Year End Trail Ride!

I figured I should post a couple, there's a link to my Facebook in the training forum which is where all 100+ pics are, but for anyone not reading that thread or has Facebook, here you go!

The Year End Ride is a massive trail ride put on by our ranch every October. It's not necessarily a long ride, but we make a lot of extended stops, so we're usually out for 6+ hours. We board at a dude ranch, so a big chunk of those riders are city slickers on dude horses, and usually drunk beyond belief. We had three accidents these year, one almost ending in death, so it was a bit crazy. Some woman came RACING up to a rest spot on her Arab, drunk, and he hit a boggy patch and went down - he went skidding for like 10-15 feet with her leg trapped underneath and her head bouncing off the ground. She was out cold for 15-20 minutes and barely breathing - we thought she was dead. Thank god we were RIGHT by the highway when it happened, they got an ambulance out ASAP and she managed to escape with only a broken collar bone and a bad concussion.

Immediately after that happened, a friend of mine had her horse get kicked and he hit the end of his new tie down and FREAKED - he reared up and started staggering back and side to side, reefing on his head. She somehow managed to stay on, and when I asked her if she was ok, she said yes and went to rein him sideways upon which he basically reared straight up and flipped over backwards on her, landing on her leg. She was shaken up, but ok and rode a different horse home. She hasn't been back to the ranch since.

And finally, some idiot drunk city woman fell off one of the dude horses and managed to get him badly hurt when he ran into something. I'm not sure what, but apparantly he needed stitches and she was coughing up blood. I still insist it was the putrid wine coolers she was drinking. Moron.

ANYWAY! Jynx was a complete pro - not a single thing phased her. It was a CRAZY day, and she handled it like she was 20 years old. Wagons didn't phase her (never seen 'em before), a girl ran her horse into her and all she did was brace and sit to protect us both. She was standing with people and horses crowded into her half the day and she just went to sleep. She was PERFECT. And then she broke my foot when we got home by stepping on it! LMAO, I love my pony!

Sorry for the novel! PICS!


Shay-la & Eve, me & Jynx and Ashley & Justus!


Everyone waiting around


The sexy English guy who went home on Wednesday, SOB!


Heading out!


Tons of people!!


Here we go! (there is a wagon right behind us and Jynx could care less)


LOL, waiting! One of the wagons had a flat tire, these are my friends we ride with


Riding


Again


Riding into the big rest area


The dumb drunk lady who fell off Poncho, the dude horse :roll:


Jynxy and Bandit love each other, LMAO.


Me and Jynx!

Us and all our friends!


The teams


Heading out again!


Love this pic, such a variety of terrain!


Waiting AGAIN! This time for a downed tree!


The clearing where the woman on the Arab almost died >.<


Almost home! It was a LONG day, 6 hours in the saddle!


The after party! HAHAHAHA


We ended up outside...


My busted foot!


I don't remember this picture, which is extremely terrifying >.<


Tequila is EVIL! We ended up sleeping in our tack room!!!

Haha! The cute English guy picture was hilarious!... but true.

Wow, that had to have been scary to almost see someone die! I'm sorry about your friend, horses get scared, and get even more scared if they feel pressure, apparently from anywhere. At least she was okay!

I get stepped on by my horses sometimes too! Were you wearing cowboy boots? I have been very lucky and have never bruised that badly. And sadly, I am not yet of legal drinking age, haha.

Yup yup I would be sobbing when that english guy went home too!! What beautiful horses! And i've always wanted to go on a trail ride with alot of people! Do you bruise easy? Because my horse has stepped on my foot(while i'm barefoot) and twisted and I barely had a bruise. Mainly she just because my toe a little and ripped a tad of skin off but other then that it didn't bother me.

That English guy can come visit me any time...I'll take him for a ride. =P

Anyways back to the trail ride, it looked like lots of fun...besides the near-death experience. Looked like it was a nice day out too.

Unbelieveable weather for Manitoba in October - it's been over 20 degrees Celsius all weekend and everyone is just flabbergasted by it. We usually have frost and snow fall by now!

I don't actually bruise that easily - if a 950 pound horse drives all their weight onto your foot, it is physically impossible to not do damage. The human foot is not designed to handle hundreds of pounds of pressure. I have been stepped on a million times before, and rarely mark. She got her entire hoof on my foot, and reared back to spin on it which equals to almost her full weight bearing down on my foot as she spun. It's an ENTIRELY different ballpark then just being stepped on.

Ahh yeah. The worst i've had is she jumped onto my foot after she spooked from something behind her. Hurt pretty bad but still not much damage. And honestly your foot doesn't look like it really took much damage anyway? Did it really break it?

I'm honestly not sure. It's been over a week and it's still swollen, and the top of my foot hurts like crazy in my paddock boots every time I take a step or when I run. My baby toe has a small bony lump on the top and I can't bend it down or up, just side to side without it hurting like crazy.

It's the still swollen part that concerns me, after a week and a day. But meh, we'll see! I can use it, I can walk and I can ride, so I'm not worried!

Ahh! I've always been lucky enough to curl up my toes so horses just leave a big dent in my boot.

That looks like an awesome time (except for the almost deadly accidents)! And hey, I'm shedding a few tears not knowing that english guy.

Her foot turned purple and swelled up like a balloon...looked like damage to me! I'd rather have broken skin than internal damage!

Was an awesome fun ride! Will prep Eve more for next year, it'll be a blast again! And that knife picture is priceless