[Ag-eq] my packing trip
Nella Foster
nfoster at extremezone.com
Sun May 9 14:45:01 UTC 2010
Susan:
I'm assuming you don't ride him any more?
How long were you able to ride him?
I sure hope my mules last that long; 2 of them are in their twenties and
going strong. The other is 16 or 17, so I don't have any youngsters. I've
always been told that mules live longer than horses, which I hope is true.
Nella
----- Original Message -----
From: "Susan Roe" <dogwoodfarm at verizon.net>
To: "Agricultural and Equestrean Division List" <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, May 09, 2010 6:01 AM
Subject: Re: [Ag-eq] my packing trip
> Nella,
>
> Yes, Beau Beau is really 38 years old. He was born here when I was ten, I
> got him when I was twelve and I turn 48 in June. He is Mustang/quarter
> horse on his mama's side and Tennessee Walker/Quarter horse on his daddy's
> sie. He is a dark chesstnut with dark bay markings, four white stockings
> and a white blaze.
>
> Susan
> dogwoodfarm at verizon.net
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Nella Foster" <nfoster at extremezone.com>
> To: "Agricultural and Equestrean Division List" <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, May 08, 2010 3:52 PM
> Subject: Re: [Ag-eq] my packing trip
>
>
>> Susan:
>>
>> Is your horse really 38 years old?
>>
>> What kind of horse is he?
>>
>> I think I hit my helmet on a fallen log on my way down, but don't really
>> know. Mike didn't see it happen, so doesn't know either. He said he her
>> heard me say damn-it Allie and then a crash. We were going pretty slow
>> and I'm sure it must have looked funny!
>>
>> I had been wanting to get a new helmet any way!
>>
>> Nella
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Susan Roe" <dogwoodfarm at verizon.net>
>> To: "Agricultural and Equestrean Division List" <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Friday, May 07, 2010 8:51 AM
>> Subject: Re: [Ag-eq] my packing trip
>>
>>
>>> Nella,
>>>
>>> How wonderful for you. I'm so glad you and Mike enjoyed yourself, it
>>> really sounds like a beautiful place to camp. Don't you just hate it
>>> when the trip there and back is harder on you than the actual roughing
>>> trip itself?
>>>
>>> You actually cracked your helmet? That had to have been a pretty good
>>> lick, thank God you were waring one. The trip sounds really great.
>>> Matt is my outdoor cook and I'm the prep and clean up person. We've
>>> done trail rides around here and when I was younger, my uncle would get
>>> a group together and go up to a place in the mountains here in Virginia
>>> called Big Meadows and then ride down the mountain to meet back up with
>>> the trailors. I wasn't able to ride back then because I was going
>>> through all of my eye surgeries, so I went with my aunt and a few others
>>> who took the trailors back down. My horse, Beau Beau, is now 38 years
>>> old, but he's still hanging in there.
>>>
>>> Susan
>>> dogwoodfarm at verizon.net
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Nella Foster" <nfoster at extremezone.com>
>>> To: "Agricultural and Equestrean Division List" <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2010 1:42 PM
>>> Subject: [Ag-eq] my packing trip
>>>
>>>
>>>>I think I mentioned that I was training my mules Jack and Cricket for
>>>>packing. They were doing very good, so my boy friend and I decided that
>>>>they were ready to go since they acted as if they had been packing their
>>>>whole lives!
>>>>
>>>> On Friday, April the 23rd we left for our big packing trip. We went to
>>>> a national forest area in the Superstition Mountains, which is about 2
>>>> hours from here.
>>>> Half of the trip is on a long, narrow, winding and hilly road. The
>>>> last 8 to 10 miles is on a dirt road. It was a terrible road for a
>>>> horse trailer.
>>>> I thought that Mike, the animals and I would all die before we ever
>>>> started the packing part!
>>>>
>>>> I was so relieved when we got to the trail head in one piece. It takes
>>>> a while to get the animals packed up. Everything has to be weighed, so
>>>> that each
>>>> side of the pack is evenly balanced. The majority of the weight was
>>>> horse pellets. We had to take enough food to feed Mike's horse and my
>>>> 3 mules for
>>>> 3 days. It took us an hour or so, but we were finally ready to go!
>>>>
>>>> It is about a 10 mile ride to the camp site. We camped at an old
>>>> ranch, which is now national forest. The trail was pretty good; the
>>>> footing was good,
>>>> but a little rocky in places. There was quite a lot of brush, so I was
>>>> glad I wore my chaps. There was a lot of gradual climbing with a few
>>>> short and
>>>> steep areas. There were several ledges, but they were fairly wide.
>>>> After the road to the trail head the trail was a piece of cake!
>>>>
>>>> Mike rode his horse and lead Jack. I rode Allie and lead Cricket. It
>>>> started getting very windy and cold after about an hour into the ride.
>>>> I hate riding
>>>> when it is windy because I can't Hear. The wind made it almost
>>>> impossible to hear Mike, so I just had to trust Allie and hope for the
>>>> best. Allie didn't
>>>> let me down and we got through a couple of tricky areas with no
>>>> difficulty. It took us a little over 4 hours to get to camp. We were
>>>> all pretty tired
>>>> by the time we got there; I think I had to drag Cricket the last couple
>>>> of miles or so!
>>>>
>>>> Jack and Larry, 2 guys from our riding club had ridden in the day
>>>> before and set up a camp. They were there to meet us and help unpack.
>>>> Our camp site
>>>> was beautiful. We were in a valley with a lot of grass, some trees and
>>>> a stream. The animals could graze, so they were happy. We had to
>>>> hobble them or
>>>> highline them; they are fine with both. We had to walk them to the
>>>> stream 3 or 4 times a day for water.
>>>>
>>>> On Saturday Jack and Larry went for a ride, but Mike and I decided to
>>>> hike instead. We explored the valley and the old ranch area. There is
>>>> nothing left,
>>>> but the house foundation, parts of fencing, some abandoned farm
>>>> equipment and an apple orchard. The apple trees were blooming and
>>>> smelled wonderful.
>>>> We saw a grazing mule deer and all kinds of birds. We waded in the
>>>> stream, which is very cold. We had a great day, just relaxing in
>>>> nature.
>>>>
>>>> We were able to build a fire for cooking and heat; the nights got below
>>>> freezing. Mike is a great camp cook and made wonderful meals the whole
>>>> time. The
>>>> nights were wonderfully quiet, with only the sounds of nature.
>>>>
>>>> Sadly we had to leave Sunday, so Mike and I could get back to work on
>>>> Monday. On he ride out Allie was acting up and I had a terrible time
>>>> trying to lead
>>>> Cricket. Finally Mike tied Jack and Cricket together and lead them
>>>> both out. Allie finally calmed down, but not before getting us tangled
>>>> in a tree.
>>>> I thought I could lean back far enough to slide under, but couldn't and
>>>> had to slide off, backwards and headfirst! I wasn't hurt, but some how
>>>> cracked
>>>> my helmet. Allie was fine after that and we made it back to the truck
>>>> and trailer in 3 an one half hours.
>>>>
>>>> The worse part was we had to take the same rode out as we did in. The
>>>> traffic was worse than before and I was a nervous wreck by the time we
>>>> reached the
>>>> good road. The road was the worst part of the whole trip. Mike and I
>>>> plan on doing some more packing trips. We both had a great time and
>>>> are looking
>>>> for more places to go.
>>>>
>>>> I was pretty tired and achy after the trip all that time in the saddle
>>>> and sleeping on the ground wasn't in my best interest. It took me a
>>>> few days to recover, but I'll definitely do it again! Well sorry this
>>>> turned into a novel.
>>>>
>>>> Take care.
>>>>
>>>> Nella
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>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
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