This is who I am......

More camp pictures....

Okay... Inquiring minds (apparently) want to know.... I had some email requests for more details.

We spent 2 absolutely gorgeous days in Custer State Park enjoying ourselves at French Creek Horse Camp with our new friends, who keep introducing us to more strangers, who quickly become new friends. Green meadows, peaceful winding creeks, blue skies, and trails, trails, trails....who could ask for more? We decided to go out with a "trail blazing" bang. On Sunday we went on a 4 hours ride that revealed the true nature of our new horse. You see, in trail riding when one goes "trail blazin" they go off the map....off the charts.... basically, in a word, "wing-it" in the hills, on the range, you get the idea, right? You find a new road, or not, but you find your way somewhere... usually it's where there is a fantastic view... and your horse basically trembled the whole way taking you there. Yeah, we went out with a bang. We went THERE. So, on the way down from the "peak" we find ourselves on really steep slope/mountain and my young horse is taking really small steps, working her way down, when she suddenly stops.... and she won't move.... but you see... I didn't stop moving... slowly.. very slowly... me and my saddle are sliding down her neck. So I holler to my "fearless" guide Frank ... "Uh Frank... we have a problem....my saddle horn is between her ears...literally." Needless to say, he told me I needed to get off my horse's neck... not so easy on the slope we were on, but I did as quickly as I could. So, I fixed the saddle for the remaining trek, she and I on foot, down the mountain to more stable (no pun intended) ground. You see, I learned two HUGE things on that mountain....1) It's really, really, really important to have a rear/back-cinch on your saddle if you're gonna trail blaze mountains (nope, I didn't have one) & 2) I have the best damn horse in the world.... another horse would have probably bucked me off, just to get "the fatty" off her neck... she just stood there, not a buck, not a flinch, not a move... She figured it out before I did (which she usually does) and stood there patiently waiting for me to catch up... which I usually do. Lord how I LOVE this horse. She has such a gentle spirit. Her patience helps me understand that maybe, just maybe, she trusts me.... when the reality is that I trust her. Frank also apologized for forgetting that I didn't have a rear/back-cinch. : ) It's okay.. I trust Frank. He hasn't done me wrong yet, and I usually have fun when I do. Anyone up for a trail blaze?