The Long Riders Are Here

The Long Riders Are Here

This horse camp on the Manzanita Indian Reservation is inundated with over 180 horses and about the same number of people here to compete in the annual long distance riding event. The various races go from ten miles to 50 miles. Riders clock in when they leave, and again when they get back. The horse and rider with the shortest time wins. They have a perfect day for it. It is cool and the temperature probably won’t go over 70 degrees today. The gusty wind is down to a pleasant breeze, although it’s predicted to go back to 40 mph gusts tomorrow.

There are some beautiful trail horses here in all shades of horse colors, and there are also two very large mules. Some are patiently standing and waiting to be readied for the race, and others are prancing, tossing their heads and whinnying their impatience to be off. I would bet on the patient ones for the long haul.

There are only 40 developed sites in this camp, so most campers are parked any place they can find a level spot not too far from a water faucet. Many campers have brought their own portable horse corrals, some round and some square. There are venders offering western clothes, jewelry and art work for sale. There is also a large communal dining area in a particularly nice spot under some oak trees.

I let my dog, Smokey Joe, out before dawn for his run, and when I signaled him to come back home at 6:30 I saw a bustling scene before me. People were saddling up, and the horses were whinnying back and forth to each other. There is a lot of eagerness in the air.

They will leave in small groups at 7 a.m. on a trail going across Bureau of Land Management land toward Lost Valley Rock that rises up large against the eastern horizon. They will be following a trail used over 100 years ago for cattle drives down to the desert. That was before the Colorado River was harnessed, and spring floods still brought seasonal grass and flowers that were grazed by local cattle that had been driven long dangerous miles down the Carizzo Wash through mountains of rocks to get there. Today’s riders won’t go farther than the trailhead where the path plunges down to the desert about 25 miles from here.

I think I will sign off, get dressed, and Smokey and I will climb the hill in back of us to watch the riders take off into the wild blue yonder. I wish I were going with them.