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Nothing is better than good friends/family getting to ride together. Our PONY cousin gatherings are all about this. So when I am in the desert for 6 months at a time even though I have good friends to ride with...I do miss that life long bond that I have with my family and the PONY COUSINS! So one of my recent blogs asked you all what kind of ride I should take my visiting PONY COUSIN on. I asked you all if I should baby her tender butt, break her in slowly so to speak...but none of you seemed to have much sympathy for her and said I should really just throw any/everything at her... that she should just "cowgrilthefuckupanddoit"!!! (25 cents in the cuss jar!) I apparently took your advise!
The 1st ride we ( from now on, we means the Bossman and me...he is my partner in crime!) take Bronco Betsy on is an easy up hill ( code for: steep drop offs, switch backs and LONG) that meanders up to Smoke Tree Mountain across from our stables. The trail then heads across a valley between this and the next mountain...that is IF we had stayed on the trail! Now I must admit that it was not intended to go off trail, but when we turned off to soon it seemed a shame to back track when we could see exactly were we were!
Bronco Betsy pretends to have a stirrup issue...just to see how fast the Bossman jumps to attention! 
Notice how you can see the trail before us??? About 15 minutes later...GONE! So we just went off trail towards the canyon we needed to get to. Nothing was very difficult...but this part did un-nerve her a bit. I will admit...it was steeper than it looks cause there was a jump down at the bottom. Bronco and I talked this through and then she proceeded to "justcowgirlthe~ fuckupanddotit!"( 25 cents in the cuss jar!) I filmed it here...keep an eye out for what went wrong!!!Yup...Jesse decided that Bronco was being not going to be "The Boss" of him and just said "NOFUCKINGWAY!" ( Jesse does not have a cuss jar!) However...Jesse was ever so gentle in his turn around and gave Bronco plenty of notice to stay in the saddle with him. Some horses would have taken advantage of this opportunity and spun around so fast you would have air beneath you! Good boy Jesse! Unfortunately as I was filming Bronco's 2nd PERFECT execution of this hill I hit the wrong button. Take my word for it...she did the 2nd try great!!!
We finally make it back on trail and Bronco was very happy about this!
Here we are almost down into the canyon where we will find tie rails and a wonderful shady Palm Tree Oasis for our lunch spot!
The horses are tied...notice we keep Slick a safe distance from Jesse and Little Lady, after all, he is a STALLION!
The perfect bridle rack!
In fact it is Bob Hope's house overlooking Palm Springs!!! It is still used for events/fundraisers.
Bronco Betsy had a cocktail party to attend and as usual...we were running late. So after we get off the trail into the sandy wash we tell Bronco that we have to lope to get back on time. Well she said for us to go ahead and she would just walk in. I then explained to her that...Jesse would not stay behind for her if we left ( he would for me or Bossman but Bronco may have a teeny weeny problem with that) so she "cowgirledthefuckup" ( 25 cents in the cuss jar!) and loped most of the way home with the Bossman coaching her along the way. When there is not a trail Jesse likes to try and race sometimes. He had her keep Jesse right in Slick's behind! Bronco was so proud of her self afterwards...so were we!!! Ride time 5 hours!
Your Desert Rose!
Well she made it threw the first ride still alive!!
ReplyDeleteWow what a fun ride. I love the horn bags! And enjoyed seeing Bob Hopes house.
ReplyDeleteLove the pictures....looks so warm! I am missing those trails. Or any, for that matter! :) The video cracked me up. Silly Jesse! Just think, maybe in the next year or so, BB will have a horsey of her own for the desert!!
ReplyDeleteNow that looks like a nice ride. That's the way to cowgirl up, Betsy.
ReplyDeleteI am so missing riding the trails too. Wishin' I was is that sunshine right now. Do you think Cuz B. will ride with you again!!!
ReplyDeleteGood for her! She kept up with you slave drivers! What a gorgeous ride.
ReplyDeletelooks like super fun!
ReplyDeleteI miss the warm weather so much!
I'm jealous!! You have such a wonderful place to ride! You lucky cowgirl!!!! :-)
ReplyDeleteYou have me so confused as to where you rode this day. I'm making sure Cowboy H is trail boss if we ever ride with you again! BTW, plans are in order for a moderate Sunday ride. We will call you!
ReplyDeleteMama H, you silly goose, It was the Garstin, over to Jane's Hoffbrau, back down on the Arraby!!! Heck the wranglers and I have done that one in the dark! OOPPS< remember the runnaway horse story down 111???
ReplyDeleteThat Jessee is such a good trusty boy! It looks like Cousin B did a great job out on the trails. I'd be too big of a wuss!
ReplyDeleteWay to go, Cousin B!!!!! I'm in awe! And to think I was actually considering joining you one day out there in your lovely desert for a ride. gah! Those drop offs, jumps, and steep ascents and descents are scary!
ReplyDeleteMaybe if I come out, you can just lead me around and around in the corral instead?
lol!
I love the saddle pads and bridles on the palm tree. Very clever!
Thanks for all the wonderful comments, encouragement, and words of advice you've been giving me over at my blog. They are much appreciated :)
~Lisa