Giant holes, horse shows, trail rides, attack mares, rare flowers,May showers and the mystery of Dude and the Danes (and more)

May 1, 2025
Dude peered at the inexplicable, and large, mound of dirt. The earth around Trooper's stall had been disturbed again. But this time, in dramatic fashion.

Dude stood atop a pile of dirt that covered his fencing.  There was a hole big enough to be a shallow grave. But what for? It made no sense.

And then he saw the other hole.

It went deep. He peered into its darkness. He could not see the end of it. He could not see anything. And at the same time, he'd seen enough. Trooper was safe with the girls, and he really didn't need to meet whoever had claimed this patch of ground as their own.  The stall project would be abandoned, starting now.

May 2
Friday night, MIM 2025. It was the second year of hosting performance at their annual show, and they anticipated a busy day in the arena come Saturday.  So what would have been grand entry Saturday morning became the evening show on Friday night.

Windy Boy burst into a gallop. Grace pulled herself up, found her balance in his forward motion, leaned into it. They had practiced and practiced. Grace had managed the stand, and she could do it for a short duration without leaning on the reins. But she couldn't wrangle the flag at the same time. Maybe with more practice, or maybe with the flag secured to the saddle so she could actually use it for balance. But not yet. Not tonight. 

Skye decided to represent. She wore one of her cloth ribbon dresses, her moccasins, her blanket over her lap and legs.  Gifted moved underneath her as if he carried the most fragile and precious cargo, every step soft and measured.

Dude took the flag. Trooper had a big, ground-eating trot, and Dude had hands capable of holding the giant flag steady. 

Anoush presented Fuego. She let him move freely and unimpeded in the front. He had a natural collectedness coupled with a hint of drama in his animation. 

​Skye squealed in delight when she saw Anoush's surprise guests - the Canyon Spirit Riders! They were sisters, roughly Skye's age, and Skye had seen their videos and images many times. What an awesome surprise!

Jessica and Chance were the finale of the Grand Entry, accompanied by Heather and Crystal, giving a three-up pony ride. 

Anoush returned to the arena presenting Fuego with the garrocha.
"The garrocha was originally a tool used for driving cattle" Anoush explained. "Today, using the garrocha has become more of an art form, a Spanish twist on dressage."

Anoush was able to manuever Fuego under the pole so that he could work from both sides of it. When Grace entered the arena on La Barilla, Anoush handed the garrocha to Grace.

Grace worked La Barilla in a big circle to the left. The seond circle became smaller and the third, smaller still. On the fourth circle she could feel her horse starting to bunch up underneath her. Four circles was good enough. She didn't try working him to the right.  

It was done.  Months of preparation...and now it was over.  The girls could rest easy.

May 3
Saturday at MIM. The performance turnout was impressive! The harness class sealed the deal. The performance high point champion would be the lovely bay Morgan owned and shown by Jacqueline Fernandez.  He was adept at everything, just as the original Morgan horse was. 

Towards evening, moisture made its way into Chilao, putting a cool hush on the landscape.  A lone stallion perused Mustang Rock, his blue roan coat blending into the cool hues of the sky.

Gradually, softly, the night enveloped the horse, and the forest.

May 11
"The boss said she bought two sets and wasn't real sure why" Grace said, examining the lovely statuary now adorning their table. "But maybe we'd like to take a break from the bucking horse and look at these for a while."

"That's a cute shirt Skye. Where'd you get that?"

"The boss. I love it! But it's white!"

"I think it's like a really light blue."

"White...light...one horse sneeze and it's gonna be ruined. It is cute though."

The day had been warm. The wind masked the true temperature, but when it faded, there ws no mistaking the combination of altitude and warmth. Dude and Trooper had taken to the trails sooner than they should have, and ended up resting in the shade of an oak tree until the heat broke in the late afternoon. 

Dude studied the ground, loose and dry like the cold and mist of just a few days prior never happened.

Along every accessible trail and road, tire tracks dominated the soil, along with a mixture of dog and human footprints.  And a few isolated prints here and there that were difficult to identify.

The sun slipped below the horizon. Dude and Trooper headed back to the campground road, the air cooling pleasantly as the sun's light faded.

High in the sky, the moon was staged to illuminate the mountain night.

May 12
The morning was beautiful, the temperature perfect, the forest quiet. The girls rode through the picnic area, and down to the fork of Chilao Creek that ran past the visitor's center.

"How's he doing?" Skye asked of La Barilla. This was the farthest Grace had ever ridden him.

"So far so good" Grace replied. "He's not tiring, and he's not dragging his feet, so I'd say we're doing well."

A long bank of deep, loose sand lead to the creek. Skye and Ladyhawk took the lead down the embankment.  The creek was dry. Bone dry. 

"Weird isn't it?" Grace commented. "There's water on the other side of the road, and there's water at the Silver Moccasin fork...but absolutely nothing here."

The forest looked vigorous on the north facing side of Chilao.

Silver Moccasin fork had plenty of water, trapped in isolated pools. It wasn't flowing. But it was crystal clear, and algae was just beginning to take hold along the banks. There was at least another week or two of good water here. 

The girls rode to another isolated pool, surrounded by steep granite banks and sheltered in shade. 

Eventually, the girls made their way back to the part of Chilao Creek they knew best, the part that flowed below the ranch, sometimes in a raging torrent, but more often meandering through a deep sand bed.

On the south facing side of Chilao it was also lovely, but there were signs of trouble. Bark beetles were rearing their destructive heads again. Hotter and more exposed to the sun, the trees here were struggling to survive. They weren't meant for the kind of heat that seemed to come along often now.

This water would last a few more days before disappearing into the sand. There wasn't much, but it was clean and clear.

Staying off the road as much as possible, as their horses weren't shod, the girls took a detour through Meadow Campground and up the back side of Mustang Rock. And that's when La Barilla started to come unraveled.

He spun around and started moving sideways. Not as if he wanted to run back to the ranch...he was facing the wrong direction, moving the wrong direction, snorting, agitated.

Grace saw the snake. They could avoid it. He just needed to spin around and get faced toward home. But that wasn't happening.

Grace struggled to keep La Barilla under control. And then the scream. It wasn't La Barilla screaming.

It wasn't Skye screaming...she was breathless.

The wild bay mare they called Scritch came out of nowhere and hurled herself at La Barilla.

La Barilla did a sideways jump that finished unseating Grace, except for her left foot, which was still in the stirrup. 

Her foot dislodged from the stirrup. La Barilla moved away from Grace, facing the mare who held the higher ground, striking back at his attacker.

And then in a matter of seconds, it was over. The mare vanished back into the rocks. La Barilla scrambled to higher ground. 

Grace got up on her own. Skye watched her move. It wasn't pretty...but it didn't look like anything was broken. Well. Except maybe that left arm.

"Do you want me to go to the fire station?" Skye finally asked. 

Grace thought about it.

"No. I didn't hit my head. And I can walk. Sort of."

"Do you want me to go home and get the boss to come get you in the truck?"

"No. We're almost home. I'm all right."

"Do you want me to walk your horse?"

Grace had to give that some thought too. Skye wouldn't have any trouble with him. But Skye's mare was looking slightly unsettled, and if Scritch came back for another surprise attack...

"Naw, I better be able to lead my own horse back."

May 17
It was perfect riding weather. The cloud cover had broken, but returned. The wind was above the ground, blowing in the tops of the trees, but rarely touching down.

Flowers, although more sparse than they had been in wet years, were emerging.  Grace, Skye, Anoush, Anahit and Lousin rode the territory nth of the ranch.

Arm supported in a brace that made her look a bit like a gunslinger, at least form the back side, Grace rode Deer Medicine, her colt alongside.

"Have you seen a doctor?" Anoush asked of Grace. 

"No, I'm pretty sure nothing's broken" Grace answered. "I fell on this shoulder a while back. That fall was on softer ground but I had my arm in a weird position. This time I hit a rock, but my arm was tucked, so nothing should have torn."

"Me and the boss made her that sling" Skye interjected. "We did it so she'd feel guilty if she didn't wear it. It's not just some mail order sling you know. That one's custom built."

"I kind of want to go back to where it happened and see if we can find that snake. I'm not even sure it was alive."

"I thought Skye said you were attacked by a wild mare?"

"Yes! But right before that happened there was a pretty big snake, and I thought that's what La Barilla was freaking out about. It looked weird though. And then that mare came charging out of nowhere and we forgot all about the snake."

Anahit and Lousin were looking at something. Quietly. Skye looked too, but she didn't see anything.

It was a perfect day for a ride. Dude took in the landscape. There was a harshness about this place, but that was also part of its beauty.

He looked for tracks. Most of the ranch horses weren't shod, and most of the soil was actually some form of rock, from sand to gravel. Not ideal tracking conditions.

The pair headed north.

Fuego did well on the trail. Anoush deliberately put some space between herself and Grace, gauging how well her mount could navigate the terrain without a lead horse to follow, feeling his comfort level when separated from the other horses. 

Fuego kept one eye on the ground. There was a lot to take in, and the footing demanded focus.

Anahit and Lousin had fallen back again.


Whatever it was that they couldn't see had them captivated.  Skye doubled back to see what they were looking at.  Trees.  Rocks.  Flowers.  A lone stallion.  It appeared he was missing an ear tip, but the same-colorness of his every feature made that hard to confirm.

The girls watched in silence as he turned, vanished into the rocks.

Trooper moved forward with heightened alertness. There was something ahead of them.  In another moment, they were in view of each other; the five girls and their mounts, facing the approaching Dude and Trooper.

"Trooper!" Skye exclaimed. "And he brought Dude with him!"

"Good afternoon ladies" Dude said. There was a chorus of response.

Dude addressed Grace. "I am certainly glad to be looking upon your battle scars and not those of your opponent."

Grace found it impossible not to smile. 

"We were just going to have a look for that opponent" Grace answered after a thoughtful pause. "Care to join us?"

"I'd be honored."

But they didn't head toward Mustang Rock. Grace began heading in a very different direction. Skye had a hunch she knew Grace's plan, and moved to the front of the group.

There was little chatter as they entered the passage where Rain Man had been captured. 

Skye turned to look at Dude. His face was calm. He studied the rock formation.

Grace watched his body language from behind. It never changed as they navigated the passage. Trooper did what Trooper was really good at...keeping a steady forward pace.

As they exited the rocks they were greeted by a moment of thin clouds and flashes of yellow and purple. A small but spectacular field of lupine bloomed at the base of the rocks.  Harlequin lupine, known to grow only in a few places in the Angeles and San Bernardino National Forests.

The silence was broken with words of awe and admiration. The suspicion of a moment earlier forgotten in the reverie. The thin cloud vail darkened again, accompanied by a light mist. It had been a perfect day in the saddle, and the sky beckoned now for it to come to a close.

Back at Grace and Skye's, the girls talked about the new mustang.

"Did you notice his ear?" Skye asked.

"Was one missing?" Lousin responded. "He has so much mane, it was hard to tell."

"We should start naming all the horses" Skye said. "It's getting hard to remember who's who. Maybe names would help."

"You should let Anahit and Lousin name this one" Grace interjected.

There was a brief moment of silence. 

Then Anahit offered a name. "Smoke Signals." And so it was. The new stallion had a name.

May 23
Grace and Skye made their way on foot past the colorful blooms of Chalk Live Forever. There was a lot of noise. Unhappy noise.  Scratch, the big bay mare that had attacked La Barilla, was presently bent on driving off the much smaller bay roan mare.

"What did we name her?" Grace asked of the little roan mare.

"Ummm...not Thorn...Thistle!"

"Fitting name."

The roan mare seemed determined to get closer.


It was a confusing scene. Scritch was defending her foal...a bay roan that could easily have been the son or daughter of Thistle.

But mama Scritch didn't care about the nuances of color. She just wanted the other mare gone. She'd return to the herd with her foal when she was good and ready.

Thistle seemed to be making gestures with her mouth, but her body language wasn't pure submission. 

The foal stayed close to its mum. Evening shadows spilled across the landscape.

The girls watched until the horses slipped out of sight. Then they made their way back to the ranch in the golden hour, meandering from one fowering plant to the next.

Yucca flower ready to emerge.

Chia.

Red bugler penstamen.

Cobweb thistle.

A heart-shaped wildlife portal into the high country.  And then home.

May 24
The boss had brought all kinds of food up from the city below. Cheeseburgers, traditional sandwiches, fancy roll-things.  The west end of the arena bustled with activity.  Anoush and her daughters grabbed chairs, benches and buckets to make into seating.

"You need help with anything?" Grace asked. She suspected the answer was going to be no. everything seemed well in order.

"You just sit back and relax, we got this" Skye responded. "The boss is going up to her house to bring the big dogs down, and then all we need to do is eat."

Comet enjoyed the other end of the arena, loping in slow, neat circles.  The Black was very curious about everything.

Anoush tried a new helmet on Lousin. It fit more or less perfect.

"How does that feel?"

"The strap is awful. Otherwise it fits fine" Lousin replied.

"It's actually really cute" Skye said. Anahit nodded in agreement.

Skye had to walk The Black back to the east end of the arena before she sampled the sandwiches.

The Black was inching her way back into the sandwich zone as soon as Skye turned away.  Grace nudged her back next.

The boss returned with the two Great Danes and the Dane mix, who took an immediate interest in Lousin's lunch.

Grace wall-flowered for a moment. Dogs and horses and food and friends and lots of laughter. Nice.

The Great Danes, Tosh and Contessa, suddenly headed to the east side of the arena, as Dude approached.

They came right up to him. Relaxed. Inquisitive. Like they knew him.

"Good afternoon ladies" Dude said, dogs still at this side, stopping short of joining the gathering.

"Join us" the boss responded. "There's plenty of food."

"Awe, thank you so much, but, what I was really hoping to do, if you don't mind, was give Trooper a bath."

"Yes, you absolutely can. Do you know where everything is?"

"I do, thank you."

"Dude, take some food with you, please."

Skye took a sampling of the things, put them in a take-out box, and brought them to Dude. Who still had Tosh and Contessa at his side.

"Thank you very much" Dude said, accepting the food. "I appreciate it."

As Dude departed, Tosh and Contessa followed him for several yards. The ladies watched in silence. Eventually the dogs turned back. After a few awkward moments, Anoush broke the silence.

"What a nice treat, all of this food and a lovely place out of the sun to enjoy it."

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