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Mule Skinners Poker Ride 2012

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Mule Skinners Poker Ride 2012
  • 3equines

    Posted : 5/29/2012 1:17:52 PM

    Spent Memorial Day weekend at the Flying M ranch in the hills near Yamhill, Oregon for the annual Mule Skinners poker ride. There was a huge turnout. If I were to just make up numbers, I would say there were at least 50 rigs in the campgrounds and another 75 in the day use area on Saturday, slightly less on Sunday. Most of the rigs had 3 and 4 horse trailers with an according number of hoofstock. There were spots where we had 15 or 20 horses in front of us and an equal number behind us on the trails. My horses all did really good, they'd been around enough of these types of rides by now to not be all worked up around the strange horses. My husband rode his QH/Saddlebred gelding, Thunder, and ponied Sally the Mule. I rode my Haflinger mare, Sweet P. My young friend rode 'her' Haflinger mare, Peach. There was probably about 7 miles of trail, a good 2-hour ride with lots of up and downhill. Very soft, fresh trails and a good quantity of half-dry sticky clay mud. Found a few horseshoes in the muddy parts (sucks 'em right off if they aren't clinched down good and tight!) Our horses outpaced most of the others on the trail, for a first serious trail ride of the season they did great - huffed and sweated up the hills but recovered quickly where the grade decreased. We passed through groups of riders where the trail crossed logging roads, pushed on ahead and caught up to the next bunch. We actually made out pretty well at the prize drawing in the end. Got a set of fancy spur straps for my young friend, a heavy duty 50' garden hose, and a nice red training whip (the kind with a short string). Sally the mule had her first overnight camping trip, and first experience of going out two days in a row. She pawed and fussed a lot being tied up in camp, so she got introduced to hobbles. They kept her from pawing but she had plenty fun fussing in them. She actually took it all in stride quite well. Even though she fusses around on the rope she never pulls back on it. Just acts like a clown and lets everybody know how she feels about the situation. OK, time for picture overload. me on Sweet P, Peach and her Girl behind me my husband ponying Sally Peach and her Girl me ponying Sally - 16.2 hand mule and 13.1 hand horse! Home away from home Thunder's prize Horses standing in the tippy tippy trailer! Blew a tire on the way home...
  • danastark

    Posted : 5/29/2012 7:51:21 PM

    Looks wonderful!!  I miss riding in the green woods of Washington/Oregon!  Glad you had a good time and the horses/ponies made you proud ':)'  Thanks for sharing.  I'm having to ride vicariously right now due to the knee so it helps to have beautiful pictures ':)'
  • hunterseat

    Posted : 5/30/2012 9:34:35 AM

    Am I the only one who had an ear-to-ear smile all the way through?  Everyone looks all fit and trim and ready for many miles in the saddle! Those blondes!! Women would pay a bundle to have hair like that! (or rock stars would) And hubby looks like a character out of a western. I recognize the tent from elk camp. I'll always wish I could go with you to elk camp. Jeff has admired those pictures, too. Whenever he talks about doing something like that I think of you.
     
    THANKS for sharing!!!
  • 3equines

    Posted : 5/30/2012 4:00:58 PM

    There were lots of smiles going around through the weekend! My favorite pic is the tippy trailer. The horses just stood like that until we finally closed up the back end and hit the road. They are so funny! And accomodating! Except Sally Mule did not want to load in the tippy trailer, normally she is fine with loading but the slant freaked her out a bit. I've been working hard to keep the weight down on the Haflingers - they tend to blow up like balloons this time of year! Hope to keep them in shape through the summer. Our plan is to do a good horse trip every other weekend, and bust butt on the farm on the alternating weekends. Its a lot to keep up with, since both hubby and I work full-time now.
  • hunterseat

    Posted : 5/30/2012 7:35:12 PM

    Well, the scenery is beautiful. I noticed in the one picture you can see more horses off to the left side of the pic. And it looks like there's some clear cutting going on?
     
    When we drove from MS to CT we used the horse trailer to move my possesions. (I sold pretty much everything) we started out w/2 bad tires, 2 good tires and a good spare. The first tire blew and I was too nervous to go far without a good spare so we got one and not long after the second tire blew. So the spare in that pic looks about like the one on my trailer.  I love my little ramp thing you can pull up on to change the tire. THANK GOODNESS we had that cuz Chatter's patience was just a teensy bit thin on that trip! [':D']