11-1-09 Verde River Fall Colors Ride

   Drove up to a friends house in Paulden the day before the ride as they live just 8 miles from the trail head. Mocha was glad to get out of the trailer after the long 4 hour drive and seemed to enjoy meeting the other horses that surrounded their old stud pen. Up until about a year ago they raised Arabians and owned 3 stallions. In fact the horse she took on the ride was one of their stallions until they had him gelded about a year ago. He is the horse my friend Jo Ann rode when we went to Box canyon last spring.

   

 

The next morning I loaded Mocha into their 3 horse slant load. Mocha had never been in any other trailer so he was a little hesitant at first but didn't give me too much trouble.

    Mocha is fairly new to group rides so he can be a little stubborn in unfamiliar places getting him to go in the direction I point him at times but he is getting better.

I had to lead him through the first water crossing. I knew I would probably have to do that. That is always how I introduce him to new things. He did better after that and on the way back he marched on through all 5 water crossings with no hesitation at all. Poor Sue, the woman who I went with, took the drink on the third water crossing as her horse felt he needed to JUMP the river! He lost his footing and threw Sues balance off and kersplash! Because he was a stallion he is new to group rides as well. I always hold my breath when I see anyone go down knowing the possible outcomes but she was fine and continued on. Her cell phone didn't fair so well though but she was glad that her electronic key survived.

 

    Mocha had a few "wardrobe malfunctions" with his hoof boots and I had to stop 3 different times throughout the ride to either fix them or remove them. He ended up going the last mile or two barefoot but he wasn't ouchy.   I  took a lot of pictures but most turned out a little blurry and/or cockeyed as most are taken from horseback. I would have loved to be able to get ahead  and get off and take pictures of everyone crossing the water but I didn't want to hold everyone up as they all seemed to want to keep moving.

    Most of the turning leaves we came to see  fell from a cold snap they had a week earlier so most of the leaves were yellow and light green.

  We turned around and left the ride early with  several others because I didn't want to drive home too late at night. It is a 3 hour drive one way.  Next time I'll have to make it a two night stay so I can devote an entire day to riding. I made it back home about 7:30. It was scary driving in the dark coming down Yarnell Hill. I do want to do this ride again someday but like I said earlier, I will have to make it a two night stay to have time to do the entire ride.

9-26-09 Dick Wick Hall Parade (Salome AZ.)

  I invited some friends to ride with me in the annual Dick Wick Hall Parade Septemner 26th and there was a good turn out. Eight riders showed up around 1:00. The parade was scheduled to start at 3:00. One had a tire peel on their horse trailer on their way but luckily they got the spare on and had no further complications.

  I was really looking forward to this because there hasn't been horses in this parade for a few years and even than there was just 2 or 3.

      Our entry was as a group..
               "Outlaw Women of The West"


  Here they come all ready and headed to the staging area...  
   The day went by fast until we got to the staging area. Than it seemed like we waited forever! Over an hour, and it was HOT out !
I really wish they would do this in October.
I felt bad about that for the people who drove all the way out here for this but they were all real troopers in spite of the heat. A couple came all the way from Laveen!!


 

  It was a very small parade- I think more people were IN it than were watching it! That was a good thing in Mocha's case being his first parade. I think it was someone elses first as well.


   

  

 At first I was going to  lead him in it just to be on the safe side. But he wasn't acting up or anything so I bit the bullet and climbed on. And he did great! He was a little inpatient about standing in the heat and wouldn't be still but otherwise didn't give me any trouble.

Oh and by the way!!! 

We won 

the Judges Choice Award!!!! 

April 25th Box Canyon # 3 !!

Like I had said in the previous couple of blogs,


Can't get enough of Box Canyon!!

This time (Saturday 4/25th) many more came to join in in the ride compared to last Wednesday.
We were going to start out early again but someone had to work the night before and needed an extra hour to be able to get there after work so we waited.


Half of the group decided the other half were going too slow...

So they formed their own little group and galloped off ahead of us slow pokes..





" Life can't get much better than this"...
One member brought her 8 year old daughter (in the pink helmet) along - I hope her Mom knows how lucky she is to have such a trustworthy horse for her daughter to ride. I hope I can have my Grand Daughter ride with me someday like that...


We rode out to the same area as we had stopped for snacks Wednesday but stayed
longer and ate the sack lunches we brought...





Mocha likes to make new friends too...


Another great ride in Box Canyon /
Wickenburg Arizona....

April 22nd Box Canyon AGAIN!

The ride we did here on April 17th just wasn't enough to get Box Canyon in Wickenburg out of my system so I posted a planned ride again for Wednesday the 22nd of April on AZ Back Country Riders Dot Com.
What a neat bunch the members are on that site! Can go for a trail ride and make new friends almost anywhere in Arizona. Just have to cash in enough cans for enough gas money!...


We met at the parking area about 9 am and headed out by 9:30. Mocha had been there the week before so was more relaxed and it was a pleasant ride.



The forecast was calling for low 90's temps so only 2 members showed up.

One of them (in the green shirt) is local so I can count on her to join me just about anytime I want to ride in the Wickenburg area. The other on the elegant bay (the woman with the soccer ball on her head - Lol) traveled from 2 hours away ! She had never been to Box Canyon before and was not disappointed one bit~
Will have to do this again!!



We rode a little farther up the river than we had the 17th. Found a nice shady spot to rest and munch on snacks.



We didn't stay long before turning back. Was a good ride with no mishaps and I was even back at home by 2 PM.

April 17th 2009 Box Canyon Ride

Must do this again and again! Can never get enough riding Box Canyon!..

The parking area

Goin down the river

VIDEO-

3-14-2009 West of Quartzsite

Just a little ride I took Mocha on while my Husband did some prospecting West of Quartzsite..

Mocha's First Group Trail Ride Away from Home...

February 22nd, 2009 ~ Mocha's first group trail ride.

One of the "AZ Back Country Riders" members invited me along on a ride with some people she knew. 2 were AZBCR members but the others were her neighbors and friends of her Farrier.

I was a little nervous about this ride because I was anticipating Mocha being difficult to handle if he were to get excited being around a lot of horses but what I feared most is the range cattle which he is still afraid of. And my fear would only make him more nervous if he sensed it. After a 36 mile drive SE of Salome I met "LoriW" and her neighbors at an intersection. What was funny was we all arrived at the intersection within 2 minutes of each other. Than we followed her to someones home farther south where everyone had planned to meet and ride off from...

"LoriW" "Brain Tumor Survivor"

Lori took some pictures of Mocha and I before we headed out and more during the ride ... ("Thanks Lori!")

Once everyone arrived, about 12 altogether, we headed south on a dirt road until we came upon a corral where there was a gate that opened to BLM land to the West. Once we all got through the gate there was a small group of cattle to our right. Mocha and two horses near me spooked. I don't know which horse started the chain reaction but luckily it was brief. The two others , being beginner riders, decided that was more than they wanted to deal with and turned back. I just about did the same as Mocha was so frightened I could feel his heart pounding ! Luckily Lori's farrier and his 2 sons were experienced around cattle so one of his sons rode between me and the cattle while he and his other son ran them off. All went smooth after that. Mocha has been barefoot all his life and has tough hoofs but this ride was 99% rocks of all shapes and sizes so I was a little concerned about him being sore from it but the next day he was fine. No sore muscles or tender feet. I plan to get a pair of hoof boots for his fronts before we do much more trail riding like this. Meanwhile I hope more of the trails we ride will be more sandy and less rocky.

Rode Mocha up a hill and he went up it like a mountain goat.

We got to the end of this road after about a mile and a half or more and came to a gate and found that it was locked! Just as I was digging out my pliers to unwind the barbwire someone found a key hidden somewhere so we were able to go through the gate. When we came around to the road that we started on completing the 6+mile loop we were about 400 feet from "home" and Mocha recognized the surroundings and got his second wind and picked up his pace. It reminded me of the endurance ride stories I have read. When the horses recognize they are approaching base camp and pick up speed.

He was happy to be back to his trailer.

I tied him to the trailer and poured him some water. He drank about a gallon of water I poured some on his chest to help him cool down than brought out his hay cubes to munch on while I unsaddled him.

It was a successful ride with no mishaps. I am looking forward to next time. I hope Mocha is too...

"Mocha! Are you hiding?"