April Rides

Roller Coaster Section  

Coming down from the top

Saturday, Apr 12:

We headed up the Hennessy and went to the turtle pond. It was amazing!! There are several new logs that fell into the pond and the water is way past the get on rock. Indy's frog pond is also full of water and boggy around the sides. The streams are running everywhere and the big puddles on the road toward Deadfall Ridge are huge. TC barely hesitates and went right through them. KD ran everywhere and Lynn said it was "shades of Hailee." :)

Wednesday, Apr 16:

We decided to try Cobweb Alley. All our trails are new adventures because we don't know if there are going to be trees down and or bushes to cut back, but we thought we’d try. I was concerned that it would be slick right by the spot where it is deep and I thought the creek would be rushing and the idea made me a little nervous. However, it was not bad and Jupes was super confident. Lynn had to get off and cut down a small tree that fell across the messy part of Cobweb Alley--but that is so normal for us. There were waterfalls, trillium, and purple and yellow flowers everywhere. Again TC just plowed through all the water and boggy spots.

Saturday, Apr 19:

Lynn asked me where I wanted to go, so I chose Gray’s Falls. It was dark and cool. I was wishing I had worn my chinks! There was a lot of fresh bear scat, but we did not hear or see him. We took the boys out before breakfast and on the way home I could hear Jupiter’s belly rumbling. 

Tuesday, Apr 22: We rode on the ranch. We did a lot of boonie bouncing and I have the bloody facial wounds to prove it! I think Jupes forgets I’m taller than he is and he just wanted to get through the trail where the tight branches touch him as quickly as possible. We had broken, snapping branches all around us. Crazy new thing: the blackberries have been weedeated (not completely, but a wide swath along the creek). We wondered why and who?

Thursday, Apr 24:Tired Horses

Cold! 45 degrees at my house, 41 at the trailhead and 46 when we finished our ride. Definitely chink weather and like knuckleheads, we did not put them on. Before we left The Place, Lynn said the horses ran and ran. They're out on the grass by snack bar full-time now. They were having fun--turning on the afterburners and didoing in the trees. When Lynn went to catch them, they were just standing there breathing hard, already sweating and spent. Jupiter must have thrown himself down and rolled; he was a mud mess! They looked at us like, “What? It’s Thursday--our day off!” We didn’t ride real long because they were tired!

April is ending this week. It’s been a fun month! Unfortunately, I am working at school these last few days and we are taking them to the vet for shots; then I am getting my new stove and finally, I have a meeting in LA, so my riding days are done until next week (hopefully Wednesday). We’ve had some April showers, so there should be some new May flowers!

Easy Eight

Tuesday, we met Cathy and Roany at Jelly’s Ferry. When I got to Lynn’s, she already had TC and Jupiter tied up to the trailer. Her plan was to take TC saddled already and then unsaddle him and brush him out over there. He seems to have a bit of a “cold back” and does better going saddled. Trying to brush him out would have taken too long and it wasn’t really light enough to see just how bad he really was. Lol

Jupes met me with pinned ears and a pushy attitude. I guess none of them found the breakfast hay. They were running around in circles. When they finally saw her and realized the hay was out, they settled a little. She grabbed TC and tied him up outside the gate. Jupes was HANGRY. He put himself around the side of the board by the gate and locked his legs. He was not, NOT, going. FORGET IT! Lynn got him out and he was not happy. Once it was time to put them in the trailer and he saw the hay bags, things got better. 

Once we got to Jelly’s Ferry, we all brushed out our muddy, hairy boys. I was a little worried about how Jupes was going to behave. This is one of his spots where he sometimes misbehaved.  We think it is probably the wide open spaces and he’s not used to it. Thankfully, he was great!

TC was a water warrior!! He did so well. He did jump over one little creek, but mostly he just powered through, even drinking some several times.

The trails were nice and no snakes were visible. Definitely an answer to prayers! We enjoyed a pleasant temperature and were able to wear tank tops. The grass was green and plentiful and Roany and Jupiter enjoyed snacking.  

Dusty, Kate, and Ziva had a great day. There was a lot of water to drink and some shade and easy trails. Dusty and Kate ran and ran. Ziva conserved her energy, but did really well. 

Jelly's Ferry Relive

These are the kind of days I hoped we'd have once we were both retired. It's the best! I am so glad we have Cathy and Dusty to join us. We are looking forward to riding much, much more.

It begins!

Mar 25, 2025

First ride of the year--first week day ride of Lynn's retirement! Woohoo!

We've had a great winter of rain and snow and wind. We finally got shoes and decided to venture out. We decided the ranch was probably the easiest and quickest (I had a scholarship Zoom scheduled). Right off the "git" Jupes got spooked by the big culvert pipe. It was raging full of water; but I don't think that was what did it--I think it was because it was humming. 

Anyway, we turned right off the road and wove our way down to the meadow. There we saw turkeys! Quail were flying everywhere, too. We stayed high on the west side of the meadow because it was sure to be boggy closer to the creek.

Then we went over the creek and back into the woods towards the big pond/lake. From there we went out on the east side of the creek. Jupes was jiggy from the beginning. So not comfortable. So when Lynn said, "Whaddya think? Head back?" I was ready. 

It was short, but felt good to get out.

April 4, 2025

Another weekday ride! We went up Underwood. Lynn thinks it's been since early summer maybe since we came up. We avoid this spot, as much as we like it, when the stickers come out. Well, this day we had snow!!  In the snow were turkey track (I never knew how big their feet were!), big momma bear tracks next to a yearling sized track, and maybe either coyote or fox tracks.  

TC started off spooked this ride. He kicked the mounting block, which made a hollow, deep sound he was didn't recognize. But the longer Lynn sat waiting for me to reset the block and get out from under a tree branch to get on, the more she felt his back relax. Off we went. 

What a gorgeous day. Lots of sun, green grass, and water running everywhere. TC was perfect. He didn't baulk at any water crossings or muddy fields. Because of the number of trees down and branches blocking our way, we had to get off once to navigate. He went right through the squishy mud. Once we remounted, we had to go through a bit of a grassy pond to get to the road and he did not hesitate at all. 

We spent some time up at the top where the sun shone down on us and brought on a great sense of peace. It was a wonderful day.