Antelope Racing

What does the average Northern Colorado couple do on their fourteenth wedding anniversary?  Head to open space and race antelope of course.  Today Owen and I got an early start to celebrate fourteen years.  We took Highboy and headed out to the open space at Soapstone Prairie just a bit north of our place.  Highboy was excited at the start and did some hopping around in eagerness to get going, but once he settled down he blazed the way for Owen, who is marathon fit and was running on foot. 

The Pronghorn loop we do isn't incredibly interesting terrain to look at, mostly an open field, but we do always see wildlife.  First we passed by a prairie dog colony, and what looked like a guinea pig on steroids was briskly waddling parallel to the trail as Highboy and I trotted along.  Then it stopped, crouching over a large hole, and stared us down.  Once it was holding still we could see it was a badger getting ready to make a stand over his home.  We hustled on our way, we didn't want to mess with a defensive badger. 

The ten mile loop curved while Owen and Highboy alternated who was leading.  About five miles in we came to the sandy service trail that has the best and straightest path for galloping.  As I usually do when we reach this point I let Highboy open up, and he started to run.  He wasn't trying super hard, but at least he was running forwards instead of jumping up and down.  We passed through the middle of a herd of cattle, and Highboy was fine with them, he just paid close attention.  After the cows, we encountered a particularly athletic antelope.  The antelope and Highboy seemed to exchange a glance that said, "hey, want to race?", then they both kicked it into another gear.  I thought it was fun to contend with an antelope at top speed out in the open, and Highboy thought so too.  Eventually the antelope veered off to the north and we continued on the path.  Total we probably galloped about two miles.

Then Highboy and I had to take a walk break to let him catch his breath and let Owen catch up.  As we meandered down the path I noticed several lizards scurrying just ahead of us.  I always wonder why they don't just step off the trail into the taller grass and disappear? 

Owen caught up to us and then passed us headed back towards the parking area.  I got a little video from on top of Highboy which can be seen here:

Then Owen and I took a selfie, and Highboy managed to fit some of his long face in the photo too.  It was a very fun ride, and I feel grateful to have a husband who is game to run ten miles with me even when I'm on a horse who offers a good spirited fist-bump as we pass on the trail.