Spring horse sense

With spring busting out all over, it’s hard to sit still and not get out moving around with the great weather that’s finally blessed us.

Just sitting on my deck watching the flowers blossom wasn’t enough, as I knew perfectly well there are wild flowers sprouting all over our beautiful North State waiting to be admired.

So, it was high time to brush off the long winter coat the horses have been wearing, but that were mostly already shed off, and throw a saddle on their backs then hit the trail.

We gathered up the dogs that always accompany the horses on trail rides and headed out to see what has been blooming throughout one of our favorite riding areas, Anderson River Park.

As we drove down Dodson Lane, we could see other recreationalists had similar thoughts; getting out of the house and into some activity. They, unlike us, didn’t have horses, but were busy competing in a game I haven’t really figured out yet. It’s called disc golf.

The contraptions the disc has to fall into after flying through the air, sometimes on a spiral curve, is a target difficult to hit in my estimation. I think I could hit a tiny golf hole on the green easier than throwing a disc at a chain-link basket while dodging trees and anything else in its path.

But a large group of young men and some youths were hard at it somewhere near the starting point at the park entrance.

We saddled up, gathered all the dogs and headed out on a trail toward property affiliated with fish and wildlife along the Sacramento River. This network of trails is suited for horses as it is a little more difficult to walk than the nice paved trails that grace Anderson River Park.

Skirting along the edge of numerous ponds we made our way to the big, open area at the end of Shelly Lane. There I had to gallop my mare around and around about six or seven times in each direction as she had been jigging and snorting all the way indicating she hadn’t been ridden in many weeks while we waited for the rains to stop. Eating fresh, green grass for a few weeks added to her high-strung antics that I don’t usually see as summer arrives each year. But spring is for stretching the muscles and mind, even for the most docile creature.

Okay, once I got her settled down, my two friends and I continued on the trails that took us over sand, rock and well-trodden paths to the river’s edge where we watched waterfowl dancing across the water in the distance. Geese, egrets and other members of the wild fowl institute were feeling as if they too had been cooped up for weeks and months.

The dogs hit the water as if they were starved for a swim, the one dog paddling around for several minutes as we rested and soaked under the sun. My two dogs like water, but aren’t anxious to get totally wet, as they toy with the shallow water, splashing in it cautiously, but darting back out, back and forth, as if chasing the rocks that were visible at the bottom of the clear, cool water.

My mare, as well as the horse my companion rode, were both in the high point of their heat cycle and were making no bones about it as they gigged and danced about, flirting with the male horse on our ride. This was one of those days when I wished I rode a gelding. Most of the time I have no problems with this mare that has delivered two foals during her 16-year life span. But even at 16 this horse has never lost her spirit. Like the rest of us oldsters, our horses wanted to get out and experience the wide open spaces in their own way.

So we rode and rode. By the time we arrived back at the horse trailer, the horses had settled down the way we wished they had been when we started.

Oh, well, maybe now that they have that first spring ride out of their systems, the next ride will be more relaxed. I was ready for a nap by the time we reached home. But after a shower and a short rest, I decided it was time to fire up the barbecue and have homemade hamburgers on the deck while watching the horses graze peacefully in the pasture a few yards away.