Well, after returning from the our Saturday excusion, I noticed a raw spot developing on Max's withers, primarily on the right side. Basically, Max's hair was rubbing off and I thought it was due to the breast collar top strap rubbing against the withers. I figured that I'd keep an eye on it and maybe it was because of all the up-and-down riding on the Sycamore Canyon Trail...
Sunday dawned sunny, a bit warmer, and a lot more windy. I decided that day to just go out on my own- Max's slow pace didn't seem to endear me to my companions too much so I decided to just simply take Max out of the picture. Also, I was not in the mood to ride anymore moutainous trails and decided to stick mostly to the flats.
So I decided to ride towards the central valley and at the same time locate Jerry's house. As far as I knew, his widow was still living in Bear Valley and I remembered enough of the local geography to locate it. The one thing that definately stood out as I rode into the valley was that there has been a lot of construction in the past five or six years since I'd last been to Bear Valley and everything seemed a bit more crowded.
I rode along using a combination of trotting, cantering, and walking. I also stopped frequently to let Max graze and a couple of times got off of him. The only problem I had was riding down the canyon trail from the Bear Valley Equestrian Center, where we were camping, to the main valley- on several occassions, Max tried to turn around. A quick tap with the reins put an end to that quickly and continued to the valley.
I worked my way along San Juan Road towards Cumberland Road, the main road into the valley, and while I saw a house that sort of looked like Jerry's, it was different and it appeared that the land that had been used as a pasture for his horses was now built upon with other houses. After riding back towards the trail and looking around some more, I concluded that I had ridden by where his house had been. Everything had changed and I concluded that his widow must have cashed out and sold off the property.
Even accessing the house was changed and I would have had to have ridden up several side streets. Since I was now pressed for time (we were going to be leaving about 2 PM), I had to turn around and ride back to the Equestrian Center.
Too bad- it would have been nice to have dropped in to visit (unfortunately, my wife and I had lost contact in since Jerry had passed away). I guess things always change...
When I returned to the Equestrian Center and took off the saddle, the rubbed spot was now raw and it was evident that my new Western saddle was causing back problems- after all the money I'd spent, I was no closer towards solving my trail saddle problem. Also, it dawned on me that this was a heavy saddle and that probably had a lot to do with why Max was having problems on the trail the day before.
Sometimes, you just can't win.
Sunday dawned sunny, a bit warmer, and a lot more windy. I decided that day to just go out on my own- Max's slow pace didn't seem to endear me to my companions too much so I decided to just simply take Max out of the picture. Also, I was not in the mood to ride anymore moutainous trails and decided to stick mostly to the flats.
So I decided to ride towards the central valley and at the same time locate Jerry's house. As far as I knew, his widow was still living in Bear Valley and I remembered enough of the local geography to locate it. The one thing that definately stood out as I rode into the valley was that there has been a lot of construction in the past five or six years since I'd last been to Bear Valley and everything seemed a bit more crowded.
I rode along using a combination of trotting, cantering, and walking. I also stopped frequently to let Max graze and a couple of times got off of him. The only problem I had was riding down the canyon trail from the Bear Valley Equestrian Center, where we were camping, to the main valley- on several occassions, Max tried to turn around. A quick tap with the reins put an end to that quickly and continued to the valley.
I worked my way along San Juan Road towards Cumberland Road, the main road into the valley, and while I saw a house that sort of looked like Jerry's, it was different and it appeared that the land that had been used as a pasture for his horses was now built upon with other houses. After riding back towards the trail and looking around some more, I concluded that I had ridden by where his house had been. Everything had changed and I concluded that his widow must have cashed out and sold off the property.
Even accessing the house was changed and I would have had to have ridden up several side streets. Since I was now pressed for time (we were going to be leaving about 2 PM), I had to turn around and ride back to the Equestrian Center.
Too bad- it would have been nice to have dropped in to visit (unfortunately, my wife and I had lost contact in since Jerry had passed away). I guess things always change...
When I returned to the Equestrian Center and took off the saddle, the rubbed spot was now raw and it was evident that my new Western saddle was causing back problems- after all the money I'd spent, I was no closer towards solving my trail saddle problem. Also, it dawned on me that this was a heavy saddle and that probably had a lot to do with why Max was having problems on the trail the day before.
Sometimes, you just can't win.
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