Horseback Riding and Home

Bronwyn's one wish for the trip was to go horseback riding. Liam had never been, other than a short amble down the road and back in Manti, so he was pretty excited too. Evan would have liked to, but with a broken arm didn't feel like he would be very secure on horseback (and afterwards, with the trail we had, I agreed!). 

Jackson Stables runs the horseback riding operation there at the YMCA with well over 100 hundred horses. At the beginning of the ride a wrangler called up each rider to ask them about their horseback riding experience and assigned them a horse accordingly.

The horses awaiting their rider assignments

Bronwyn really isn't disembodied. It just looks that way. Liam, Bronwyn, Caitlyn, and Jessica eagerly await their turn

We had quite a delay in getting started because one of the earlier afternoon trail rides had to stop due to a brief rainshower. Liam was our only guy.

Liam on Cloudy, Bronwyn on Bonanza, and Anna on Cookie

The trail was deeply grooved and sometimes steep and rock-filled.  I decided I don't like trails that drop off on one side when the horse has tricky footing to deal with. Liam's horse kept just stopping for a break.

I mostly enjoyed the ride. My sister and I agreed that the best time to go riding would be earlier in the day. By the last scheduled ride the horses are done with people on their backs, walking rocky, dusty, deeply grooved trails. Cookie, my horse, kept turning her head sharply to the left to either rub an itchy face on my foot or to use my foot to brush the bit out of her mouth. In fact, once we returned to the stables and were waiting to dismount she moved right up against the rail to rub her face on the rail, mashing my leg at one point. Towards the end of the ride there got to be fifteen feet or more between her and Bronwyn's horse Bonanza and Cookie decided she needed to trot to catch up, never mind we were on a steeply descending narrow stony path. I reined her in, but not before I had a few heart-pounding moments! In spite of that, however, I loved being on horseback. 

My horse Cookie. 

Our final evening together was in an outdoor chapel close to the stables (on the opposite side of the 860 acre camp from our lodge. Not a problem distance-wise -- we drove our car over there). Each family taught a silly song to everyone else. My family's contribution? "The Liquor Was Spilled," about a mouse getting drunk and thinking it could take on the barroom cat.

I had intended to get this group picture on the we arrived while we still wore our snazzy tie dye teeshirts. Alas, that didn't happen. Instead, we caught it on our way out, with Bronwyn and Liam wearing their pj's. 

We drove on I-80 home, stopping at a small park in Rock Springs, Wyoming to make our lunch. This red squirrel came to check out our lunch offerings. 

His companion decided to see what we had to offer as well!

The drive went smoothly. We listened to another book on CD -- Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. It's the only way to keep the peace in a cramped car for nine hours of driving! We haven't finished the story yet, but it's an exciting one.

My dad and I were willing to give Owen a chance to drive, but he forgot to bring his license and he really didn't want to drive around the many semis traveling on the same road. I was glad to get out of the car once we got home because after a one-hour horseback ride the day before, I was feeling a bit tender! And I have to say, Utah water is the sweetest!