Sunday, September 18, 2011

New Trails

The weather has cleared up here and it was absolutely stunning today. We had several days of thunderstorms, wind and some decent rain. Which tested the new hay tarp mightily, but it is holding up well and all of the hay is dry and safe.

I called L and we was visiting away on the phone...she was preparing peppers for freezing and I was cleaning the garage out. When all of the sudden it hit us...if we were going to visit...we might as well be doing it on horseback. (Duhhhh!)

So she came and picked me up and took me to one of her favorite places to ride, Horsethief Canyon...
It's an absolutely beautiful place to ride. There are numerous winding trails that follow these canyon walls...
Of course, red rock and these types of formations are my absolute favorite kind of scenery...
Sorry South Dakota...I love the rolling grasslands of my home country, but I find this kind of country much more interesting. I plan on going back and riding there as soon as possible and will get better pictures. L and I are like a couple of magpies when we are together, so I just snapped a few pics with no real attempt to grab the immense beauty that surrounded us.

This was way cute...
It's believed that an old-time sheep herder must have installed this doorway into a tiny cave...or an outlaw?

The ponies had better look out. I was kind of burned out, but getting out and riding in a new, beautiful and immensely interesting area has me craving to go explore every nook and cranny.

17 comments:

cdncowgirl said...

Maybe that's what I need to reboot? New scenery?

It looks gorgeous there btw. How far is it from your place? Do you haul there or ride from your place?

Oh and I really appreciate your comment on my latest post. What you said is pretty much how I feel and what S & I said to each other :)

Kristen said...

gorgeous! I wish I had some trails like that to ride in!

BrownEyed Cowgirl said...

As the crow flies, it's only about 3 miles from my house. I can see the canyons from my front yard, but that pesky Colorado River is between me and there, so we hauled about 6 miles to get there.

Ran into some other friends in the parking lot. LOL. Come to find out, I'm still in the running for a high point buckle at that little local gymkhana that Megan and I went to this spring. Guess I will make the last two of those in October and see if Spooks can't capture a High-Point All-Around buckle.

Danged if that horse isn't amazing. LOL.

GunDiva said...

Went for a couple of beautiful rides today, too. It was the perfect day for riding.

Sherry Sikstrom said...

gorgeous area! WHat a great place to be

in2paints said...

Beautiful scenery!! I can see why you'd want to head back out there!

Allenspark Lodge said...

There are some pretty cliffs like that in Diablo Canyon out of Santa Fe, to the Rio Grande River. Those are so fun to ride! I didn't realize we had that type here in CO, except down in the Mesa Verde area. Sounds like a great rejuvination ride.
Juanita

Laura said...

wow - nice scenery!!! I would love to get out and ride in a place like that...

SunnySD said...

Gorgeous! Wow - with country like that to ride in, it would be a shame not to put some miles on :)

Crystal said...

I can see why you would want to ride there, very beautiful. And that dooway is too cool!

Mikey said...

Gorgeous country! I can see why you ride there.
Boy I need to get out and ride somewhere different. Soooooon.

Danielle Michelle said...

Come ride the Zapata! And you can bring me some hay! lol

Cut-N-Jump said...

Gorgeous. Looks like the footing is good there too. A nice place to ride and quiet the mind as you take it all in.

I wanna go!

Once Upon an Equine said...

Looks like a great place to ride. Don't you love it when we get these nice days this time of year in Colorado.

BrownEyed Cowgirl said...

Oh my gosh...Yes! These last couple of weeks have been absolutely gorgeous and this lovely weather is expected to stick around. I just gotta get myself back on track now that I can ride all day again.

Shirley said...

What an interesting place to ride. Just catching up on your blog, must say that load of hay is mighty impressive. And thanks for the info on your stallion's pedigree. I love the old foundation horses too.

C-ingspots said...

Beautiful scenery!! My kinda riding country - no super steeps and land on both sides of me. :) Out here, so many of our trails are straight up and straight down, cliff on one side and huge cavernous drop-off on the other side. Gulp...used to not pay any attention. Not anymore! I've gone coward. Or smart! But, I'd love to go riding there sometime. We don't have that kind of rock around here. Very fun!! I'm totally jealous.