Catalina State Park

Yesterday we headed to Catalina Satate Park, which is close to Tucson. This is the ride we set off to do last week, but it was snowing, hailing, sleeting, ect over there.

I played bus driver, and after loading Santana up, I drove to Vicki;s and got her and Dakota, and then we went off to Suzie's to fetch her and Tommy.

This was Santana's longest trailer ride since I brought him down from Payson. An hour and a half, more if you count the time we spent picking up our friends.

We got to the park around 10:30. It was overcast and cool, but not cold. 55, according to my truck. We saddled up and off we went.

You will note there aren't any pictures....this is because I had my hands full with my little boy. He wasn't awful, but, he wasn't listening to me very well. I don't know if it was the long trailer ride, being in a new place, all the activity going on around us (the park was REALLY busy) the cool air or all of the above!

It was very dry there. I guess usually the washes are flowing. They were bone dry. We were expecting to do several water crossings, but, it wasn't to be. Once the snow pack melts off Mt. Lemmon, we will have to go back to play in the water.... But Santana did get to climb up and down his first real stair steps. He did very well, never missed a step. So, while his mind was NOT with me most of the ride, he never did take one bad step. And he managed to con a poor hiker out of their apple.

Santana's First Water Crossing!!!

Soooo, the three of us, Suzie, Vickie and I , were supposed to go to Catalina State Park yesterday. IT is about 1 1/2 hours drive. I picked up Vickie at 8:00, and we were to meet Suzie at another location at 8:15. All is well. We meet Suzie and start our "mini-caravan" towards Tucson. About 1/2 mile in Suzie realizes that she forgot her trailer keys. So, we wait for her to go back and get them at a Wal-MArt parking lot. She gets back, and we start off again. Again, Suzie pulls over. Her friend who lives close to where we were headed, calls to say, it is POURING rain with mixed snow and sleet. We were prepared for a little rain. Snow and sleet?? You're joking, right? We decide to try this ride again next week. We observe that it is sunny and nice here in the valley, so, we decide to detour, and head up to the Salt River to ride. Santana had never seen water, this would be good for him. Now I am leading the caravan, as I know the way. I decided to try a new area that I had heard about but never ridden called "Coon's Bluff." I knew there were trails that went to the river, but that was about all I knew. We saddled up and took off. I marked the trailer on my GPS and was careful to pay attention to my GPS as none of knew where we were going, or, possibly, how to get back! There were many cattle and wild horse trails in this area. WE tried to follow them, but, this was a really thick treee area with lots of low prickly, thorny branches. I could barely get by on Punkalicious, and he is only 14.1H. Suzie's Tommy is 17H. Get the picture?? So, off we went, bushwhacking our way through, trying to find a real trail to the river. We never did find that trail. Vicky's horse Dakota stepped on a rein and broke it. But, me with my trusty fishing vest, I had cable ties (zip ties) in a pocket and we made a great repair in about 5 seconds! We forged our way through, and eventually, we found the river. Getting down to it was another adventure. Keep in mind EVERYTHING in this desert has nasty thorns and prickers, and you cant just push through the thick vegitation. Eventually, we fpound a way into the water. We had to get off and lead them down as the branches were just too low to try and ride through. Santana walked carefully overt hte slick, moss covered river rock into the water. He put his head down and drank. And Drank. And drank. That water must have tasted really good, like Kool-Aid, or something, because it wasn't hot out, he hadn't worked very hard on this ride, and yet he LOVED that water. Aftr a few minutes, I decided to mount up and see if he would walk around with me on his back in the river. Of course he did, just fine too, I might add. He was a little concerned that he couldn't see where he was putting his feet, and that where he was putting his feet was on big, round, slick rocks, not good footing. So he was careful, but not scared. He never tripped or took one mis-step. I was a very proud momma. After playing in the water for a few minutes, we headed back to the trailer.
Once at the trailer, we tied up the horses and had ourselves a little snack. WE had various junk food (which is allowed as free calories after any bushwhacking expedition) and a ham and cheese roll with sesame crackers. While munching, Tommy alerts us to danger. Sure enough, a band of wild horses was moving through, on their way on doubt, to the water. We were able to get some amazing pictures. I have some posted here, enjoy!

Die Hard....

So, Suzie and I had set up rides last week for this week. This week started today. The National Weather Service had issued a severe weather alert, more specifically, a flash flood warning for all of our county and a blizzard warning for the high country just north of us. They were to get 12-18" of snow, which meant rain for us...and lots of it by desert standards....

Did you really think a silly little flash flood warning would keep us from riding??? Hell no. 43 degrees, cold wind,and yes, it was raining just a little at the mountain. I picked Vickie and her horse Dakota up on the way, and we met Suzie at the mountain at 9am. Afterall, if we were going to ride NATRC and AERC, the ponies had to learn to ride in crappy conditions.

It was dark, and gloomy, cold, windy and wet. But, horse people that we are, we rationalized this with the realization that we probably wouldn't run into any mountain bikers or hikers out there. Nobody else besides us would be crazy enough to want to be out in this weather when we normally have so many perfectly beautiful days to go out and play. So, we would have the whole place to ourselves, and wouldn't that be nice! As horse people, we can rationalize any condition to go out and go riding. A blizzard? Sure! "but the snow is sooooo pretty on the pine tree limbs. We wouldn't get to see this in town..." Any excuse to ride.

So, off we went. And we were alone out there. The ponies all behaved really well, as usual. Vickie and I had raingear on with warm clothing on underneath. Suzie only had on a fleece type jacket, not wind or rain proof. As we got over the first ridge and down into a canyon, the weather really got worse, and the skies really looked bad to the southwest. We opted to take the "shorter " ride as flash floods are not to be taken lightly (hey, they weren't due till 5pm) and, Vickie and I knew Suzie had to be freezing. So, we did a shorter 7.5mile loop, and then opted to have lunch at a local cowboy joint. )Lots of room for trailer parking.)

Interesting find on the trail... we took the trail that that horse got kicked on. The ranger and I had kicked dirt over the pools of blood afterthe vet took the horse. WEll, the rain and wind must have washed that dirt and sand away, because today we saw the pools of blood on the trail from that horse. Lots of blood is very sticky, and it must have really gobbed up.

It is supposed to rain all night tonight....Suzie and I are supposed to go out again tomorrow....she was buying rain gear this afternoon after lunch.....

We're back....

Today I went out with Vicki and Dakota . At the trailhead, we met a friend of hers in the parking lot, and she joined us as well on her big Warmblood "Tommy." Suzie is Tommy's mommy. Vicki and I had planned to do a longer ride today, 10+ miles, on a trail that takes you back into the deep , really pretty part of the park. Santana has never ridden with TWO other horses before , so this was great for us. And Suzie and Tommy are great. Suzie has great trail etiquette, and Tommy is just a very, very fine boy. So handsome too.

So off we went. It started out a little chilly (mid-fifties) and overcast, but that all burned off in about an hour. Then it was a typical Arizona winter day; gorgeous.

Santana led at first, but we leap-frogged the entire ride, which is good for my young boy. The terrain was typical, sandy and rocky, lots of "cowboy roller coasters" up and down. Early on in the ride we ran into a couple of bikers. Tommy, being a very tall horse, was out look-out horse, because he can see way out there. WE past several hikers as well, including a large group of older hikers who were on both sides of the trail. Santana was a good boy with all of that, although I personally did NOT care for one old hiker dude referring to my pride-and-joy as a MULE. A MULE??? Really??? Just because he has big ears (not THAT big) and he has stripes, does not make him a mule. I'm still a little offended. Mule. Sheesh.

So, about Suzie and Tommy. Tommy was going to be euthanized when he was a 2 year old, because he was wild and dangerous, according to the owner. Suzie fell in love with him, took him home, and , one small fortune in training bills later, she got a super horse. He is 9 now, and a very steady, reliable mount who is the love of her life. Suzie's husband is a chopper pilot in Iraq, and, she needs to stay busy. Tommy is her salvation during this time that has got to be a hell for her. Her hubbie is in very dangerous territory. Horses can do amazing things for us to heal us in so many ways. Tommy is who she has to hug right now, and to hang out with and talk to. I can relate to that.

Anyway, our ride was pretty uneventful. All three horses were extremely well behaved, although Suzie says that Tommy says nasty things to the other horses, and I believe her, cuz Santana would lay his ears back from time to time when Tommy got too close, or even not very close. Santana really didn't like him much. Suzie says that Tommy is a VERY dominate boy, always has been, and that most horses don't like him.

I am convinced that the trainer who had Santana for 30 days did a lot of work with him in washes. When we got into washes today, he really acted funny, very forward as if reacting to, or anticipating bad things. I think the guy worked him in gait in the washes, and when he fell out of gait, he beat him. I KNOW he was hard handed with him because I talked to him before I got Santana. Hmmmm. We are going out tomorrow with Crissy. I'll see what he does then in the wash. At first I thought it was being out with two other horses, but that definitely was not it,as he could care less about he them anywhere else on the trail, just not the wash......there is SOMETHING about the wash......hmmmmmm.

And of course I have to point out that Suzie was constantly commenting on how she couldn't believe Santana was only four, and how cute and adorable he is. And then she just comes out with "I LOVE that horse. He is too cute." And that he has a good mind, ect. Ok, complimenting my little guy will get you everywhere. I really like this Suzie!

It was windy in the back side of the mountain, and one of the trail markers was broken at the bottom, and was blowing back and forth. Santana was leading at this point, and he stopped to look at this potentially dangerous thing. After all, as group leader it is his responsibility to ensure the safety of the group. He approached it, and in typical Santana form, proceeded to play with it. The picture above is of one similar to the one he played with. We have passed these things hundreds of times, but the one dancing in the wind was of a little concern. Just a little.

We got back onto the main trail heading back to the trailer. Punkalicious did his usual "I don't wanna go back yet" but he was better about it. He wanted to go down a different trail away from the other two, that would take us away from the trailer, but still back to it. I made him stay with the group, and we got back all safe and sound.

He was a very good boy, carrying me for 10 hard miles. We got back to the trailer and I swear he wanted to go another 10. And he will, but tomorrow.

Bored, bored horse

Well, i know its been about a week since we've been out training. But thats because I had to cancel some rides due to a sick dog I needed to be with. Unfortunately, I had to put him down. But Santana and I should be back out there on Monday. Stay tuned.

Well, he is NOT a city horse

Today was the Mounted Patrol obstacle and desensitisation seminar.

It was not our day.

I went to bed early, tried to get some sleep. Woke up at 3am, couldn't get back to sleep. Had to get up at 5:30 to feed, as I needed to load Santana in the trailer by 7. It was cold and dark out there. Yuck.

Not that the facility was probably open, but I wish I had gotten there a lot earlier.

Santana has never been anywhere but the public arena with one more horse there, or, the mountain, which , well, is a huge area.

I unloaded him, and my normally calm boy was a little excited. I had a bit of a time saddling him. I walked him to the arena. The organization putting this thing on didn't give you any info on how this was going to be run. I didn't know if it was going to be a few horse in the arena at a time, or what.

Wrong-o.

35 horses, most of whom were also very nervous and anxious. This is a covered arena with a P.A. system blaring, tractors going panels clanging. It was chaos, and the arena was crowded, and most of these horses were NOT under control.

Remember the horse that kicked that horse I bandaged?? Well, he was there. Ugh.

So, here is little Santana, in a covered arena for the first time, around a large group of horses for the first time, and most of them are not calm. At all. I didn't have a good feeling about this.

Now, in the arena about 20 feet away, there was a huge roping going on... cattle, and cowboys, more horses everywhere.
In the arena about 50 yards away, a gymkhana was going on. There were over 125 trailers, and over 200 horses on the grounds, in a fairly small area! Did I mention that Santana has never been around more than one horse at time??? This was nuts. Not a good environment for his first outing of this nature. I think it was overload, even for him.

I wasn't at all comfortable with the conditions in the arena, especially for my boy, as this was his first organized arena event. I walked him out during the "warm up" session. It was too much. I was nearly run down by a horse that took off like a bat out of hell when a tractor started up close to her. I saw a Clydesdale jump on top of a quarter horse in fear. (i thought those guys NEVER spooked?) I made the decision I was not gonna do this, not yet. I would let Santana "observe" from the rail, and get acclimated to this chaos.
After about an hour on the rail, he had calmed down, but I had not. I was watching all these out of control horses dumping their riders, crashing into each other, and , lets not forget, we had to watch out for the kicker that nearly killed Fancy!

I opted to just observe the whole session, which was four hours. SAntana did calm down, and I walked him to the roping, and the gymkhana, and just around and about. It was good for him to just hang out in this environment, but I don't think it would have been fair to ask him to participate, and I was concerned for both of our safeties. Maybe I just chickened out. I don't think so.

as requested, Santana at play

One of my very bestest friends asked me if I had pictures of "Punkalicious" on here playing with his soccer ball. I don't so, here they are. When I got SAntana, he came with a set of baby (think not weaned yet) pictures. He had this big, big ball that he played with. Naturally, I had to get him one.....