Mountain GOAT!!

A Mountain Adventure!!

Me and Missy decided to take the boys (and Mike and Marty) to the mountains. There's a place with a cabin and a two stall barn and paddock that has access to trails right there! So we conviced the significant others and made plans! The owner warned us that you needed a small trailer, so, Dan and i hauled to Halfshire and I dropped my rig and hooked up to Missy's trailer. Mike met us later on the bike and Marty followed us n the car. Dan loaded right up into Missy's trailer without any hesitation. Even before Indy got on. :) But apparently he ate her chest bar padding along the way. Doh! Guess I'll be replacing that. Dammit Dan!

We got to Leatherwood mountain and while the trip there wasn't bad at all, the trip from the bottom of the resort to the actual cabin was AWFUL! I'm soooo glad I didn't have my gooseneck but good gravy it was still scary! The roads were very narrow, one way only roads, that twisted and turned. There was even a rollback or two. We also weren't sure which house was hers, but luckily Mike went to scout it out and found it for us. We were able to park on the road and walk the boys down. (Apparently at one point, someone took the horse trailer down the driveway and got stuck and they had to get a tractor to tow them back up because there wasn't enough room to turn around down there! Eeeks!). 

It was a lovely place!! The boys had two nice stalls set into the side of the hill and a decent sized hilly paddock. They got settled but neither wanted to eat their dinner. We picked a bad weekend for weather because we had a bunch of rain in the forecast. So we decided to put the boys in their stalls while we went to dinner. Maybe they would eat then too. Plus... bears! So we headed out to dinner in the truck. Holy moly that was a tough drive too! GPS sent us some wild way through the mountains and what felt like some backroads that weren't really roads. And then it rained too. It was a harrowing drive and at some points I could only go about 15 mph. Good grief! But the view up top at the restaurant was awesome and the food was sooo good. Then we headed back home but had to stop at the grocery store so the roads were even scarier that way! I think the fastest I got was 30 mph!!! Poor Mike. ;) 

We slept in the next day and turned the ponies out for a bit. Then they came back to their stalls for breakfast but neither of them ate. Argh! Oh well. We tacked them up and went to hit the trails. Marty took the dogs for a walk and Mike went out on his bike. We tried to pick the "easy peasy trail" because of all the rain but... you know me and maps. ;) We started out okay but it was pretty muddy and sliick with all the rain we've been having. And the mud was quite deep in spots. The ponies started out nervous but were good and helped each other be brave. Dan kept wanting to walk on the edge of the cliff's to stay out of the mud. Fine dude, but... now we're gonna fall down the mountainside!!! And then, we hit some steeper down hills and he kept trying to run down them. I guess it was easier than sitting and balancing. But a little scary and unfun for me. But overall it was fun. The trails were pretty and we had a good time. The boys took turns leading. Somehow we got off the easy path though and had no idea how to get home. The lady who owned the cabin had told us not to take Robnson trail down, as it was super steep and not an easy trail. So of course... somehow that's where we ended up! And it was exactly what she said... "grueling and steep, especially when it's wet".... Doh! It felt like we were going on a 45 degree grade. I felt like I was laying on Dan's butt to keep from tippng him over or sliding down his neck and over his head! About 1/2 way down  I called Uncle and got off and walked him the rest of the way.  I was afraid he was going to slip and fall and felt like he was gettng fatigued. Finally we got to the bottom. Well... it should only get easier from here on out!

We found a nice creek and let them drink and then we let them snack on the grass there as it was good grass and the pasture didn't really have anything. We headed back home and hosed all the sweat off them and turned them out for a rest. And we had some lunch... sat in the hot tub.. and then walked around the resort. Marty and Missy played one round of pickleball while I sat with the dogs. Mike was still out on his bike. We decided to do dinner at the resort restaurant vs driving those roads again! Afterwards we hung out on the screened in porch and then headed to bed. 

Saturday morning we slept in a bit again. The ponies still weren't eating great. We had breakfast and then went for another ride. Last night Mike had showed me how to use the satellite map and we had figured out a better trail path so we didn't risk getting super lost agaiini. We had a pretty good ride. We ended up on the "road" a good chunk of the ride instead of in the woods, but it was still pretty. We found some hilly trails and some steep cliff edges with switchbacks. Dan wanted to start bucking down the hlls. Dude, no!! Why do you always want to do that?! We found a cool bridge and crossed that and then we let them snack while another couple out riding passed us. They weren't very quick and lost too, so we caught up to them quick and then they wanted to follow us. But then Indy got worried so we asked them to lead. But that made Dan anxious. We were at the creek and because they were a bit ahead Dan jumped it. And then Indy did too. But then Indy lost his boot. We found it, but he lost one of the straps. Missy got it back on but she was afraid he would lose it again because she didn't have the strap. So we carried on but when we got to the road, she wanted to just go back. Sigh. So we headed back.  I really wanted to do some more riding... we had driven so far and there was so many more trails to explore.. but we had been riding for two hours and t was hot. So we hosed them off and then hand walked them down to the creek to drink and graze. And Dan decided to jump the little creek. The ground was so soft that he sunk into it and pulled a shoe. Dammit Dan! Argh. Oh well. We let them graze and then eventually took them back up. They got to spend the day in the paddock. Mike and I took the bike to lunch and got rained on. ;) But it was still fun. That night we had dinner at the cabin, cooked by Marty. It was tasty. We all hung out and listened to the storm rolling in. The horses spent the night in their stalls again.

Sunday we packed up and headed back home. It was a fun trip and I'm proud of them for figuring out how to maneuver in the mud and the hills. Those weren't easy trails. And they were sweet with eath other the whole trip. Although Dan did chew on Indy some on the way home. Oops. 

photos; Leatherwood

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And then...  I finally got home with dan and turned him out. Before I could even pull his halter off Funny squealed and double barreled him!!! Right in the right stifle!! I heard a solid crack/thud and Dan held his leg up and was trotting on three legs for a good two minutes. It was terrifyng! I thought "well, frick.. she just broke his effin' stifle/patella!". But after a few minutes, he put weight down on it and was walking but clearly lame. And then...  I checked on Fleck and he was in so much pain from his feet that he was panting and tucked up. I bawled right then and there... gave Fleck some banamine and treated his wounds. He had some scratches going on and I guess he was abscessing in two feet. I called Dr. Barrow in tears but we decided to have her look at them on Tuesday. Dan got banamine too. So yeah... a great(ish) trip... but not much fun coming home.