring, wanting to race home and not listen.  Today, he was perfect - giving me a huge but perfectly steady trot, not faltering once even with big trucks, trucks pulling boats, and multiple cars whizzing by.

We continued the rest of the way home along our familiar quiet gravel roads, and came on home with an overall average speed of 5.6 mph, distance 10.8 miles, and ride time 1:56.  It was a great solo ride, despite the bugs (mosquitoes the size of 747s, plus deer flies & horse flies ALREADY!) and the incessant clicking of the loose buckles on his front boots (I had to use Red's Epics instead of Rhio's Renegades as the Renegades are in need of a little repair - see future post!).  Rhio got a much-needed thorough hosing when we got home, his first of the year, and he *was* shiny & clean when I put him back in the pasture (you all know how long that lasted!).

Look! Wash your horse's legs and what do you find?  White stockings!

And if you look closely you'll see he has a blaze hiding in there somewhere, too.  It's actually in the shape of a ?. 

The boys having some free grazing while I chatted with my barn buddies

Clean boots, ready for our next adventure!