Wilson Creek

I've been hankering to get out and go somewhere new for a while now, and nothing seems to beat the winter blues than riding somewhere new and unexplored. On March 12, two friends and I decided to make the 1.5 hour trek down south for some fresh trails. It was a bit of a logistical nightmare since Wayne needed the truck and trailer for a riding lesson, and his horse and my horses are kept at two separate locations, but everything worked out. We hit the road at a reasonable 10:30 am or so with gourmet sandwiches from Wild West Bakery and Espresso, a local place that's owned by a well-known endurance rider.

Transferring the contents from my trailer to Amanda's back at the ranch. It made my head hurt.

The best part of Wilson Creek (well, other than hundreds of miles of beautiful trails)...bathrooms!!

More beautiful views from the parking area.

The weather was gorgeous, albeit a bit chilly with a breeze, for a nice, long ride. There were water crossings, beautiful rock outcroppings and a ton of rolling hills. We even discovered our own pucker point, which is great Tevis training for Amanda! Jasper did awesome without boots and gravel/rock crunched like he hasn't been standing in mud for the past few weeks. I still haven't figured out if he's got really tough feet, lacks pain receptors in his hooves, or is too stupid/competitive to bother with foot soreness when he's out riding. Likely, it's some combination of all three. In hindsight, however, I will probably pack boots for future treks to be on the safe side.

Jasper happily going down the trail--without his martingale attached. He did pretty good without it. Well if I was grading him he would have gotten a B-. No head tossing, though!

Looking straight down off the trail on our own Pucker Point. Eee!

Pretty blind canyon Amanda's mare was pretty sure we should ride towards. Not sure what that was about, but we DID see some killer pheasants. (Not sure why I can't get this to un-underline)

Although I was unable to get pictures, the most exciting part of our ride was the encouter with the wild horses. We rode over a ridge and into a valley and our trail fell right between two small herds of horses. We were being carefully monitored by the closest herd--the black stallion (!!) watching his mares and one tiny foal had both eyes on us at all times, and when we got too close, he didn't hesitate to throw his pretty drafty head and move his ladies off. It was a humbling/stunning sight to see, and a bit of a girlhood dream come true. Jasper, surprisingly, thought the other horses were irrelevant and instead spent his time making faces at Hawk.

Beautiful blue sky, babbling water crossings--such a pretty day!

Jasper proving he learned a thing or two last season--now he drinks at every opportunity!

Sigh, look at that sky!!

I would like to pretend I wasn't texting just then, but I was. At least I was texting a picture to Wayne!

Coming down the last hill to the parking area. Jasper looks epic! You can see Hawk, his arch enemy for our ride in the foreground.

Back at the trailer, tired ponies! Hawk in the foreground and Replika in the background.

Mr. Picky is no longer picky, which makes me think all our trailering last spring gave him some ulcers that didn't have a chance to heal until the end of the season. This boy will eat ANYTHING now--dry, moist, sloppy, it doesn't matter any more.