Off Roading

Our view once we climbed the hill.

Willow ready to head out

So yesterday my friend T and I decided to hit the trails. It was a last minute decision on my part. I knew there was a good chance we would be out for at least 2 hours, so I decided I better eat my beef jerky before we headed out since I was getting hungry and it was 9:30am. Neither of us had a game plan therefore we just started riding. We went out a ways and decided to take one of the trails up to the top of the ridge. Except part of the way up T says to me I think we are still on the road, and as I look around I realize we are on a cow or deer path, but not the road. No biggy it was still a good path and we were headed the direction we wanted to be. Soon enough our path comes to an end, but the top is in sight. T who is ahead says it looks like we can make it if we angle up the hill. Okay I am good with that, so we start up avoiding logs, branches and rocks. Willow was doing a great job getting us up safely. It was proving to be harder than we thought. T and I both decide about half way up we better get off and walk the horses the rest of the way as the terrain and hill is just getting to hard to ride up. We get off and start up very slowly. At this point turning around wasn't really an option as going down looked a lot scarier than just getting to the top. It was probably the hardest thing I have ever done with my horses. Willow almost fell once when she slipped on a rock it scared me to death, but she recovered and we continued on our way. Once we made it to the top we let the horses eat grass and I caught my breath. I told T I needed to make sure I hit the gym more often if I rode with her, or maybe I don't need the gym if she keeps taking me on rides where I have to hike more than ride, lol. Willow was a champ, she got us through that together and I couldn't have been more proud of her.

The clouds had cleared by then and it was a beautiful view of the mountains.

Once on top of the ridge we found the road again :)