Today, my riding companion and I decided to see how ready we are for the Californio Ride next so we went on an extended ride up to the Doc Larsen and then loop back to the stables- about a 12-mile ride. The toughest part is making your way uphill to the Doc- it gets pretty steep in places and we were going at a relatively slow pace.
What is "Doc Larsen"? From what I've been told, he's an individual who was an early resident of the Sunland-Tujunga area who promoted trail riding. Apparently he lived into his 70s before passing away. In his honor, a trail was constructed which links the trails in the Middle Ranch area with the fire roads further up. At the top of the Doc Larsen Trail, there's a bathtub set in rocks and concrete that's hooked up to a constant a water source. There's also a long hitching rail. I really should have gotten some pictures of this.
Anyway, Max was blowing pretty hard by the time we made arrived but he was rewarded with a nice long break. His trail companion Molly is also a Mustang and her termperment was excellent and she seemed to accept Max. Definately NOT a nutjob Throughbred so we were able to take the fire roads at a more sane pace. The worse part is going downhill- it puts a real strain on the horse and rider, almost more than going uphill.
The ride also gave me a chance to organize and test some of my trail equipment. I'd never really given this a thought before so I've never made a concerted effort to gather the necessary trail equipment. But now...a lot of it is similar to what the endurance riders use. Overall, everything seemed to work out fine.
Naturally Max was a bit of a knucklehead on the way home but nothing major. When we got back to the stables, I also tied Max up to the trailer for awhile and he seemed to do allright, even with some fierce winds that kicked up.
We'll see if this applies to next weekend...
What is "Doc Larsen"? From what I've been told, he's an individual who was an early resident of the Sunland-Tujunga area who promoted trail riding. Apparently he lived into his 70s before passing away. In his honor, a trail was constructed which links the trails in the Middle Ranch area with the fire roads further up. At the top of the Doc Larsen Trail, there's a bathtub set in rocks and concrete that's hooked up to a constant a water source. There's also a long hitching rail. I really should have gotten some pictures of this.
Anyway, Max was blowing pretty hard by the time we made arrived but he was rewarded with a nice long break. His trail companion Molly is also a Mustang and her termperment was excellent and she seemed to accept Max. Definately NOT a nutjob Throughbred so we were able to take the fire roads at a more sane pace. The worse part is going downhill- it puts a real strain on the horse and rider, almost more than going uphill.
The ride also gave me a chance to organize and test some of my trail equipment. I'd never really given this a thought before so I've never made a concerted effort to gather the necessary trail equipment. But now...a lot of it is similar to what the endurance riders use. Overall, everything seemed to work out fine.
Naturally Max was a bit of a knucklehead on the way home but nothing major. When we got back to the stables, I also tied Max up to the trailer for awhile and he seemed to do allright, even with some fierce winds that kicked up.
We'll see if this applies to next weekend...
3 comments:
Sounds like you had a wonderful time!
Great blog! One of the few active reenactor blogs I could find. I look forward to seeing more of your posts in the future.
I try to keep things current but sometimes it isn't easy! :-) I just got back from a trail competition this weekend so I'll try can post something about it soon.
I havn't been able to get Max out to an event (not after his first disaster but I'll get into that eventually) but I'm introducing him to travelling and being around other horses and strange situations in, what I believe, is the right way.
Unfortunately, a good part of the time (at least around here), reenactor and rider are mutually exclusive and some of worst horsemen, next to rental riders, are reenactors.
Anyway, glad you all are enjoying the posts!
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