Saturday, Sarah and I loaded up a couple of horses (Ranger & Gabby), and our two dogs (Floyd & Big B), and we went riding on the horse trails at Big Mineral.
The Big Mineral Equestrian Camp at Lake Texoma is just north of the regular camp. Just before you get to the guard shack at Big Mineral Camp, there is a paved road to the left, and that takes you to the horse camp. The two camps are very close to one another.
The trails are pretty much all up-and-down, and in the woods, and way fun. We rode about an hour and a-half till we came to some houses and the trail took a turn to go back towards the camp. But for some reason, the trail heading back was closed. So we decided to come out of the woods and ride back on the road, rather than backtrack the way we had already come. Later, when we were driving out, I clocked the milage, and we had ridden about 3.5 miles just on the road alone. I don't know how far we went in the woods, because we wound around a lot.
The worst part about it was a gully crossing that was boggy. You could see where other horses had crossed and that they had sunk in past their knees. Well, Sarah crossed upstream a ways, but the bank was steep and her horse jumped across. I'm not much on jumping, so I pointed my horse to the main crossing. It was wider there, and I figured my horse would be forced to walk through since it was too wide to jump. Well, I was wrong! My horse flew through the air with so much power that I lost my hold on the saddlehorn, and it hurt where my fingers were wrenched off their hold. But, luckily, my horse stayed straight under me, and I had no problem staying on. Sarah yelled, "YEE HAW!" when he jumped, and she said she wished she'd had the camera (on me as we jumped) because it looked pretty bad. As in bad-ass, I guess.
That is not the first time that that horse has jumped with me. He is a powerful jumper. I guess I should set up some real jumps at the farm and try him out on those some time. When Sarah was little she had quite a jump course set up out there. I have video of her jumping her old Buckskin mare named "Mollie".
Anyway, we rode for about 3.5 hours. By the time we got back to the trailer, the dogs were about to die. They had water along the trail so they were OK on that, but they were just wore out. It was pretty warm by then, too. I think it was about 2:00 p.m. They sure did enjoy cooling off in the lake! We were parked on a high bluff overlooking the main body of the lake; a very pretty spot. We made a fire and cooked hotdogs, and just hung out a while. We didn't camp overnight this time.
When we got home and got finished unloading the horses and everything, I loaded up my new pushmower and went back to the farm, and I mowed the entire front yard for Dad. I finished up in the dark, but this morning it sure looked nice. The new TORO is just like our old one, but better. It has more power. And you don't pump anything before you start it; you just start it--one pull. It cut through the thick/tall stuff like a hot knife through butter, and left no clippings, which is so unbelievable. HEH! I love that mower!
The Big Mineral Equestrian Camp at Lake Texoma is just north of the regular camp. Just before you get to the guard shack at Big Mineral Camp, there is a paved road to the left, and that takes you to the horse camp. The two camps are very close to one another.
The trails are pretty much all up-and-down, and in the woods, and way fun. We rode about an hour and a-half till we came to some houses and the trail took a turn to go back towards the camp. But for some reason, the trail heading back was closed. So we decided to come out of the woods and ride back on the road, rather than backtrack the way we had already come. Later, when we were driving out, I clocked the milage, and we had ridden about 3.5 miles just on the road alone. I don't know how far we went in the woods, because we wound around a lot.
The worst part about it was a gully crossing that was boggy. You could see where other horses had crossed and that they had sunk in past their knees. Well, Sarah crossed upstream a ways, but the bank was steep and her horse jumped across. I'm not much on jumping, so I pointed my horse to the main crossing. It was wider there, and I figured my horse would be forced to walk through since it was too wide to jump. Well, I was wrong! My horse flew through the air with so much power that I lost my hold on the saddlehorn, and it hurt where my fingers were wrenched off their hold. But, luckily, my horse stayed straight under me, and I had no problem staying on. Sarah yelled, "YEE HAW!" when he jumped, and she said she wished she'd had the camera (on me as we jumped) because it looked pretty bad. As in bad-ass, I guess.
That is not the first time that that horse has jumped with me. He is a powerful jumper. I guess I should set up some real jumps at the farm and try him out on those some time. When Sarah was little she had quite a jump course set up out there. I have video of her jumping her old Buckskin mare named "Mollie".
Anyway, we rode for about 3.5 hours. By the time we got back to the trailer, the dogs were about to die. They had water along the trail so they were OK on that, but they were just wore out. It was pretty warm by then, too. I think it was about 2:00 p.m. They sure did enjoy cooling off in the lake! We were parked on a high bluff overlooking the main body of the lake; a very pretty spot. We made a fire and cooked hotdogs, and just hung out a while. We didn't camp overnight this time.
When we got home and got finished unloading the horses and everything, I loaded up my new pushmower and went back to the farm, and I mowed the entire front yard for Dad. I finished up in the dark, but this morning it sure looked nice. The new TORO is just like our old one, but better. It has more power. And you don't pump anything before you start it; you just start it--one pull. It cut through the thick/tall stuff like a hot knife through butter, and left no clippings, which is so unbelievable. HEH! I love that mower!