Rained Out

Well it took us a while to get dried out so I could write this journal entry, but I will try to catch you up on the goings on here down the road from Dogpound South. Last weekend we headed out Wickenberg way to meet up with some of our friends and another group the Glendale Equestrian Club for a ride up towards Sayers Springs. Since it is a two hour haul from Dogpound South to the trailhead we decided to head out as we usually do on Friday morning. We got to the site and got our horses out on the highline while we got everything else setup. It was a beautiful desert site as evidenced by the shot above. Later in the afternoon I set up our electric fence so the horses could move around a little.

After a nice afternoon the rain came in right at sunset and it rained pretty steadily throughout the night. We got a call bright and early in the morning from the Modahl’s checking on the weather and with the wind picking up and no end in sight to the rain the decision was made to call off the ride. Guess these Arizona folks are made out of sugar or something, might melt in the rain.

Just kidding, I am not sure I could have drug Brenda out into the rain either so it was just as well that we cancelled. And with that early wakeup call I set to breaking camp and we were loaded and on the road back to Dogpound South by 7:00AM. Thanks again for the 5:30AM call Modahl’s!

Good thing we headed home as it rained all day and most of the next night. It was really into Monday before the clouds started to clear out, in fact, it was still pouring when I went for my swim on Monday morning. Unlike back home all the pools here are outdoor so although you don’t get any wetter swimming in the rain was the order of the day.

I had a visit last week from an old friend, Phillip Staden, and he was looking for some places not to far away from Maricopa that would be good for a trail ride so Monday afternoon I decided to take a spin out west and check out some parking places. Lo and behold just as I get to where I thought we should park I pass a trailer bearing Alberta plates and the driver turns out to be Mr. Staden. He and a friend of his, Brian Mitchell, were going to unload their horses and go for ride there and then hitch hike back to pick up the trailer. I gave them a ride to shuffle the trailer but one of their horses had lost a shoe so after getting the trailer back they headed back to the ranch and we decided to try again on Tuesday.

Tuesday morning Phil and Brian pulled into my yard and we loaded Blue in their trailer and headed up the road to pick up another fellow, Clarence, and then we were off to the Butterfield Pass loop that we rode a few days before Christmas. We parked in a different spot and with some freelancing across the desert were able to cut it from a 21 mile ride down to about 17. As usual the dotted line is our trail for today while the solid red one is the trail we took a few weeks ago. The bright purple line coming in from the north is another trail I have yet to ride.

It was great riding with Phil again, it was 45 years since the last time and we certainly need to shorten the cycle for the next one.

Wednesday was a big day around here, it was time to saddle up Willow and see how the last two months of rest have treated her. I haven’t noticed any lameness for a long time but it was time to test it under load. And the biggest load around Dogpound South is me. I wrapped her fetlock in a polo wrap to give her a little support. I didn’t go far just a few hundred yards but so far so good, she appears sound, and we will work her slowly back into shape. Wink is doing a good job of filling in for her so there is no need to push our luck. She will have an easy winter ahead of her and we’ll be letting her enjoy her winter vacation with just a little light exercise and hopefully by the time we head north she will be 100%.

This upcoming weekend is our “gourmet lunch” ride, kinda like “heavy appy’s” in the RVing world so we’ll try to get some pictures of that for next weeks entry.