The Mountains Are Calling

The mountains are calling and I must go... 

Yesterday we took a group of horses up to the foothills in Livermore, CO.  Joan took June, I took Raven, Joyce took Khreed, and Alice rode Sloane around Alice's ranch.  We were returning Sloane home to live with her old buddy Appy, as well as doing a little saddle fitting troubleshooting for him.

Appy's saddle issues ended up being skin irritation from bug bites.  For some reason the flies were attracted to the white on his blanket appaloosa coat pattern, and he had slightly raised skin where there was white hair on his back.  Combine that with a neoprene saddle pad and once he had started to work, a little the heat underneath the equipment would make the skin incredibly itchy, regardless of saddle fit.  That's likely why he began acting up in his last ride with Alice after he had been out for a little while in a saddle that really did fit him well.  Fortunately Alice doesn't need to begin a saddle search since her western one looked good, but now Appy has to wear party clothes to avoid bug bites.

Since we were making the drive out there anyway, we decided to go for a little ride.  Alice's ranch is for sale and is just beautiful, so we wanted to go exploring on it before it sells!  It's a super cute house on 195 acres with an incredible horse setup including an indoor arena and plenty of loafing sheds and stables. 
http://www.mlsfinder.com/kwls/kw/index.cfm?action=listing_detail&property_id=0246815032&searchkey=5e2ee93e-e4ed-69a3-73f9-1a718b3739e3

Raven hasn't been on very many trail rides yet, but she's learning quickly.  This one was a little disturbing for her since we were riding through fields where herds of 70 deer bed down for the night.  I'm sure the flattened out grassy areas smelled funny, and she did do a little hopping around and making googly-eyes at the weird tall grass.  (We don't have any grass that tall at my place here in Wellington!)

We perused the front fields and walked the fence line around the front of Alice's place with our four horses.  We are eager to return to explore the hill/mountain area on the other side of the ranch, too!  

I also took June, the mare I have for sale who came back to me from CA a few weeks ago.  I've been using her in riding lessons and Joan rode her yesterday.  June has extensive experience trail riding with her old owner (and me before she bought her), as well as lots of training in the arena.  She was a totally solid mount yesterday, and really enjoyed being out in the mountains again.  She's bred to the hilt and has lots of energy and go if you ask for it, but she enjoys a good hack out on the trails just as much.  I still have her for sale, but she's rapidly becoming very popular around my place!