As I typed up my last blog post, about the first day on the trail for Dad and me, I read through my journal entries for that day. It was pretty amazing. While I easily recall all the things that happened that day, my memory of many of the small things and the emotions attached to them has faded a bit. Reading my journal entries for that day really took me back. I thought it might be worthwhile to make a post of my actual journal entries for that day. Maybe some of you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Saturday, 11 April, 2015 :

Saturday – About 10 miles north of the US/Mex border (written after we reached the Bar-M ranch Saturday evening).

The trip down [from Eagar, AZ to the US/Mexico border] yesterday was uneventful. The horses [in the pasture] met us in the morning and pretty much put their heads into the halters. We had the trailer loaded with all our [horses and] gear and ready to roll by 10:30am.

Aaron (nephew), Kelly (brother-in-law), and Tina (my sister) rode with me. Dad rode with Jean and Dick (Dad’s best friends, who helped haul us to the border). We arrived and made camp about 19 miles east of Douglas, AZ, right at the Mormon Battalion Monument, about 300 yards from the fence marking the US/Mexico border. Dick and Jean dropped the horses off and left. Aaron, Kelly, and Tina got a hotel in Douglas and drove my truck. Dad and I slept in the trailer.

This morning Dad and I got up around 7:00am and started packing up. Aaron, Tina, and Kelly, and little Paxson (my grand-nephew), returned and brought us breakfast about 9:00am. We watered the horses out of a 65 gallon drum we had in the bed of my truck. We got packed and were on our way about 11:00am.

We had some minor trouble with the horses as we got started, but things got better throughout the day. The mustang, Jimbo, is a solid horse, but he has an extremely high and quick flight response. He broke away from us five or six times, but always came back. We ended up having to re-pack him a couple times.

Our first experience with Decker-style packing was successful. I like it because of its versatility, but so far, I think panier packing – or crossbuck style – is easier.  We packed 200 lbs of alfalfa pellets – Equidine – on Ranger and on Daisy (the borrowed mare) and about 130 lbs of gear on Honey (the mule) and Jimbo (the mustang). They all carried their loads well and showed no tender backs this evening.

The mare, Daisy, is giving us a lot of trouble. She is extremely “mare-ish” and causes a lot of disruption with the other horses. She is pretty ornery and disrespectful to us as well. We have had to discipline her aggressively several times. She has been so ornery this evening that we had to separate her from the other horses, for fear one of them might get injured tonight.

Jimbo is very skittish, but is improving quickly. Dad and I both think he’ll be our best horse by the time this ride is over.

Ranger was packed heavy today. He caused no trouble at all, except that he likes to come up to see me at the front when we stop, and gets tangled up.

I rode Lizzy today and she did very well. She still needs a lot of work, but she’s coming along. She was leading the way and had us going 6.2 miles per hour at one point. Our average speed was 3.4 miles per hour [for the day], not counting our stops and breaks.

Black seems to be doing ok, but I worry about him. He’s a small horse with a heavy load.

Honey is the same as always. Gets into trouble, won’t stay still when you need her to, causes trouble with the other horses. Dad has a real bond with Honey, but I could do without her. She carries her load well, but she’s a pain in the keester.

Clancy (my Blue Heeler dog) started getting tender today about three hours into the ride. I put some booties I made for him on his front paws, and it seemed to help. He is very sore and tired tonight. I’m worried he may not make the trip and wondering what to do about it. I hope he recovers quickly and his feet toughen up.

Dad and I did ok. Dad went down a couple times fighting horses, but is ok.

Things got easier as the day went, though. We changed up our horse strings and that helped. We started the day with me riding Lizzy, as I said, leading Daisy and Ranger. Dad started riding Black, leading Honey and Jimbo. I’m not sure what was happening, but Jimbo kept breaking loose. I think Honey was being an “ass” to him and causing him to bolt. Finally, after having to repack Jimbo the second time, we changed to me leading Jimbo with Ranger trailing. Ranger is so steady he will follow any of them without a problem. Dad ended the day leading Daisy, with Honey trailing. That configuration went smoothly. We may continue with that tomorrow.

This evening, at a bit after 5:00pm, with about 9-1/2 miles behind us, we came upon a ranch house. We decided to stop and see if we could water the horses and fill our canteens. We planned to then go on a mile or so, before making camp. The people at the ranch, Aracely and Jesus, not only gave us water, but invited us for dinner, provided us a corral, and let us stay in the bunkhouse. It was all perfect timing, because a windstorm came up as we were unpacking the horses. We had a lot of trouble unloading all the horses, but Lizzy and Jimbo.

I am starting to bond with Ranger. He comes to me now, and follows me around. It’s mostly because I feed him, I know, but it’s nice. I’m enjoying riding Lizzy. because I love the way she moves-out with enthusiasm – ears up and covering ground fast. I have to hold her back, so the other horses don’t have to trot to keep up.

So far, we have found cattle watering tanks every several miles, but our canteens went dry about mile 6.6. We need to carry more water that is accessible while riding. Most of our canteens got packed in paniers this morning.

Dad and I are tired this evening, but happy. We expect that things will get easier as we go, and as we start to develop a routine. Hope so.