Had a great weekend!
Weather was nice in the 70's and had a good turn out in spite of a few cancellations. Below is the planned route..
We had a little Dog adoption at the beginning of the ride. Genevieve and Ray brought out a little dog rescued from a puppy mill and a friend of mine from here in town met us at the staging area to give the dog a forever home. Poor thing lived 5 years in a cage. He was the "stud dog" at a puppy mill. He will get vetted , neutered , a teeth cleaning and tested for tape worm next week and has a good new home with a retired school teacher and her other rescued dog and 3 cats.*sniff *sniff, I love happy endings..
Beginning to convince more people that there are some pretty good riding trails out here! I hope some of them will want to come out and explore new trails with me this winter! The only thing that would make it perfect is if there were natural springs the horses could drink from. There are springs out there but nowhere a horse could reach. Maybe a mountain goat, but can't ride a mountain goat.
Anyway, It was fun to meet new people and enjoyed their stories. ( loved the tattoo story. Priceless! )
Originally had 14 signed up but my endurance friend from Yuma, had to cancel the morning of the ride because her husband woke with a stomach flu. Sad to have missed them but glad they didn't share.
We had 12 riders in all. Started out with 12 anyway. I will introduce a few...
Evelyn and her 18+h Giant next to 14h Mocha 
Brenda ( soon to be AZBCR member
I hope )
Pat..
Joe.
Heading down the trail...
Some of the horses weren't cooperating. Genevieve and Ray stayed behind because her horse was acting too hyper , they told us to go on without them. Than about a mile into the ride Sue and Jerry turned and went back. They ended up going on their own ride . One of their horses had issues with the number of other horses that were there. They enjoyed their ride going at their own pace away from the group. They made the best of it and had fun so that's what counts.
When Sue and Jerry returned to the staging area after their own little ride they had a very good visit with Genevieve and Ray. Talk about a small world!, Genevieve showed Sue and Jerry a photo album of horses she owned in the past and one of them that Genevieve had raised from a colt looked very familiar to Sue and Jerry. Sue asked Genevieve what the horses name was and sure enough it was the same horse she owned after several owners in between ! It was a Paint stud that Sue and Jerry had purchased for breeding their mares. Sue told her that 50% of the foals he sired had color. Shortly later Genevieve got a phone call from someone who wanted to see a travel trailer she has for sale so they decided to go home to show it instead of wait for our return. Sue asked them to come back for the Bar-B-Q but they never showed up. They live 25 miles away though so it was probably too much gas to make a second trip out.
Lilly, Sue and Pam
Lunch break at Desert Queen Mine...
You can almost see me!
Headed back...
There was an ATV poker run going on so we came across some riders but they didn't bother the horses much..
We covered 11.10 miles within 5 hours. Probably would have been even faster if Mocha and I hadn't of been so slow and he was really pushing himself trying to keep up. I really need to get out there more and get him muscled up. He moved out better at the first part of the ride even leading the group a couple times till he spooked at "horse eating rocks and bushes" and stalled till others came around us before he would move. After lunch at the beginning of our way back he moved out good again but he started tiring soon after that and the faster horses got pretty far ahead of us. Janis and Evelyn were the closest to me and stayed behind and kept me company, thanks gals;). Than half way back Mocha started trembeling half way up a steep hill! That scared the heck out of me. I immediately jumped off and walked him up the hill.
This is the hill where I had to get off and walk when I noticed Mocha's muscles shaking. He was pushing himself hard to keep up. We need to get out there more often and get him in better condition so when we "lead" a ride we will really be leading it! I ended up at the end and the pair who were in front didn't know the route I had planned and led the group up the last part of the first loop and we ended up going back on the same trail we came in on instead of up the wash where it was less hilly. By the time I realized what trail we were on everyone was too far ahead of me to get them to turn around and come back. No big deal, it ended up being only .5 mi farther but it made a lot more climbing than Mocha was useto.
At the campfire that night Deana and Janis were the life of the party, the rest of us I think were too beat to be much more than an audience. Will have to do it again. Maybe next time we should just all pitch in for pizza - it was a lot of work to get all the food together and cook after riding for 5 hours and a few riders had a 3 hour drive to get here that morning!
When I fed the horses the next morning I found Mocha to be no worse for the wear. What a relief! It started to rain and he bolted and bucked around his pasture. Glad HE wasn't sore, I needed to take something for pain that night AND the next morning! Lilly told me she was sore too but that's understandable her mare really gave her a workout!
BREAKFAST Gathering Sunday Morning .....
MMmmmmmm! Talkin really GOOD breakfast burritos! Scrambled fresh home grown eggs with sauted onions, fresh bell peppers and vine tomatoes. Sausage, grated cheese and salsa.
Will absolutely have to make those again!
Got a little breezy and drizzle and threat of rain. The horses were already filthy from rolling so it was a unanimous decision not to ride the next morning.
Had the shelter of Sue and Jerry's awning for shelter to eat but thankfully we got a patch of sun to finish breakfast, clean up and pack up...
Clean up time. Janis helping out while I documented...
Tying on the rails..
JJ waiting patiently to go home...
It was a good ride and camp out. Thanks everyone who came, it was a good turn out and thanks to Deana and Larry for their generosity in sharing their property for camping and their company at the campfire. Nothing like good ole country folk! It all ended too soon. Will have to do it again!
