Hello everyone! My name is Teri Payne and I live in sunny southern California, specifically the Mojave Desert. It's really rocky here and my horses are barefoot so Easy Boots have been a real help.
I have two Morgan geldings. Knight will be 4 this year and I'm looking forward to training him. Red came to me as a weanling and is now ten years old. He was my first youngster to raise and he¹s been my partner in exploring all sorts of new horse activities. Together we've participated in clinics, play days, a little cattle sorting (he¹s a hoot with cattle!), trail trials, gymkhana, and plenty of good old trail riding with friends. The past couple of summers we¹ve been camping, which always has been one of my favorite activities even before horses.
Last summer, my sister and I took Red and my husband¹s Quarter Horse, Dolly, camping in the high country of Yosemite National Park in California. We live in the desert so trees, meadows, and water were a bit of sensory overload at first, as were the deer that seemed to be everywhere and came bounding through camp occasionally. Our horses quickly adjusted to this as well as the hikers with their big backpacks.
Highlining was a first for everyone, but Red and Dolly did fine, except one morning at dawn when Red woke us with his whinnies and we found Dolly gone! Sharon called for her and she came running from where she had been eating out of the back of my truck. Whew! We still don¹t know how she got the clip unhooked under her chin and wonder if someone let her loose. But all's well that ends well!
Being that we don¹t encounter many water crossings in the desert, Red always behaves as if he¹s never seen it before. Oddly he just wandered into the stream to drink and at first he didn¹t want to come out. I think it was because the water was so clean and clear that he could see the bottom and was not worried about walking into a bottomless hole. Red had lots of "good" water experiences in Yosemite.
The Tuolumne Meadows area has a variety of trails all with gorgeous scenery. The Pacific Crest and John Muir Trails run through these meadows. Although our horses were barefoot and we stayed on easy trails, there were enough to keep us busy for three days of riding. Next time, we won't forget our Easy Boots and will have more trail options.
My favorite ride was from Tuolumne Meadows to Dog Lake. About a half mile of it was a bit of an uphill for our flatlander horses, but not too difficult and definitely worth it. Once there we had lunch on the banks of this little jewel of a lake, then I took pictures while Sharon played in the lake with the horses and showed them off to little girls who petted their soft noses.
Late in the afternoon of our last day, we rode silently through the forest, memorizing sights, scents, and sounds. Deer grazed on bright green grass on the forest floor lit with shafts of afternoon sun breaking through the trees. Heaven has to look just like this! The does had small spotted fawns with them and we even saw two sets of twins. They didn¹t seem to care about us as long as we were quiet, and when one pair wandered off we¹d just mosey down the trail until we came across another pair. It was the perfect ending to a perfect trip.
Teri and Red
Comments