Doranna Durgin's Blog, page 4

LP gene, Congenital Stationary Night Blindness, and Lucy

By Patty Wilber

I took Lucy hunting in 2023, (there’s a blog post!) and it was clear that her night vision was impaired, but it was also clear that she is not 100% blind after dusk as some research on LP/LP horses (which Lucy is) has suggested. (LP/LP means Lucy has two copies of the LP gene.) Other sources do indicate that LP/LP horses may have some night vision.

Lucy on the high line, Fall 2023

The reason that some sources have suggested that LP/LP horses are 100% blind at night is because of results like this:

The presence of the A wave and lack of the B wave in the LP/LP horses indicates that the rods (cells that detect light in low conditions) are working (A wave), but that the signal can not get to the next level or the brain (lack of B wave), so the rod system fails.

So, even though the rod (cells that work in low light) system seems to be kaput in 100% of horses that are LP/LP, there are other mechanisms that might be responsible for the apparent variation in night vision.

Horses have a well-developed tapetum lucidum. The tapedum lucidum is a reflective layer located behind the retina. It causes white eye shine in horses. (Reindeer show a golden eye shine and summer and a deep blue color in winter which enhances vision in low light conditions in the far north.)  The tapetum reflects light that passes through the retina back to the cones and the rods, giving these cells a second chance to detect light. In horses with CSNB, the rod system doesn’t work, so the cones are the cells that benefit, and some horses may have tapeda lucida that are more effective than others. Unfortunately, the reflected light is more likely to benefit rods than cones, and only the cone system works in horses with CSNB. But….Some horses have cones that work better in dim light than others. Cones are the cells in the eye that provide color vision and sharpness.  They normally work best in bright light.  However, some horses have cones that work in fairly dim conditions. One gelding could still distinguish color at 0.02 cd/m² (candela per square meter) which is comparable to natural light levels during a dark moonlit night with some cloud cover. If some horses with CSNB have cones like this, they can not only see but can also distinguish color in dim light!Horses have really big eyes with pupils that dilate well to collect light in low conditions. There is no research to show that some horses have eyes that gather light better than others, but because eye morphology is variable, there is reason to suspect this may be true.

So, in summary, Lucy seems to be able to function somewhat in low-light conditions.  Even though her rods cannot relay signals to her brain, she may have some combination of cones that work fairly well in low light, well-structured tapeta lucida, and/or eyes that gather more light through wide pupil dilation or overall anatomy. (She does have nice big eyes!)

My next foray into the LP gene will cover the mechanisms by which the gene causes both coat depigmentation and CSNB.

Happy Friday!

LT’s tail and the LP gene

By Patty Wilber

The LP gene, which is associated with spotted coat patterns in Appaloosas and other spotted breeds, causes Congenital Stationary Night Blindness in the homozygous (two copies of the LP gene)  form and increases predisposition to Equine Recurrent Uveitis in the heterozygous form (one copy of the LP gene). It seems that such a deleterious gene should have been selected against instead of hanging around! However, it appears to have been in the equine gene pool for at least 17,000 years and maybe as far back as 25,000 years.  It is the only spotting gene found in predomestic horses. Paleolithic (which ended 11,700 years ago according to Wikipedia) cave art features horses with spotted coat patterns that match patterns produced by the LP gene!

The spotted coats caused by the LP gene may have had a survival advantage early on, especially in snowy environments, despite the negative effect on eyesight.  When things warmed up, and there was less snow, the color advantage may have been lost and the eyesight problem became a liability. At this time, the gene became pretty rare.

All horses that have the LP gene show progressive depigmentation over time. Horses with two copies (LP/LP) often depigment faster than those with only one copy (LP/lp), but the rate varies, which brings us to LT’s tail.

LT has just one copy of the LP gene and her body color, while getting more white hairs over time, has not “roaned out” like other horses we have.  The place I can really see the depigmentation effects is in her tail!

LT as a yearling, 2011. Her tail is mostly black, but there is a streak of white.

LT, March 2014. Four.  Her tail is still largely black.

LT, October, 2016, Six years old.  There is more white! Her base color seems about the same.

January, 2017. The white seems more prominent. The horse I am riding, Indy, is 3 (I think). She is also LP/lp and her tail has a lot of white in it, but her body had not roaned much.

March, 2025.  LT is 15! Her tail is barely black at all!  She is still looking fairly buckskin, but her coat does seem lighter than the March 2014 photo.

Gette is LP/lp. March 2025. She is four and was solid bay as a baby with dark spots. Her tail already shows a lot of white and so does her hip!

According to people on an equine color group I follow on Facebook, the LP gene has a mind of its own! It is fun to see the changes year by year.

Next week, I will talk about Congentical Stationary Night Blindness, which Lucy has, as she is LP/LP, and why she is not 100% blind at night.

Then in April or May, I’ll do this year’s installment on Gette’s varnish roan progression!

Happy Friday!

A Week Off!

By Patty Wilber

Last week, I took off from horse training and teaching at the college and went on an adventure with my friend Amber and her Jeep, Fiona, while our other halves hiked in the Grand Canyon.  I’d like to do a Grand Canyon trip but I am not fit enough and I didn’t want to take the time to get fit–but maybe next year after I retire from the college–or maybe not!

I missed a horse show for this trip. Gasp. But the trip was scheduled before the horse show, and besides, maybe it is ok to do something in addition to horses once in a while!

We spent the first night in snowy Flagstaff, then bid the hikers adieu.

On Monday, we wanted to go to the Grand Canyon Caverns, on a stretch of Old 66, but the elevator into the cave was broken!  We drove down Diamond Creek Road to the Colorado from Peach Springs, and then stayed at the motel by the Caverns, did a little hike, and had dinner at the cavern restaurant.

Amber had researched 4WD trails near Kingman, AZ.  On Tuesday’s trail, a guy on a 4-wheeler mansplained how we shouldn’t go further as it might be too rough for us.  Eyeroll.  It was not a problem.

Before that, he did let us try out his gold divining rods.  It was weird, but they moved what felt like on their own for both of us, mimicking the way they moved for the guy. I did a quick search to understand how dowsing rods work, but didn’t find anything I felt was worth linking here.

On Wednesday, we (me as the mostly stoic passenger except for that one time Amber was sort of looking at me and I thought Fiona was going to roll over…  I might have over-reacted a little then…) tackled a bit of rock crawling and some STEEP and narrow trails.  Scream Hill, for example, and one quite a bit more pucker-inducing than that. It even had a Bail Out trail before the tough stuff.  We did not bail out.

This one was steep–but we had steeper, rockier and very narrow ridgelines, later. FUN!

Fiona the Jeep, piloted by Amber. Rockstars, both. (Get it? Rock?)

We saw stunning vistas, beautiful rocks and rock formations, murals, pictographs, mines, and the Panty Tree and Stripper Pole.  Yep.  That feature even has its own brown Forest Service-type sign.  Unfortunately, the tree, hung with various varieties of lingerie, had recently burned, perhaps by someone who was offended by panties in a tree?

It started raining Wednesday night, because whenever we go to Arizona in mid-March, it pours down rain (three for three years). On Thursday we headed toward Boulder City, Nevada, over Sigreaves Pass, which was part of old 66, through Oatman, a “ghost” town that is akin to Madrid, here in NM.  Except they have burros hanging around in town! We didn’t stop since it was so wet, but continued to the Colorado River and crossed into Nevada. (Well, we did hit a museum in Bullhead City–which is named for a rock in the River that looks like–drum roll–a bull’s head.)

A burro hanging out on a boardwalk in Oatman to get out of the rain!

The rain quit in Nevada. We hiked to some pictographs and then drove over Christmas Tree Pass, a dirt road that did not test Fiona’s 4WD capabilities and didn’t have any Christmas trees, either, except one little metal Christmas tree yard ornament on a stick! It was still fun and scenic!

Pictographs in Nevada!

We visited the Hoover Dam and the amazing Mike O’Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, which is the bypass bridge for the dam. The bridge  opened in 2010. Not a bad day for a rainy day!

Friday wasn’t rainy, but it sure wasn’t the 80 degrees we’d planned on (it was 85F the week before) for our 12-mile kayak down the Colorado from the base of the dam.  Nope.  It was 42F. And windy.

Fortunately, it was a flat water paddle so were were not busting through rapids getting drenched. I still got pretty cold, so when we stopped at the last hot springs for the day, me and Amber and our guide took full advantage and had a nice soak.  I could have stayed there a really long time…

Early morning. 42F at the base of the Hoover Dam, with the bridge overhead.  This is where we put in for the kayak trip.

Toward the end of the trip, the wind got fairly ferocious and we had to paddle hard to keep from being blown backward, even though we were going downstream.  We were cold and sore when we hauled out at Willow Beach, but it was a really fun day!

We fortunately had the right clothes!

We had planned to drive back to Flagstaff to catch up with the hikers, but I40 was shut down due to snow just east of Kingman.  Instead, we found a cute hotel in Kingman called the Ramada (by Wyndham) on old 66 that had been revamped with murals and memorabilia.  Also, it was one of the few places that apparently still had rooms for stranded travelers, and it was 80 bucks for the night.  I really enjoyed it!

On Saturday, the AZ highway info system kept saying that I40 was going to be closed until, like, forever (3:30 pm!), but they were wrong. Things started moving and the roads were good by 11, so we were able to head home from our grand adventure safely!

Happy to be home.  That was a heck of a week!

WINDY

By Patty Wilber

Monday was so windy that I rode in the morning and hid in the house after that.  I felt a little wimpy. I mean the gusts were only up to 40 mph.

Wednesday night our power company, PNM, texted to warn us to expect a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) on Thursday to prevent wildfire should the extreme winds (50 mph gusts predicted) cause power lines to come down and spark. We are very dry.  This must be a new program because we have high spring and winter winds every year and that has never occurred.

On Thursday, I rode three horses before the winds were vicious but as I finished the third, I got a text from PNM saying power was being shut down, and could be off for 30 hours.  THIRTY!  Well, crap.

I went into the tack room to hang up a halter and flipped the light switch just to see, and the light went on.  So, I decided to top off the small water tanks just in case we were facing 30 hours.  Then I went in for lunch and to charge my phone while I still could.

After lunch, the wind was still howling and there was so much dust in the air that the Sandia Mountains, which rise to almost 12,000 feet just to the west of us, were gone.  Somehow, the power was still on.

No mountains and no ridge, either!

Ridge visible. Mountains, maybe?

Rdige, but no mountains. The horses are generally unfazed by the wind because it’s windy a lot but Gette (bay) and Colleen’s Stella (buckskin) decided to take a few laps.  Stella is a fairly reserved horse so I love to see her let loose a little!

Rather than wait around until the power got axed (and to make up for wimping out on Monday), I went back out.  I was wondering if it was going to be worth it, but I worked in the round pen that is in a remarkably well-sheltered spot with the first horse, and I got a lot done.  The wind seemed to be slowing a bit and the dust had cleared, so I rode out with the next one.

Not perfectly clear, but a lot nicer than being enveloped in dust!

Unfortunately, clouds came back in the wind picked up again, so it was not very pleasant. Except we did see the big buck. And I got a text from PNM saying never mind on the PSPS!  That was a bit of a relief, even though we are basically prepared for something like that…but maybe we should get a generator…we know someone who can help us out!

The last horse, Gette, (#6, thank you very much!) was back in the round pen and we had a good session working on her long trot and rollbacks.

Not a bad day!

In other news, the bitting is going better with Midori.  I have a quick change bridle and that really helps. I cannot bridle normally, yet, but I can get a bit in without a giant fight and then clip it to the bridle and buckle the chin strap.  Also, I have been up on her, and today we walked a little. No drama.

Happy Friday!

 

“NOT the BIT!” says Midori.

By Patty Wilber

In January 2020, I had Birdie, who was the first colt start I’d ever had that was absolutely NOT interested in accepting a bit. In fact, she ran backward the first time I approached her with a bridle! Most colt starts are usually quite willing to take the bit, but Birdie took about 8 days! https://www.changespell.com/wordplay/index.php/2020/01/24/training-with-a-buddy/

Fast forward to 2025, and I have another colt start that is having a hard time with the idea of putting the bit in her mouth. It turns out, she is a half-sister to Birdie!  Luckily, she is a much quieter personality, overall, but this bit thing…tough!

This one has been a 10-day ordeal...and I am not quite sure we are through it yet!

2/17. I put a bit, hung on baling twine, on her.  She argued some, but it wasn’t super terrible, and she didn’t run backward. It’s not so unusual for a little resistance with the bit the first time, so I didn’t think much of it. I didn’t bang her teeth ad her mouth was quiet once the bit was in.

2/18. I decided to put a bridle on her.  I got it on, but it was more of a struggle than 2/17.  Still, I didn’t worry. It was a bridle, not just a string.  It was different.  It seemed ok.

2/19.  I could barely halter her.  She kept turning her head, evading the halter, and I finally snapped to the fact that she was evading the (non-existent) bit. Nothing like backward progress.  There was no hope of getting a bit in her mouth, so I tried the trick I used with Birdie, and tied the bit to the halter with twine so she could get used to it.

This seemed somewhat promising!

She put the twine in her mouth. Later, she chewed a hunk off, and ate it. Seriously? The bit ended up dangling and not in her mouth.

2/20.  Haltering was still hard, so I caught and haltered her twice during the day and tried to get the bit in.  I fed her cookies as incentive. And I tried and tried and tried.  I mean, COME ON!  This is easy!

Except obviously, it wasn’t!

Finally, I had her go around with the bit attached, again.  I also messed with her mouth some, but at this point I should have really committed to seriously desensitizing her lips and gums, putting her head down and bending her neck. But no, I was stubbornly stuck, still thinking she’d give in and take the bit.

2/21.  I started thinking outside of the box a little. Got an idea!  A chain is metal like the bit, but slinky like the twine.  Maybe I could try getting a chain in her mouth. At least eating the chain would not be a thing!

The chain went in fine.  Bit? NOPE.

2/22. Zero progress.  I was feeling really frustrated.  I lost my patience for a minute there with the horse.  I almost never do that, but I cracked.

2/23.  Maybe bribery? (Note I didn’t continue with serious desenitization…I was still thinking too linearly.) I put molasses on a treat.  Winner.  Molasses on the chain.  Winner.  Molasses on the bit.  WINNER!  Ok, big sigh of relief.  I have found the key. (or NOT!)

Rope halter and web halter. The chain and the bit are in her mouth and she is perfectly fine. No gumming the bit or any signs of discomfort. I have two halters on her so I can have the lead rope on the green halter so as not to pull on the bit or chain attached to the red halter. And she accepted them so nicely! On 2/22 anyway…

We even got some round pen work in and she was not bothered by the saddle or bit at all! That seemed promising!

2/24. Day off.

2/25.  Caught her!  Put the bit in twice (with molasses), but she didn’t suck it right in.  We struggled. I was beginning to have very strong uncharitable thoughts about this horse, because clearly, it is her not me.  Right?  Yeah. Going back to advice I got a long time ago when whining about not winning some classes: “Get better.” But how?

2/26. Caught her. Molasses. Bit. Fail. Fail. Fail. But dammit, I was going to win this battle. I spent a long time not winning.  No one was winning.  Back to the chain.  That went in.  Bit went in. It was pretty late, so I left her with the bit and chain in and fed everyone, but her.  I took the bit out and put it back in.  I gave her some alfalfa and she ate with the bit and chain in while I distributed grass hay to all.  Then, I unhaltered her.

2/27.  Caught her.  I put only the red halter on. I FINALLY decided to really work on desensitizing her mouth, putting her head down, and flexing her neck, which it seems like I should have been committed to last week…  Then I got the bit, smeared it with a dab of molasses, and standing in front of her, offered it to her.  She did not throw her head.  She did not push the bit away with her amazingly agile upper lip.  She did not turn her head in avoidance.  Nope.  She TOOK THE BIT! Right away.

Only one halter. Just the bit! No chain!

Was this the breakthrough I have been hoping for?  I have no idea!  We will be back at it 2/28, and I will spend a lot of time messing with her face, mouth, and gums before I try the bit. I will use molasses, and if it is a fight, will go back to the chain and think about changing bits to something with copper that might taste better to her.  Fingers crossed!

I hope I am on the right track, now!

Note: The chain was never pulled on or used for control.

Happy Friday and good luck to me!

The Toilet Paper Queens

By Patty Wilber

Shows can be serious business! We strive to ride well and have our horses perform flawlessly.  Sometimes, to make it more relaxed and fun, the show management will include some games!

At the recent training show, put on by the NM Paint Horse Association, there was Simon Says, Egg on a Spoon, Bareback on a Dollar, and a Toilet Paper Class.

Team Wilber participants: Elizabeth back left, Patty S. back right. Colleen left front and me with my mouth full of water (explaining my expression) right front. Missing: Sue, who showed in her first class with her horse Quincy at this show! Photo by Colleen.

I was entered in the Toilet Paper Class and Christy was to be my partner, but she was felled by a flu, so Colleen stepped up.

In this class, each partner holds one end of a 6-foot (or so) piece of toilet paper.  The winner is the team that does not drop or tear the paper.  Essentially, then, the two equestrians must ride as a matched pair. It turns out Gette and Stella were in sync and we were crowned The Toilet Paper Queens.  OK, yes, this was a name we bestowed upon ourselves…but it’s kind of catchy and funny!

Here we are loping, and you can see that horses’s strides are matched! Photo by Patty S.

The Queens! LOL. But look! The horse’s strides are still matched, at the walk this time! I got a big kick out of that! Photo by Patty S.

Egg on a Spoon is where riders get a plastic spoon and they hold the egg in the spoon while they ride.  The winner is the one that keeps the egg in the spoon the longest. I entered. My egg did not last long!

Photo by Colleen, I think. (or Patty S.)

Bareback on a Dollar is where the rider sits on a dollar, bareback.  That was probably obvious, given the name of the class.  The winner is the person whose dollar does not fall out. They then win all the money. None of us entered that one.  I rode in that many years ago.  I went to a 4H show and didn’t perform very well, until bareback on a dollar. I beat all those little 4H kids, by golly. (I donated the winnings back, just to make me look a little better.)  I tried it with Penny when she was a green 2-year-old, too.  She thought she might like to buck me off.  I scratched her!

Last for this show was Simon Says, which is just like the traditional game, but on horseback! None of us entered that one either, but it is fun.

One other entertaining class that we have offered in the past at some Appaloosa shows is Carrot Trail.  The handler gets a carrot and the horse has to follow the carrot over some trail obstacles without being led by their lead ropes.  Some horses are more food-motivated than others!  Occasionally, the carrot doesn’t last through the whole class.  In other cases, the horse has no interest in the carrot at all, making it tough to get them to follow it!

We had a blast at the show, and the games sure were a nice touch!

In other news, I FINALLY caught some white-tailed deer on my game cam.  There were some does at night, too, but this buck was a nicer shot.  And when I was collecting the camera, I saw four does right up the slope and got a shot of them with my phone.

Game cam shot. Young buck.

The does, three heads and a butt, hanging out while I collected the camera on Wednesday. The horse I was riding, Rascal, spotted them first. On Thursday I saw a big buck when I was out on Gette. He left before I could get a photo.

I will reset the camera soon, and one day I hope to get a bear.  A mountain lion or bobcat would also be fun.  Or even some wood rats!

Happy Friday!

Hay in my Boots

By Patty Wilber

I recently bought a pair of Carhartt brand winter leggings off the Dungarees site.

Photo from the Dungarees site.

 

They were warm Thursday in 42F weather, and since they are stretch material, also comfortable.  UNTIL I trimmed some trees and threw hay.

There is a ginormous gap between my boot top and my leg.  Sawdust, branchlets, and hay bits fall in as if that space were a black hole exerting irresistible gravitational force.

The result is not that comfortable, just saying. I had already dumped out the tree-trimming detritus.  Below is the hay collection after feeding.

The flamingo socks were a gift from Faith! They are fun to wear when not coated in grass and alfalfa!

English riding pants are essentially leggings, so the reason English riding boots hug the legs clearly has nothing to do with creating a nice smooth appearance and close contact feel, and everything to do with keeping hay out!

Happy Friday!

Bonus pic from a few weeks ago.

Left Gette flat out, Gino. Half hidden, Trigger. Right foreground, LT. Standing, Baretta.

What a great day for a show!

By Patty Wilber

A little crowd of us went to the first NMBHA training show of the year. After the deep freeze of mid-January, this shot of days in the 60’s (F) is really welcome, if too warm for the time of year.

The cows were a bit prone to run off, and we were not quick enough to stop them, but Gette had a little bit of fun.  I only showed her in the cattle classes, so I could be more available to coach.  I saw most classes of the crew! I’ll show Gette in some ranch classes at the Paint training show next weekend. Thank-you Colleen for getting this video of Gette.

Patty S. and Colleen V. both showed in loping classes for the first time with their current horses! It was fun to see the difference from last year and how everyone improved throughout the day!  Patty S.’s last pattern in horsemanship was really solid!

Patty S. and Zima. Photo by someone in Patty’s family! I got it off her Facebook page.

I don’t have a video of Colleen, but her reining circles were so pretty!  I am still working on flying lead changes for Stella but as soon as we get those, look out, world!

Elizabeth showed Koko for the first time!  Koko took it all in stride and came home with some blue ribbons! Lots of improvement in a very short time.  I am looking forward to the year with them, and Koko has the prettiest big brown eyes!

Elizabeth and Koko. Photo from Facebook.

It is so fun to have Monica back showing after taking a good part of last year off to get settled in her new role with her church! She is a delight to be around and so is Chexy.  Chexy showed well in many riding classes, and also did lead line with Monica’s grandson, Mattias!

Monica, Chexy and Mattias. Photo by Megan R.

Hadleigh, Eli and baby Gus. Photo by Megan R.

Monica’s granddaughter, Hadleigh, also put in a full day with her horse Eli, whose name, in my head, is Rio.  Don’t ask me where my brain came up with that! Hadleigh showed just about everything possible, except cows, and those are coming.  Rio–I mean Eli–came to them as a failed reiner whose previous owners didn’t think much of him. We all think they were wrong.  He has tended to get a bit overwrought when reining, but he and Hadleigh really click.  They put together a steady, pretty, and correct reining pattern with no drama at all and they looked quite good English as well!

Eli also stepped up for little sister Kateri. The show lasted past dark!  But what great weather! Photo by Megan R.

Last but not least is Gino.  Christy was going to show him but ended up not being able to.  I was planning to ride him in reining and I was really looking forward to it, as reining is late in the day and Christy would have been on him all day. But since she couldn’t be there, he was tied to the trailer instead, and I was not sure if I was going to have enough time to warm him up. As the day wound down and everyone had finished trail, I figured I might be able to get it done and still be available for coaching.

I got on him and he was pretty amped up! He is neck reining well at home and I had intended to show him one-handed, but I scratched that idea once I felt all that coiled energy and heard his little squeal when I first asked for a lope!  Elizabeth got this video of him in Stockhorse.  He wasn’t quite fully focused yet, but I was satisfied with this ride.  (I cut the bad lope to trot transition!) He was ready by reining and gave me a strong performance that the judge liked a lot! Yay!

It was a lot easier to coach everyone when NOT trying to show Gette in everything as well, but I did miss showing her off–well theoretically showing her off–since I didn’t show her, I can’t actually say she would have done well, but she feels so much stronger at the trot than last year and I just love her can-do attitude!

The weather drops into the 40’s mid-week but by next weekend in Albuquerque, it looks like the 60’s again, so the show should be nice!!

Happy Friday!

First Show, Coming Up

By Patty Wilber

My first show of the year is coming up.  The New Mexico Buckskin Horse Association All Breed Training Show. Feb. 2. Bosque Farms Rodeo Arena.

I don’t think I am really ready. And why does my grammar checker hate it when I put “really” in a sentence? Just writing “ready” does not convey the same thing as “really ready”.  I guess I could pen “I do not think I am fully prepared.” It doesn’t hate that.  Grammar checkers try to make everyone’s writing homogenous.  Don’t fall for it. Really.

I think I am going to show in two cattle classes myself with Gette, and then coach.

I like showing, because I like competition and shows give a chance to see how a person and their horse can perform under a little bit of pressure. Also, it can reveal areas where more work is needed.  I do not like showing enough to travel all over the country for weeks at a time.  If I had to pick big-time horses and big-time showing or daily training with whatever comes in the door, I’d pick the latter.

I like all that one-on-one time, just me and a horse, helping build skills and focus.  I still like starting colts (at my “advanced” age) and I am at the point where I have a couple of people that send me colts on the regular, which is great because I know the kind of horses they have, and they know the kind of training I do!

But back to the upcoming show.  I bought some new boots because my old pairs all have holes. And I found Ariats with flamingos.  And they were on sale. And since I have flamingo shirts, I bought them!  I might have to tuck my pants into my boots so the birds show!  Or wear leggings!  Or maybe I will keep the flamingos safely out of sight under my pants, knowing in my heart that the tropics are under there!  I mean this whole showing thing should be fun!

Happy Friday!

 

 

 

Hay Creek Ranch

By Patty Wilber

Last week we took the southern route through Hatch and Tucson to get to the Hay Creek Ranch in Oracle, AZ, for four nights of camping (with electric for us and water, sewer, and electric for our friends with fancier rigs). Driving through Tucson was not fun.  Not too many gas stations set up for rigs, traffic, and wrecks. It took a lot longer than we’d hoped so we did not get to ride the first day.

On the way back we did the Salt River Canyon route.  The canyon part, of course, is steep (6 and 7% grade) and curvy, but the new truck with trailer tow and the exhaust brake feature made it so easy.  Apply the brake and the truck maintains that new speed! Wow. Love the truck! The rest of that route is much more scenic than the southern route, too. Also, faster.

At Hay Creek, the RV sites are out in the open, so didn’t look all that exciting in the photos, and they were not all that exciting in person, but since we mostly wanted to ride, it turns out they were just fine. We even hung out between our trailers with the Shuert’s propane fire at night, even though it was a bit chilly.

Sunrise Friday 1/17/2025 at Hay Creek Ranch, Oracle, AZ.

One thing I really liked were the bathrooms and the shower.  Since we have the weekender trailer, not a living quarters, it was fabulous NOT to have to use our little port-a-potty and even better not to have to dump it later!

Another lovely feature was the Hacienda, which was a big room with a full kitchen and a TV area, which allowed some of us to watch the Detroit game in comfort.

The owner and the resident campers there were the nicest and most helpful of any place we have been.  They cleaned out our trailers when we arrived! They helped clean our pens!

The riding was really good, and right out of camp. I downloaded a new mapping app, GaiaGPS, because the folks there used it and generously shared routes with me.   I liked Gaia better than Equilab for this trip because GaiaGPS tracks you as you ride and shows a nice map so you can figure out where you are and where to go. Also, since I got those tracks from other folks I could “follow the blue line”. Unfortunately, this meant I got to lead a lot and rode with my nose in my phone more than I like to!  Equilab only shows the track when you are done, but it does show walk, trot, and canter.  I need to spend more time with the GaiaGPS stats.

Gaia also uses a fair amount of battery if you have it open constantly, following the line!  If it is just tracking in your pocket, battery usage is much more reasonable!

Ride one. 15 miles round trip to the double-crested saguaro! I get a big kick out of the saguaros!

From L to R. Jim, Patty S., Bill, Richard, Amber. In the saguaros and a cool little canyon loop.

Jim with the double-crested saguaro up on the hill.

Ride two. Field trip to the Biosphere 2.  That’s where seven people lived for two years trying “demonstrate the viability of a closed ecological system to support and maintain human life”.  It did not work, but it was interesting to learn more about.  Now it is owned by the University of Arizona and used for ecological research! Very interesting!

Patty and Bill and the Biosphere.

In the afternoon, we rode 8.6 miles which included a segment of the Arizona Trail to the site of the High Jinks mine, originally owned by Buffalo Bill Cody.

At the start of this section of the Arizona Trail at American Flag. Jim and I were doing the goofy pose…all by ourselves! Patty S., me, Jim, Amber, and Richard. Photo by Bill.

A wagon at the High Jinks site.

Ride three. Up up up up (almost 2000 foot elevation gain in 3 miles) from Peppersauce Canyon to another section of the Arizona Trail and back around on the Steam Engine Trail. About 13 miles and a nice loop!

Amber in Peppersauce Canyon before we did all the climbing!

Ride 4 for me and Jim.  Just a short 2.5 mile meander before we headed out to the bitter cold enveloping our actual house. The Kingsburys and Shuerts needed to get home to drain their trailer plumbing before it got dark and cold.  We don’t have all that fancy stuff, so we could stay a little longer.  It dropped to -7F the night we got home!

And of course, whenever we go away, especially in the winter, some dumb thing happens.  This time, our back tank heater died, so we have melted a new one through the ice to begin to thaw the 6 inches of ice.  Maybe by Saturday we will be able to pull the old one out.

Our other tanks do not have heaters. One is frozen, perhaps solid. The southern big one looks like we could go ice fishing on it.

I tried to break through to water, but no luck. Also, the “frost free” spigot is frozen. We have others that work.

Lots of ice coated in dust as we are very dry and had a lot of wind on Wednesday. Fun times. But lucky for us down here in the southwest (even at 6800 feet), it doesn’t stay cold for long stretches.

Temperatures may reach 50F by Monday, so we ought to get some decent melting, even with single digits at night.

Riding in 25F and sunny is really just fine, but I need to upgrade my gloves for early morning and late afternoon.  I did buy some quilted coveralls that ought to serve me well, especially on cold and windy days.  I found them on Dungarees, on the advice of Elizabeth. Dang, I should have bought gloves while I was on that site!

I am happy to be back.  I enjoy our January trips to Arizona, but we have generally decent weather and great riding, right here, plus I can’t imagine what I’d do with myself with only one horse to ride!

P.S. I almost bought a horse while in AZ!  There were a slew of Driftwood youngsters there and one buckskin colt caught my eye.  Fortunately, he did not have a ground-eating trot, so I didn’t need to bring him home!