Sunday Trail Ride

Several of us here in the office went on the annual church trail ride/picnic Sunday. We ride in the ditches for those 7 miles so it's not a real scenic experience but fun nonetheless. In my previous post you got to meet some of our horses and these are the ones we took on the trail ride. An addition to our group is Donna, our Tack Production Supervisor, and she rode Buddy; Tina rode a cute little gray Quarter horse she is training; I rode Copper; and Amy rode Fancy. Amy also had her favorite horse of all time, Boomerang, which she ponied so her young daughter could ride. Boomerang will be 25 in September and is now teaching the second generation of children to ride. What a guy…

I am pleased to say Copper was a perfect gentleman not spooking at anything! He walked along, looked alert, and paid no attention to trucks whizzing by, flags flying, the teams of mules, or anything else except me. It was fantastic being able to visit with the girls and trust my horse too. He is mischievous and among several of the breaks during the ride he would pull the end of the rein into his mouth, hold it for a minute, and then turn around and look at me like-c’mon let’s get going! This is a habit I do not want escalating! He gets bored easily and is quick to entertain himself.

Several of the husbands would drive along slowly with their hazards on to keep an eye on us and get us cold drinks. They also had some fun driving up the trucks and trailers to the church. One older truck they drove up had to be started with a screwdriver! I appreciate this very much since my husband is not horse crazed like myself. This was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday morning riding and visiting in the hot summer sun.

Horses of Circle Y

I thought I would showcase some of the horses that are owned and loved by several of us at Circle Y. Some of us ladies got together the other night to ride, which we try to do about once a week, and I snapped some pics of our faithful companions. These are also a few of the horses we try trees on, test new saddle designs, or try new tack.

The bay Quarter horse belongs to Tina, our Purchasing Agent, and is only 3. He is the calmest, most laid back baby horse I think I have ever been around. Tina aspires to make a barrel horse out of him, but he has many other talents such as being a cowhorse, baby sitter, and teacher for novice riders. Normally young horses are never a match for children or new riders, but this guy's a wonderful exception. Plus, he's pretty and a versatile athlete!

The lovely gray Quarter horse mare is Fancy. She belongs to Amy, our Design and Marketing Manager. She is a real cowhorse and will rope and chase cows all day long. She is a big girl at 15.2 hands and stout. Her name suits her because she has this gorgeous refined face. When we ride, this mare covers some ground with her long strided walk and is always alert. She is also our tack catalog cover model.

Last is my chestnut Tennessee Walker, Copper. He is my continual project of becoming a bomb-proof trail horse. I set this goal for myself at the beginning of the year and am progressing-even though we have a lot of work to do before he achieves this title. He is gentle but mischievous and has lots of personality. He gets thoroughly bored with arena work and loves to see new things and be on the go. All of us girls are going to a beginner Cowboy Mounted Shooting clinic in August so I've been working on getting a better handle on him.