Montini's Cabin and Sugar Loaf

Our second day from Diamond Basin and Blue says is it time to go home yet?

We headed up to Milk Springs.

This time we tried a little different trail out of camp which was a nifty motorcycle trail that went up and over the hill and dropped down to a dry creek with trees and green. 

Wild Yarrow

The trough at Milk Springs provided the horses with plenty of water/

Our favorite place! Montini's Cabin, owned and maintained by Joyce Ranch.

Blue patiently waiting outside the outhouse :)

We unsaddled Blue and Indy and put them in the round pen which has a huge Juniper tree in the middle that is hundreds of years old. They got a nice break while we had a picnic.

A mystery berry on a bush near the old loading ramp and corral. 

History of Ernesto Montini 

After lunch we headed up a trail that the map showed as going over Little Sugar Loaf. The trail forked with no numbers or signage. Hmmmm. Turn left and the trail goes up and up! 

Wild lily

The views were spectacular as we climbed up and could see for miles! And the trail dead ended on the mountain side. So then we had to go back down and track back to the fork, and this time go the other way. You could say "wrong again!" but we were exploring. :)

It was a great trail up through the Junipers and Bitter Brush. Not too steep but gradual uphill. But as we got higher and higher, it suddenly started getting steep and then we were in these big huge Fir trees!

The Firs were gorgeous and the trail was shady, but Indy was getting tired. He's still pretty unconditioned and only 6 yrs old, so Trish stayed back and i went on up the hill for about 5 minutes. It continued UP and I was pretty sure it would eventually meet up with road 400 and swing us around but not today. So I went back to Trish and Indy so we could head on back to camp about 2 hours ride away. 

We'd had a great day of exploring and planning more rides. A person couldn't ask for more! Camp was a good two hours back depending on our pace. We watered horses again at Sinker Creek and Milk Springs and rode on to camp. It was time for barbecued hot dogs and then drive home. What a great weekend! 

Diamond Basin

The area between Murphy and Silver City, Idaho that is known as Diamond Basin is a magical place. It is located just off the road to Silver City and I like to go up and camp and ride when I can.

There is a great corral for the horses to stay in and no one to really bother you. It's very quiet and peaceful.

A bit of history from the sign by the road.

My friend, Trish Frahm, and I went up on a Saturday afternoon and planned on an evening ride. Which was beautiful and we went through many intriguing rock formations. 

The area reminded us a lot of City of Rocks.

Our trail climbed and climbed up to around 5600 feet if we look at the contour lines of the map. Our camp was at 4000 feet. 

The view of the rocks with the valley below was spectacular. The area is so vast you feel like a tiny speck! 

Our evening ended up being about 8 miles. After which we barbecued steaks and zucchini and topped it off with banana cream pie! :)

Riding to the Owyhee River

Twice this summer I have ridden from Adrian, over the hills and through the sagebrush, to reach the beautiful Owyhee River. The spot that I come down through the rimrock to meet the river is near Rock Springs. An area where basically the farmland ends and the astonishing tall canyon walls and cliffs begin.

It makes for a fairly long ride, around 20 miles round trip. When I went in June I rode out with my friend Pat Murray and it was fairly cool and really beautiful that day. I found a deer antler not far from where we started and once over by the river we saw a few deer.

Pat Murray and Bailey in June ride to Owyhee River

Today I rode out with my friend Trish Frahm. It was supposed to get hot so we left about 9, mid day temps were forecast to be mid to high 80's. I was riding Thunder and Trish had her mare, Sahra, and we trotted out to the area where the fire had raged only a few days before. Black Jack Butte, Little Black Jack and many miles of land heading south and west were all blackened by the fire. Fortunately it only nicked part of the area we were riding through, burning right up to the fire breaks here and stopping. However farther west in the canyon it had jumped the river in three different places and then they had fire on both sides of the road leading to the Owyhee Reservoir and Dam. 

We rode around the little edge of burn and picked up a cow trail as we trotted on towards the river. A few more hills and the canal came into sight. We turned at the diversion dam and followed the smaller lateral alongside a large meadow, adorned by wild rose bushes along the edge. A true oasis in the desert yet I never see any cows or deer eating in there. Perhaps in the evening. 

After traveling across the arid hills and plateaus the Owyhee River is such a welcome sight!

Sahra and Trish Frahm July 7, 2013

We had to splash about and just take in all the beauty and as I looked around I was shocked to see a Bald Eagle in the tree! 

Just sitting up there on his branch, ignoring our talking and the horses splashing. He was so beautiful and probably wished that we'd leave so he could continue his fishing.

Thunder and I playing in the Owyhee River

Time for a snack before heading back towards Adrian and the horse trailers again.

We followed the canal around for a couple three miles before getting back in our "usual" area of hills and trotting on home. It was a really great day for a good ride. 

Sunriver 100

I recently had the privilege of traveling to Bend,OR with my friends Layne Simmons, Nance Worman, and new friend Lindsey Hammond. The plan and goal was the Sunriver 100 mile Endurance Ride. My last time here was 2010, which seemed like eons ago. I wasn't so sure with my hip problems that I could do a 100 miler. But Thunder and I were going to give it a go.

We arrived mid day on Friday and set up our camp. Harley, Thunder and Quinn were all pretty happy and content. We lined out our tack, our snacks and then our vet bags for the out vet checks. It was decided that Lindsey would go to the "river check" as we would pass through there twice. Then onto the last out of camp vet check on our return to camp. Everything finally got organized for three of us. Thunder was the only one who would eat his beet pulp mash with the electrolytes in it so I had to try and keep his BP separate from the others.

The ride started at the butt crack of dawn as we headed for the start. My usual riding buddy Trish Frahm caught a shot of us in the morning cold. There was frost on everything!

We trotted along in the cool early morning. The forest trails were beautiful and the scenery was a treat for this desert rat! 

We also found a gorgeous doe nibbling some brush near the trail. By the time I got my camera out though she was wanting to leave.

We breezed through the first check and back into camp for a 45 minute hold. I was feeling pretty good but took my Alleve for the day. Thunder ate his mash well and was doing great with A's on his vet card. The 45 minutes went way too fast and we were all a bit rushed to get the horse cared for and return to the trail for the 50 mile loop. 

Lots of Mountain Syringa in bloom along the trail.

Layne and Harley were doing well and so was Nance with Quinn. They looked great on the trail. But unfortunately Quinn was a bit "off" in the river vet check and was pulled. So then it was just Layne and I. There was a lot of grass here for the hrose's to eat and Thunder wanted it and not his  mash. It was time for my Absorbine Patch to keep my hip from paining me and get me through the last half of the ride. I'll tell you now that stuff works beautifully! 

The last part of this loop was also the first part of our final 20 mile loop. So we got to see and chat with the front runners which was fun. Once in camp our 45 minute hold again zipped by way too fast. And we were a bit late going back out as Thunder's CRI (cardiac recovery index) was not great and we had to recheck. My "Unicorn" Team members were very supportive and Kathleen Ferguson trotted Thunder out for me. I wasn't very smart after 80 miles and later realized he was hot and I should have sponged him down. DUH! Once back on the trail  he trotted along happily and we tried to make a bit of time before it got dark. Mt. Bachelor was beautiful even with the clouds rolling in. 

Unfortunately once it got dark we didn't trot much. Mostly due to rocks that we could hear rolling around under the horse's hooves in the dark. With the glo lights I could see the big rocks but not the small ones. When the footing was good Thunder was willing to trot, but apparently I get vertigo these days trotting in the dark. So I just hung on and took deep breaths and did the best I could. When the footing would get crummy Thunder would walk.

We did the 100 and it took longer than I wanted, finishing at 2 AM. I know Layne could have gone faster but we stayed together on the trail in the dark. However we accomplished what I'd set out to do, just not quite in the way I had wanted to do it. Thank you Lindsey for crewing for us all day. I was happy to finish and thankful for Lois Fox, ride manager, who waited up for us. And Mitch Benson DVM who got out of bed and vetted us through for completion. We were among 17 lucky finishers out of 28 starters. Proof that it had been a tough day for many. 

Photo by Jessica Anderson

Dusting off the Green

My Appaloosa mare, Diamond, has been ridden on the trail a couple times but of course is still very green. As the training continues my goal is to develop a solid horse that will be a good reliable mount. Sounds easy but it takes a lot of work and knowledge. I have brought this mare along fairly well but I don't always feel adequate on the knowledge end of things, so I sought a bit of help. I had met a fellow that lived in my neighborhood, which around here is within 5 miles. I really liked the way he handled the horse he was riding. And the horses his kids were riding were very well behaved, and the kids were good riders. After some conversation he agreed to help me with Diamond.

Diamond learnt many things, one of which was to yield her hindquarters better, crossing her inside hind leg over the outside, allowing her to pivot around on her front. This improved her flexion but also served in later developing a great one rein stop and softness. The exercises build more respect and horses learn to trust their rider and listen to what is asked of them. 

Diamond also learnt the basics for learning to do a future sidepass as her front end was then moved in a circle around her hinds, and now she had to cross her front leg over to move around. Took a bit for her to understand that she couldn't cheat and just move her feet around, she had to cross that front leg over in front of the other. 

Two of the kids were busy mimicking "Dad" as they worked their pony and put him through his paces. Another son sat on a horse outside the pen and watched and occasionally the oldest boy helped get Diamond moving when she'd get stuck. So amid all this learning was a great number of distractions, which she managed to work through and still watch her handler.

Ted worked with her on lateral flexion both before and after saddling, this will enable us to develop power steering as time goes on. 

Then she got some great desensitizing in motion exercises. Some I had done but even those I had not done enough. So this step took a bit longer.

After that she got another lesson in yielding to pressure. I had tied her head around to the cinch ring for this but I do believe this was more effective in teaching her to give her head and flex. 

 Diamond also learned that people sometimes do crazy things. And I was once again reminded that this was exactly what I had Hollie do so the granddaughters could get on her. But I hadn't thought of doing it with a green horse. Great lesson and Ted loves to raise these horse's emotions and expose them to everything.

After all of what Diamond thought was silliness it was then time to be ridden. She bends when barely asked and is very soft and easy now. After some circling, trotting, cantering, and one rein stops, it is time to go out in the big open arena that is a big plowed field.

The lesson here was to learn cruise control, trot and not break gait, canter and not break gait. All the while as she is cantering along Ted is rubbing her all over, waving his hat, waving his arms, moving his legs around. More desensitization. All that in one day. She was a hot and tired girl but oh so much smarter.