a weekend of horses: Sunday edition

As if Saturday wasn't enough fun, I got a message from A Saturday night asking if I wanted to come ride with her on one of her horses on Sunday. Of course!!!

Bonus points for the fact we were going to somewhat new-to-me trailhead: the newly-opened Brown's Trailhead in the newest part of the Scottsdale Sonoran Preserve. Now, Dad and I used to ride the trails around Granite Mountain years ago back when he first got his mare Kelly. So I was somewhat familiar with the east side of what is now preserve land, but we'd never gotten as far west as the new trailhead.

I was distracted (fitting and booting horses, tacking up, trying to beat the heat), so didn't think to get pics of the trailhead...so I will the next time. But until then, just take my word for it: It's cool. They even have a concrete horse trough with a drain in it, so you turn it on and get nice, fresh, (somewhat) cool water when you want to water your horse, versus a slimy, overheated, nasty trough.

And it looks like there are a ton of trails there too. We did what was I think about a 9-mile loop and barely put a dent in the trail availability. Definitely want to come back here again.

A offered me her very experienced endurance gelding Majik to ride. Fun, fun horse! He's bold, dominant, and forward, the kind that, as long as he knows you know how to sit up and ride, he's wonderful. Those are my favorite kind of horses to ride, so we had a great time together.

Bringing up the rear of the Endurance Parade.
(Yes, riding yet another Grey Arabian Gelding.)

 I also got to try A's Lovatt & Ricketts (Arabian Saddle Company) Sylvan, which is their all-purpose, fewer-rings-than-endurance-saddles model. An ASC has also been on my "want to test" list after sitting on a Rubicon in a store...I like these saddles. Will definitely consider one of them in the future.

Balancing Rock

 It was a small group of four of us riding, and we took turns swapping positions, trading off who was leading, or in the back. Great group that all got along well and had a really fun time.

desert in bloom

I love this north Scottsdale/Rio Verde area. I've been coming up here to ride, off-and-on, for the past 13 years, and I'm still not tired of it. The only reason it doesn't qualify as my favorite spot to ride is it is a little more out of the way than the San Tans. But in terms of overall views and amount of trails available, I have to give this area the nod.

Trail obstacle. We had to go between the rock and the tree.

So, a very horsey-filled weekend that left me with a smile on my face and some muscles that are in that much better shape for the fast-approaching fall ride season.