Prairie Textures

So, on Friday, I went to the barn late and checked Ashke. He was still just a bit off, although I did find that the point of his right shoulder was sore, possibly from sliding into the fence in turnout on slick, wet clay. At least that is my guess. If the show on Saturday had been a WE show, we would have gone, but considering it was just for experience and exposure, we opted to move our entry to the June show. I did bathe him (three rounds with shampoo to get all of the mud out) and braid his mane afterwards. There is still a urine stain on the underside of his belly that I will have to work at over the next month, but it should resolve fairly quickly given I can rinse him everytime we ride.

J and I decided to spend Saturday exploring. We went to the show first thing in the morning and supported the people from our barn that showed. Amanda rode Intro A on both horses (SD Finnegan - Gypsy Cob and Ernest - Friesan) to help with calmness and focus, but then both riders rode their horses for Intro C. They did awesome and were very brave!! Both horses did a great job of taking care of their riders. I think the laid back atmosphere of that schooling show will be a great practice ride before our next show.

Then we rushed home to grab floofs and the boy and head north. We dropped the boy off at Blitz paintball to play for the day, planning on picking him up at 6 pm that early evening. Then we headed for Wyoming. We have plans to go camping up there with the horses for the first time and wanted to check out the area. The pups were pretty good in the car, although they did take turns trying to sit in J's lap.

We finally made it to Vedauwoo to find the entrances chained off. That kind of defeated the purpose of the trip, since we wanted to drive back and check out the actual campsite. However, we decided to try and hike back, even though we only had an hour to look. It would allow the pups a chance to run and play, J and I would hike for a bit, then drive back to get T.

 Long dirt road. The distance to the campground was more than two miles.

We didn't make it.

Floofs found snow though. 

We got out about a mile and a half, then turned back for the car. It was too far for us to hike and still make it back. I started having problems with the altitude and the hiking. We hadn't packed snacks, although I did have my inhaler with me. J basically saw that I was beginning to crash and forced me to eat some GU. I felt much better after and we headed back.

 When snow is not enough.

I decided to share some of the textures of my prairie.

 Not Indian Paintbrush. They were everywhere.

 Really cool bunch of prairie grass.

 Lichen

 Crocus

 I loved the color of green and red

 Barrel cactus

with blooms

Piece of rib bone, I think, left from some coyote's dinner

And this one:

I will leave it for you to guess. The first comment with the correct answer will win a bridle charm of your choice

We loaded up and headed home. The dogs were pretty tired and traffic sucked. We got back about fifteen minutes late but the boy had a great time, so he wasn't upset. 

All in all, a great day.