Of Porcupines and other things

I went out the other morning to go to work and Rusty walked up to me with a snout full of porcupine quills. Needless to say, I didn't make it to work on time and Rusty got an unscheduled visit to the Vet. Sam, on the other hand, was quill free--except that Tammy found one on his fur later. But we think that came from Rusty. I guess Rusty will stay away from the porcupines from now on. At least, I sure hope so! We didn't even know there are porcupines out here.

On another note--we are ready to harvest our pumpkin patch this Sunday. We have 12 of the most beautiful pumpkins. One we are keeping for the ranch and we have already sold two more. So that leaves nine. I'm going to take some pictures to post on the website when we harvest them. They are for sale. I hope they get eaten and not just carved up for Halloween decorations. To me, that's such a waste. Home baked pumpkin pies or pumpkin soup, or even pumpkin cookies are soooo good!

The fall is the absolute best time for trail riding at the ranch. It's not too windy, the temperatures are not too hot and not too cold (they are just right!), and the sun is shining bright. If you are considering a time to trail ride, this month (October) is really the best time you could pick. I recommend you bring a camera. Even if it gets cold and rainy, it doesn't feel as cold as in the spring. I think it's because we have all that nice summer sun saved up in our bones. But that's not a medical opinion.

And we've turned on the comments, so if you have something to say in reply--go for it!

Trail Ride

Today we had our biggest trail ride yet. We had some friends over, plus we had a singles group, and we all went on the ride together.

One of the best things about Dream River Ranch, is that we get to share it with others. This isn't a "keep to yourself" operation. In fact, we think that we have something pretty special and we love to show it off.

Our horses are not your general "trail" horses. They are school horses--used mostly for SHE Therapy. On the side, they (the horses) give lessons and do trail rides to help earn money.

But this means, that we don't put nose-to-tail and take the same trail every time. In fact, every single trail ride is different. And the horses can go single file (as in the above photo) or they can go side by side. It depends on what the riders tell them to do.

Therefore, before Willa takes anyone on a trail ride, if they don't have enough experience to be safe on the trail, they get a riding lesson. This promotes safety, good riding, and allows us to share our piece of the country in a very special way.

This is the best kind of trail riding. The kind where even the inexperienced, get to learn how it feels to be a rider, not just a passenger. And we never go exactly the same way twice. So whatever trail ride we give, it's special, because no other trail ride will be quite like that one.

Sometimes, we get really experienced riders, and then we can go farther and longer. On those rides we do a lot of canter and trot. But even with inexperienced riders--when we don't go as far out--we still have lots of fun. With inexperienced riders, we generally go at a walk, maybe a little trot in places. But we still get out and see the beautiful, wild, desert countryside.

This way, we don't get bored, and our horses don't get bored, and the people who come with us have a really great time.

We always see something wild as well. Today we saw jack rabbits. Lots of time we see antelope. Did you know that antelope are the fastest animals in the Western Hemisphere? Fastest herbivores, that is. I think that jaguars or maybe even cougars can be faster. But don't quote me on that. Just know that watching a herd of antelope run over the horizon is a very exciting sight.

So that's a bit about being on the trail with Dream River Ranch.

I hope we'll see you soon...