Horse camping at Wrights Lake

This year's horse camping trip was to Wrights Lake.

We used to take our girls there when they were little.  We would camp for 1 week at a time at one of the creeks below the lake and visit Wrights Lake during the day for a few days.  It has become a popular place for people to go now, the people camping part is always full.  There are 73 Summer Home Tracts there...people own cabins and rent them out.  The equestrian camping spots are not full and that was nice.  We were there from Thursday to Sunday.  We only had one "neighbor" 2 spots down from us on Thurs and Friday.  And one other "neighbor" on the other side of the meadow on Saturday and Sunday.  Half of the equestrian camping spots are reservation only-they are the nice shady spots, next to the creek, with nice trees to high line the horses from.  The other spots were more out in the open, less shade.  We explored the campground a month beforehand and decided on our spot #77.  We came home and booked it on line with no problem.  Apparently you have to try to get the regular camp spots about 7 months in advance.  It was a nice time of the year to go.  We learned this from our earlier years camping in this area.  The late summer is the best because there are fewer bugs.  We had NO problems with bugs, not even mosquitos.  And the mushy parts of the trails were all dried up and that was nice for horses.

They want all the horse manure picked up and put in the dumpsters that they provide.  That made me stop and think about how to accomplish that.  We decided on a large plastic garbage can and a dolly.  It worked great.

The bathrooms were nicely maintained, better than Euer Valley.

There was no water at the individual camp sites.  You had to haul water to your site for yourself and your horses.  #77 wasn't too far from the bathrooms and the water faucet.  Again the dolly came in handy.  Our water containers were shaped like large blue squares so they stacked nicely on the dolly and weren't too heavy to fill up.

The camp ground had a meadow in the middle with the sites around the outside edge.   The meadow was nice to walk the horses.  They enjoyed eating the grass and having a  good roll in the grass.

        

It was our first camping experience high lining the horses.  They did great.  No one got caught in their lead ropes.  I caught them all laying down one night.  They could get to their food and water okay.  Food was somewhat of an issue.  I bought hay bags for them, but Zoe and Skippy tore the back fastener off of theirs.  Also the hay bags tended to be noisy during the nights.  So I switched to hay nets.  Zoe and Sky were fine with their nets, but Skippy managed to move one of the knots on her net to make the hole bigger.  She seemed frustrated and I didn't want eating problems maybe causing some health issues on a camping trip...so I decided to feed everyone on the ground.  They were pretty good about it and didn't go pee or poop on their food.  By that time each horse had figured out their own designated "bathroom" spots away from their food areas.  We did tighten up the high line once with a come-a-long.  That made it really tight, almost too tight when we were removing them to go home.

The weather was great.  It did rain the first 2 nights but we didn't get soaked.  The first night I got up and changed the blankets on the horses to some waterproof blankets.  The second and third nights I just put on the waterproof ones.  If it did rain during the day it was just a few sprinkles.  It never got really cold.  The days were nice.  The last day it was cloudy and my daughters and I went for a ride with our rain gear on but when we got to our destination, Bloodsucker Lake, we were roasting.  Good thing for saddle strings.

 

We had many people coming up to camp with us.  Both my daughters and their husbands came.  Also my grandson came-on his first real camping trip!  And we had some good friends come, Dottie and her husband Mario.  They lease our horses.  It was opening day for deer season for archery and Chris wanted to bring his bow.  He didn't really think he was going to get a deer but it was fun practicing at the barn to get ready for this trip and it was fun to bring it.  He loved the pictures that he could share with his hunting buddies of what he did on opening day.  

 

If we weren't riding or relaxing we were at the lake.  One day we all took turns on the rafts and inner tubes to go out on the lake.  Even Zeke enjoyed the time in the water...he liked to splash and pretend to jump off the rocks into the lake.

Our truck was having a problem getting there.  The engine temp light came on as we were going up the grade to Ice House Res.  And remember we have a desiel.  The road was a 7% grade for a long time.  We got to the top it seemed to take forever especially when we were going slow and the engine was sounding funny.  Turned out that we were low on transmission fluid and radiator fluid.  We had checked all the levels before we left but I guess we lost some on the climb.  We made it to camping okay but had to refill the fluids.  So if you're hauling horses on that grade make sure you have a good truck to pull the load.  Apparently ours is questionable on that ride.  Maybe our next trip will be to the ocean-less of a grade to pull the horse trailer.  Everything worked fine on the way home.    

The only horse problem we had was the trails.   You would think that an area with an equestrian campground would have better trails.  I remember years ago when we were there with our kids that the horses could go on any of the trails and all around the lake.  But it is not that way now.  I don't know the history of why that changed but it is different now.  There are very few trails that horses are allowed...and those trails aren't the best.  The signs for some of the trails were not very well maintained.  The Bloodsucker Lake trail was okay.  From that trail you can go go Lyons Lake and Lake Sylvia, but getting all the way to the lakes was not good.  We didn't end up doing it but talked to one of the "neighbors" who frequently go here and they said it gets pretty rocky towards the lakes and is probably not advisable.  The Barrett Lake trail is also a 4-wheel drive trail-only there were no 4-wheelers allowed on it this year.  But the trail itself is too rocky for a horse.  Big round rocks with no solid ground to put feet on...that was the trail.  Jim, Dani and Ryan tried that one but decided to turn around and go on a loop.  

On the way to Barrets Lake 

They got lost coming back and ended up on some undesignated trail-there were no clear signs for them to follow and one of the residents got mad at them.  Maybe that's why things changed there-the residents didn't want the horses there and complained.  Some of the designated horse trails around the lake were also pretty rocky and some were okay.  There was a trail that went to Beauty Lake and  Maude Lake on the Rockbound Trail.  Getting to Beauty Lake was good, a nice trail that Dottie, Mario and I went on. 

                                                 



                Beauty Lake

But beyond that the trail went to Maude Lake, and  according to the "neighbor" was too rough for horses.  We only had time to go to Beauty Lake that day.   There was a trail that the "neighbors" were working on to Windermere, we took it about 1 mile, but lost the trail after that.  We ended up at a meadow that was really pretty and the ride there was nice, but short.  Zoe was uncomfortable in the meadow and wanted to leave in a hurry-hence the tight reins.  

 

Hopefully those people will get the trail more established.  Apparently they come up there often to work on it and the forest service approves of it.  So the trails aren't much-doesn't seem like a very horse friendly place.  The rangers were very nice tho.  But we probably won't be coming back with our horses.

It didn't seem to bother us too much about the trails tho.  We had plenty of family and friends to visit with.  We only had 3 horses for everyone to share so short rides turned out okay.  We could also play in the lake.  So all in all it was a good trip for us.  If one were to go there just for the horse trails I think they would be disappointed.    

Zoe's farrier appointment

So here are the results and pictures from Zoe's farrier/consult appointment.  I included my notes which are sometimes just thoughts that I remembered.  Again the appointment was like a college semester class all rolled into 2 hours.  So my thoughts may be somewhat sketchy.   

Zoe's heels were too long and collapsing under her feet. Her toes were too long. The heels needed to be pulled back and that was accomplished by cutting her heels. The frog needed to be trimmed back some more first. Then trim the heels of the foot back to the widest part of the frog. They had to be even on both sides of the foot. Once the heels were set in the right place -was somewhat trimmed a line was drawn (on the bottom of her foot) at the widest part of the foot. Then a line was drawn where the heels started. The distance from the line in the middle to the toe was to be the same or close to the distance from the line in the middle to the heels. If the toe end was too long we could rasp some toe off or compensate by setting the shoe back-rocker the shoe or rocker the toes to give better breakover. The front of the foot needs to be straight from the corrent band to the end of the toe-Zoe's was a little concaved (had a bump sticking out) so straightening that out took some more toe off. The heels of the shoe extend 1/4” past the end of the heels of the foot. The end of the heel of the shoe needs to be straight under the middle of the leg. Also the edges of the heels of the shoe should be as wide as the corent band at that part of the foot. The whole point was to make the axis point of the foot (where the weight came down from the leg) in the middle of the foot-so it could be centered on each foot.

Hoof doesn't grow with excessive weight on it. If the toe is too long the weight is on the heels. The heels start to collapse under as the toe keeps growing. Zoe has a high/low situation too. One foot is always in front as she bends down to eat, it's always the same foot. That foot has even more weight on the heel and even when she eventually stands straight she tends to keep the weight on the back of her foot-making the problem worse.

Zoe is also base narrow with her toes out, meaning that she tends to keep her feet together esp the heels with the toes pointing out (pigeon toed). This means her weight is mostly on the inside of her foot, thus the inside of the foot doesn't grow as fast as the outside of her foot. She is also a pretty much upright horse, the pasturns don't slant down very much. Meaning there is more than average the concussion on her foot as there isn't much “give” to her stride. (Also makes for a bouncy ride)

The hind feet had the same problem. Her left hind had more toe growing and the toe had more point than the other one.

The corrent band is pretty straight and always has been. That is good, you don't want a really “pushed up” corrent band.

So everything is now balanced. It doesn't mean that in 6 weeks it will still be balanced, but that's why we all have appointments with our farriers to balance the feet again. It makes me really wonder about barefoot trimming. It has to be “right on” without the help of a shoe to compensate for balance or compensate for comformational issues.     

Left front before 

Left front after 

Right front before 

Right front after 

Fronts before 

 

Fronts after 

Fronts before 

Fronts after 

Left hind before 

Left hind after 

Right hind before 

Right hind after 

Hinds before 

Hinds after 

Walking

Some phrases have come to mind lately...
"Just keep walking, just keep walking" (instead of just keep swimming)
"Ok Gumby", says Pokey--only this would be "Ok Skippy", says Zoe (pokey reminds me of walking lately)
"Put one foot in front of the other, and soon you'll be walking out the door"
a walk in the park
walk it off
walk the walk
walking on air

I think all this walking is getting to me.  Only 3 more days to go.

It has been interesting tho-it's kind of nice to slow down and see so many things as we ride along-at a walk.  Even the people that have come along with me have noted this.

Just keep walking, just keep walking...  

Flat tire

ARG....Zoe lost a shoe...left hind.  Not going to get it put back on just to have it off again next Tuesday for our consult/farrier appt.  So she'll be fine in the arena and on the trail I'll use an Easy Boot.  Zoe never looses shoes-strange.

Zeke and Sky

Last weekend I had my grandson.  So we visited the horses.  He got to see and ride his mom's horse, Sky.

           Here we go, let's go over there!

           I know how to steer this thing!

          Sky was such a good horse.  The horses seem to know when they need to be careful.

Obstacle work

Well, what does one do when you're only supposed to walk?  Obstacle work!

I love working obstacles and I'm fortunate to have a horse that doesn't mind obstacle work...usually.  Today I lunged her in the arena on the end of a lunge line, no free lunging.  That way I could control her speed better.  We did trot some, but it was very slow and the ground was good and it wasn't for long.  When we moved closer to my obstacle corner she tried to spook and not stay on the outside of her lunge line circle.  I say "tried" because it didn't really bother her, she just wanted an excuse to be silly.  It's okay, it just meant she got to do more circles close to the obstacle.  Eventually I let her off her lead and had her following me at liberty.  She even followed me thru the obstacle.  So by the time I got on her it was no problem to ride her thru this obstacle.  We even tried it backwards.  Riding backwards over a tarp is tricky, she tends to not pick up her feet as well and ends up dragging the tarp backwards with us.  At least it didn't spook her.

I think next time I will put down more tarps to walk on and try to make at least part of it a tunnel and see if I can get a ball to hang down from the tree instead of a plastic bag.

Farrier issues

Well here I am dealing with farrier issues again.

Many years ago I used to have a farrier, I'll call him B.  B used to shoe my older horses, Sky and Skippy.  As time went on I noticed Skippys feet looking "funny" but I didn't know enough about how a foot should look after being shod.  B said her feet were getting too hard, that he wanted to "chop off her heels" and let her go barefoot for a while and that he needed to use smaller shoes.  So at that time I got my friend Blake Brown involved.  Blake consults on farrier/owner issues.  He used to shoe at the vet I work at and has spent many years shoeing problem horses with great success.  He has retired from farrier work and now consults.  The owner pays for Blake's consultation and he guides the farrier to shoe the horse to correct any problems.  It's a great idea for the farrier...he gets to have a "continuing education" class with a great teacher and the farrier doesn't have to pay for it.  The owner pays for it...well it's money well invested as it will make life better for the owners horse.   And I don't mind supporting Blake Brown...I believe in what he is doing.   Well it helps to have a farrier that wants to work with Blake.  B didn't want to work with Blake, so I got a different farrier...I'll call him J.  J and Blake work together all the time.  The situation was corrected and I have continued to use J as a farrier for my older horses.

When it came time to put shoes on Zoe, J wasn't available...had no time in his schedule.  So I got a different farrier,  I'll call him D.  ( Yes...I have 3 horses and 2 different farriers)  I've known D for many years.  And he knows Blake and has worked with him before.  And up to the last couple of months I thought D was doing a good job.  But I have noticed that Zoe's heels are looking "funny".  Now when I was there for Blake consulting on my other 2 horses, I got quite an education.  It felt like a college course in a few hours.  I do remember some things, but not everything.  But I do remember enough to know that Zoe's heels are "funny" looking.  For the last 2 shoeings D has been saying that Zoe's feet are too hard and that he thinks she should go barefoot for a while, and that her heels aren't doing well and that he has dropped down to a size smaller for her shoes.  WARNING...sounded familar to me!  I had J, my other farrier, look at her feet that were done 13 days before.  He didn't like the way they looked and told me what was wrong and that they looked like it had been 6 weeks since they had been shod...not 13 days.  But I can't tell D how he should do his job...he knows I don't know enough to be correcting him.  I can't just pull the horse from D's care and ask J to shoe her...there is a better way to do this.  So I decided to call in Blake Brown again and do a consult on Zoe with D there to learn how to shoe her better.

So now I have an appt with Blake Brown and D on 8/14 @11am.  I had to wait this long because D had to find a 3 hour time slot in his schedule to work with Blake...it takes this long with Blake talking to the owner and guiding the farrier.  D didn't mind me calling in Blake and has worked with him before.  I tried to describe to Blake what I thought was wrong, but I don't speak "farrier" very well.  While I was on the phone to D to get a date and time...J was talking to Blake and explaining what he had seen-that was great because J can explain it a whole lot better than me.  So when I called Blake back to set up the time that D could do it...Blake told me he had talked to J.  So I felt better knowing that Blake had a better idea of what was going on.  That helped with my next question...can I continue to ride my horse while waiting for this consult/farrier appt?  Blake said yes but with conditions.  No sand-esp deep sand, no steep hills, no rocky trails, and only at a walk.  Well...I guess that's better than no riding.  With no riding I'd probably have attitude issues to deal with later.  And I had another question-I'm leaving for horse camping on 8/16-will this be a problem?  Blake said probably not because we will probably be putting wedges and pads on her feet for a few shoeings and she will be pretty comfy.  So I hope everything will work out okay.  I just need to remember to ride her gently...maybe I'll be working on bareback work in the arena, and I guess walking on the trail.  I don't think she will get too out of shape for our camping trip, no worse than Skippy will be.  Besides, it's a new place for camping, we probably won't be "zooming" around the trails anyway.

I took a bunch of pictures of Zoe's feet 13 days from the last shoeing.  I'll take pictures after the consult/farrier appt.  Then I'll post some pictures with some of the information I'll be relearning.  Maybe I won't forget so much this time.