March 2, 2019

I got up early…but not too early, had breakfast, hitched up my trailer, and headed out to see the horses. I enlisted the help of my son-in-law to help me catch-up Oreo, who was to be taken to Harrisville, Utah to meet her prospective new owner, Cindy Boccia. Oreo is a little reluctant when it comes to being caught in a big pasture, so I knew it would take a few minutes. After allowing the six horses to run around the 3-1/2 acres for a while, they finally decided they’d had enough fun and games and settled down to be caught – Oreo last of all. We haltered and tied each one, after which Oreo stood to be haltered.

We loaded Oreo and Apollo into the trailer and I headed north toward Kaysville, where I picked up Jon Tanner and his yearling filly, Luna. Since we were to meet the Brand Inspector at Cindy’s place, we decided to bring Luna along to get her inspection done as well.

Once at Cindy’s place in Harrisville, both Luna and Apollo received their brand inspection. While that was going on, Cindy and I let Oreo out into her smallest corral, which was probably about a 75′ diameter round pen with a run-in shed on one end, so that Cindy could see how Oreo is to catch. After just a little effort, Oreo stood for me to halter her. She has been improving in that area over the past month or so, but she is still stand-offish. I am sure she will continue to improve and will eventually come to be haltered, under Cindy’s care.

Cindy, Jon, and I then loaded Apollo and Oreo back into the trailer and the three of us headed back to Kaysville, where we dropped Luna and loaded Jon’s Missouri Fox Trotter mare, Maya (Luna’s dam).  We then headed over to Antelope Island State Park for an afternoon ride.

For those unfamiliar with Antelope Island, it is an island in the southeastern part of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Over the years, the State of Utah has used it as a breeding ground for the state’s herd of buffalo, antelope, and bighorn sheep. Each year the state holds a buffalo roundup, where they gather the buffalo, cut out the surplus and sell them at auction.  The roundup has gained national fame and multitudes of people with their faithful steeds gather to participate. Registration for the event is held online and the available slots are filled many months in advance. The populations of buffalo and other animals are left to run wild, but are managed closely for health and numbers.  The park service has created a number of trails for equine, foot, and bicycle traffic on the island, making it a prime trail riding experience for those who enjoy a relaxing day ride, while being able to view wild buffalo and other wildlife of the island. For further information, see their web page at:

https://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/antelope-island/

Just a word of caution, buffalo are dangerous critters and they have no tolerance for the intrepid rider coming in among their herd. Do not think of them as cattle! Always stay well clear of them. There are more human deaths in Yellowstone National Park from buffalo attacks than from bear attacks!

The weather was not perfect, by any means, however. It was cold and a little breezy, with gray winter clouds hanging low over the mountain tops. We were unable to see the Wasatch mountains east of us. However, the temperatures were not too bad for riding, as long as one wore a couple layers and a good coat.  We saw several other horse trailers parked in the White Rock Bay parking lot, but encountered no other horses on the trail.

As the real purpose for this ride was to allow Cindy to get acquainted with Oreo, we planned for only a couple hours on the trail. There are a number of trail options, each differing in distance and elevation changes. We chose one that would take us around one of the hills on the island, offering nice views, both of the landscape and several small herds of Buffalo. There were slight uphill and downhill grades, as well as some long flat stretches where we let the horses stretch out their legs and get into gait for a ways.

As both Oreo and Apollo are Tennessee Walking Horses, Cindy and I put our horses (she on Oreo and I on Apollo) into their traditional running-walk, for which the Tennessee Walker is famous, while I coached Cindy a little on how to recognize the various gaits and how to teach her horse to select and stay in the running-walk. Oreo has been unschooled for a number of years and prefers a stepping-pace. She will need some correction to learn to stay in her very nice running-walk. Cindy picked it up quickly and will have Oreo gaiting perfectly within a short while.

We discovered that Oreo wasn’t familiar with velcro. Cindy went to pull out her water bottle and when Oreo heard the velcro come loose, she shied and side-stepped a bit.  She also became a little uneasy at some bicycles, but was easy to handle, even when being skittish. Cindy handled her well under all situations.

Apollo, still a bit unsure on the trail, shied at a row of monster horse-eating boulders at the trailhead, but I was able to convince him to walk between them. Thereafter, he was fine. He shied along with Oreo at some bicycles, but handled the whole situation quite well. The bicyclists were very accommodating, in allowing us to have the horses stand and observe the fearful objects until they realized they were harmless.

So it turned out to be a good trail training day for both Oreo and Apollo and a nice exercise ride for Maya.

As the weather began to deteriorate, we headed back to the trailer, arriving just ahead of the snow. By the time we were headed back to Harrisville, the weather had taken a turn for the worst and we found ourselves driving through poor visibility and falling snow. Still the roads were not bad, just wet.

Jon and I dropped Cindy and Oreo off at her place in Harrisville, where she and I prepared all the paperwork for the transfers of ownership for Oreo and Apollo. Once Cindy has had Oreo a while and has decided they will make a great pair on the trail, she will send in the paperwork to the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food and the ownership transfers for Oreo and Apollo will be finalized. As always, with my horses, I offer a 30-day trial period, during which the prospective owner may evaluate the horse, and if, for any reason, they do not feel the horse is right for them, I will take the horse back and refund the purchase price. In this instance, the purchase price is Apollo. Cindy and I have agreed on a trade, horse for horse.

Jon and I then headed back for Kaysville, but took a slight detour en route for a nice Philly Cheesesteak sandwich at a local sandwich shop.

After dropping Jon and Maya at his place in Kaysville, I headed back south for Salem. When I arrived home, it was snowing heavily and the roads were beginning to get slick. After dropping Apollo at the pasture, I nearly jack-knifed my trailer while making a turn into my neighborhood. Luckily, I was moving slowly and a little pressure on the gas pedal straightened everything right out. It was nearing 8:30pm when I backed my trailer into its place at home. I was glad to be back home to enjoy a warm evening indoors with my good wife.

It was a good day all the way around.