Winter Riding

Nico in Winter at Boulder Valley Ranch

Winter is here in Boulder, Colorado and I find myself a bit off my usual schedule—riding after work
(darn that daylight savings time) is down, and weekend trailering to local trailheads too. I just pulled my front shoes to give Nico's feet a break. I think it is important for the hoof to make contact with the earth for a few months, so this is the time I do that too.

As my body grows a bit stiffer, I stay on my Pilates schedule to keep my lower back moving, my inner thighs in shape and my body flexible.

Here is a list of some of my favorite local winter rides:

Heatherwood:
The trailhead is accessible in from the Heatherwood neighborhood off 75th Street in Gunbarrel. Most users of this trail system access the trails from Valmont or Arapahoe, but I love the convenience of the wide street for parking and less bikes from this Northwest access point. The soft footing does not require hoof protection, and the grasslands and undulating terrain allows you to get in a few good gallops and also work your horses hind end climbing up and down the small canyons. There are no bathrooms here, you can find one at the Arapahoe trailhead, and no water sources. Also as a courtesy to the neighbors please pick up your manure at your trailers!

Boulder Valley Ranch:
I board here so these are my home trails. This trail system does have a lot of user groups (so good for desensitizing your horse to bikes, dogs and cross country skiers in the current winter snow),  but the trail system is big enough that you can spread out. The trail system offers equestrian/hiker only trails too. There are water sources and a bathroom at the Longhorn Road access point (beware not enough room to park a horse trailer at this location). The trailhead off Neva Road has plenty of parking, but  the bathroom is near the Beech Pavilion not in the parking lot. Another great parking area is off Highway 36 near the septic tank area. It is an in and out, so head down towards the parking lot that had the tunnel under 36, drive past and park near the cement septic tanks. There is a gate there to access the Hidden Valley area of Boulder Valley Ranch, then you can simply take the left back out to Highway 36.


Marshall Mesa:
Now that the brand new tunnel has been completed there is a lot of terrain to cover here. It is a heavy bike use area but worth riding in the spring, fall and winter. Trailhead parking is available on the Southeast side of Highway 93, Dowdy Draw off Eldorado Road, or Flatirons Vista on the west side of Highway 93. There are bathrooms at all locations except for Dowdy Draw. The area can be rocky so hoof protection might be a good idea on this trail system.


Bear Lake State Park in Morrison:
I like this trail system to work on water crossings—there are a lot of them here. There is a fee of $7 to access this Park but it is a nice riding area just a short distance from Boulder. Parking at the corral area also lets you do some arena work. The trails range from wide open and flat, to beautiful tree lines streams. In winter the North facing hill climb can be icy so beware!


Rabbit Mountain: You will find this trailhead off Highway 66 in Lyons. There are bathrooms and designated trailer parking sites. A steady climb out of the parking area takes you to more open trails where you can trt out and open up into some nice canters. You also can take side trails and do some loops. These side trails tend to be rocky so hoof protection is recommended.

Hope to see you out and about this winter! Linda P

It's been a while!

It has been a while since I have posted on Travels by Horse. It's been a long, windy winter here in the Front Range and our trail system is recovering from the infamous 1,000-year flood. It seems every time I want to get out and ride the weather goes wild or a trail closes because of bad conditions. For me spring can't come fast enough, and it will take some time getting my horse back in shape.

I have had my hands full helping with the Boulder County Horse Association (BCHA) Board and blog, BCHANicker.org. If you live in the Boulder County area this is a wonderful organization to support. You do not have to be a horse owner, you can join and get involved even if you simply love horses and want to see them thrive in Boulder County. The City of Boulder Open Space surveys consistently show that people just love to see and interact with horses on trails around Boulder. They are wonderful creatures to watch and herds have complex and interesting behaviors. Most riders will even stop and let you visit with them and their mighty steeds—simple ask.

This April, BCHA will be holding its second annual BCHA Horse Fair and Annual Meeting at the Boulder County Fairgrounds in Barn A, Sunday April 13th, from 10 AM to 5 PM. What's going on?

• Mingle and reconnect with other horse lovers.
• Attend our educational seminars. Learn about camping with your horse from the Northern Colorado Backcountry Horsemens Association and Conditioning your horse presented by Cheryl and Randy Winter.
• Do a bit of shopping we will have some great vendors.
• Learn about horse breeds. This year we will have a live horse breed exhibit. Rumor has it more then 20 beautiful horses will be on display. 
• Do some to -tapping. The Wallpaper House Band featuring Anne Gifford will play from 1 PM - 5 PM. 

For more information and updates on the BCHA Fair please click here.

Happy travels, Linda P

South Boulder Trail Ride

A hiker was nice enough to take our photo.

We had a lovely trail ride on Sunday on the South Boulder trail system to the west of Highway 93 on Sunday.

Now that the road from Boulder Valley Ranch was clear of ice and snow, and recently graded,  I thought it would be nice to get out of dodge, so to speak. Nico and I hauled out to meet the gals in South Boulder. We saddled up and headed down Marshall Road to the crossing on Broadway (Highway 93) to access the wooded trails off the Mesa Trail.

This system is fairly rocky so if you are not shod hoof protection, such as Easy boots are recommended. The trails were snow packed so the pace was no more then a walk. We meandered through the pine forests enjoying each others company and the horses had a few gradual climbs to work their hind ends.

As we crossed the last meadow towards home we came upon a lovely herd of very healthy does, they seemed to enjoy our company as they traveled along with us.

Thanks Nico, Mary and Spear, Peg and Cinch, and Freddie Nemo.

Audit or Ride a Buck Brannaman Clinic?

I had the opportunity to audit the Buck Brannaman Clinic at the Boulder County Fairgrounds this past summer. A couple of my friends were riding in the clinic, for the steep fee of $600+.  These are my observations:

1. Seemed like way too many riders for one man.
2. Riders did a lot of sitting on their horses, or some standing while holding their horses.
3. So many of these novice riders with green horses could better benefit from one-on-one instruction (let's do the math, assuming a lesson is about $50).
   Wow! That would give them 12 lessons.
4. Helmets, saw many riders "duded" out on their horses but no head protection.
   It's alive, it has a flight instinct, and it is over 1000 lbs...dah!
   My friend Dr. Murray would say "all those riders are paying off my school loans".

From my perspective audit one of his clinics and search out a qualified trainer in your area.
The $25 audit fee (free if you are over 65) was the best deal in town that day.
I took notes, learned some pointers and met up with some old friends. It might be great to attend one of his clinics if the size was smaller and you could get his full attention, but in my opinion save your money and work one-on-one with an exceptional trainer in your area.

Aspens are changing at Hermit Park

A few of us decided to ride Hermit Park this past Sunday to escape another hot Sunday in Boulder. Their was a bit of road bicycle dodging on Highway 36 and in Lyons as the Venus de Miles race was gearing up but we made it to the trailhead, saddled up and headed down the trail. I love this area, as I have stated in previous posts and am glad to report that the horse campground is underway. Stakes are in the ground and hopefully the new campgrounds will be open in Spring of 2013.

We were surprised to see the smaller aspens changing color this early, but it has been a long, hot and dry summer here in Colorado. A gradual climb to the first Homestead and Spring was lovely as we explored the forests and meadows. We trotted the horses out and climbed through the forest stopping at a lovely meadow to have lunch. After, we picked up a trail towards another homestead which later revealed the Twin Sisters looming towards the west. As we turned for home the horses picked up the pace and we had it all to experience again.

Note: Entrance fee $6.00
Speed Limited: 10 MPH and they mean it!
Parking: 3 trailers at trailhead, other areas available if full.
Cabins: port-o-potties and propane stoves available (no horses allowed)
Camping: Small RVs and tent
Horse Campground: (Spring 2013)
Dogs: leashed until you reach the boundary
Water: spring at first homestead, small drainage if flowing

It's finally cooling down in Boulder

South Boulder Trailhead

It has been a long  hot summer here in Boulder, starting with fires, and record temperatures. This past weekend the temp's finally cooled down so a group of us decided to meet at the newly remodeled trail head in South Boulder off Broadway in Marshall. The new trailer parking sites were easy to pull into and out of (thank you City of Boulder Open Space).

We arrived around 1:30 pm and tacked up the horses. Today's ride was with two younger riders and green horses, their trainer Lauren Carver and my good friend Lee. We checked in with our horses with a bit of in-hand ground work, mounted and then headed west towards the Mesa trail. We turned off early onto a new link trail to check it out, and some of the greener horses had to learn to cross some small bridges, it was a good learning experience for both horse and rider. The link trail led us to the Shanahan Ridge housing community so we  decided to bushwack west to the gate that allowed us to access the trails higher up.

The afternoon we did some wonderful trotting and cantering on wide open trails, and also explored deeper into the woods on single track trails. Some more challenging then others.
There are steep steps for your horse to work on—some man-made some natural. All in all you can make this trail system as easy or as challenging as you would like.

NOTES:
Shoes: recommended.
Trailer parking: designated, can hold about six, medium size trailers doubled-up.
Bikes: Not-allowed
Dogs: Some trails require leash, bear and deer in this area so suggest you leave them at home.

Vedauwoo:
One of my favorite places

Nico chowing down
in the pens at Vedauwoo.

Just a couple of hours from Boulder is one of my favorite places to ride, camp and hike. The fires were still burning in Colorado, and the temperatures high so getting out of town was a great idea. From our campsite looking south to Colorado you could see the plumes of smoke from the High Park fire, 11,000 acres and growing. Fortunately the winds were not blowing in our direction, but Cheyenne looked to be getting some smoke. 

The horse camping and riding in this area of Wyoming is endless—whether you stay on a road, trail or simply head off cross country. We were fortunate to get the pens (total of 10) for the duration of our trip. It is a first come, first serve campsite so be prepared if the site is full when you arrive to find another gorgeous site and tie to your trailer, picket line or set up your own corral. The nice thing about this designated site is the spring and cattle tank, but this time around the tank was dry because of a broken valve and connection. So I set up a drip bucket at the main line to collect some water.

Cheryl, Mary, Lee and Camy smoke
from the High Park fire
in the background.

I arrived Thursday and had the site to myself, two other horses were there and their owners had their RV nearby. The site shows some wear and tear but the pens have been nicely maintained by the Backcountry Horseman's Association (thank you). After settling in Nico and I went for a lovely dusk ride and came face to face with a handsome antelope buck. That evening after dinner I relaxed in my hammock as the darkness revealed a cosmic wonder of stars. Friday morning was perfect, I tacked up Nico and off we went exploring. My goal was to discover some new routes through the aspens to the Beaver pond, we succeeded! Later that day my friends Lee, Cheryl, Mary, Hal and Pete joined me at the site, and later that evening a local couple, Crystal and Billy (Lee and I met them here a couple of years ago). Bill managed to fix the tank, thanks Bill, I am sure all the other day and overnight riders, along with the cows, moose and other critters will appreciate that! 

Saturday after breakfast we all saddled up and rode out for another great ride. Crystal and Billy knew all the trails from years of riding in the area, she ponied her 1 1/2 year old filly, what a cutie she was (you too Crystal)! Climbing up gently to Devils Throat and dodging the ghosts in the Haunted Forest was all part of the fun ride.

Sunday morning a moose passed through camp and Mary got a good shot of it. I was sound asleep, missed it again! The girls tacked up and explored more trails to the South. Rolling grasslands, aspens and some bogs were part of the ride before we packed up and headed home to Colorado.

TIP: go during the week for less crowds, and have a water tank in your rig just in case!
NOTE:  This is a popular area for locals, so don't think you will be alone up there on weekends.
It can be somewhat crowded with RV/ATV use (designated roads only), but there are plenty of places to ride your horse without feeling too much pressure from other users.