Horse Campers

Horse Campers

On this sunny and very windy weekend there is a group of people camped at #40,  under a huge old oak tree at the far end of the camp. That site is popular because it is very private and near the overflow stream that comes down seasonally from a little dammed-up lake above in a canyon. They have a big horse trailer and a trailer for people. I think there is another trailer or VW type camper out of sight beyond the tree.

 A large older man told me he has been coming here with his family for about 17 years, camping in the same spot whenever he could. The man seems to be the talker of the group, but a cheerful looking woman in her late thirties is the one I would have liked to talk to. She seemed too busy with the horses to talk, but she did come over to say hello. This weekend they have brought six horses with them, and at least the same number, or more, dogs.

I live here, and I usually don’t approach campers at this Indian horse camp because I know they come here for the solitude and the wilderness trails on the adjoining BLM land. But after watching their dogs zipping around the horse corrals for a while, I decided to chance it. Their dogs activity was causing our four rescued pit bulls to bark a lot, and I wanted to apologize, and let them know I was trying to keep them quiet, and at the same time let them know how much I enjoy watching their dogs running free. I really mean that. This is one place dogs can have total freedom to run and chase rabbits. There are no rules, or maybe I should say no enforcer of rules, to dampen their happiness. I believe that in the fine print there is actually a rule about keeping dogs on leases, but that is just there for an excuse if something bad happens involving dogs. None of the Indians I know pen up, or tie up their dogs, or even put a collar on them.

The camper’s dogs are a motley group in a variety of sizes and colors, but on closer inspection I saw they are all shepherds of one kind or another, and they are all older dogs. I recognized three or four border collies, and a couple of Queensland heelers in the happy pack. There is a mottled, but very shiny silver dog that I think was what I took for a coyote close to my trailer the night before. By daylight he is beautiful! I have never seen a dog before with that gleaming silver mottled coat. But he does move like a coyote.

I asked the old man how they happened to have all these dogs, and he told me that the woman had a habit of going to shelters wherever she traveled. The little dun-colored shepherd at our feet is a female she had found in Wyoming. The dog was in a cage, snarling and growling, and it was due to be killed the next day. Without hesitation this kind lady said, "I want that dog." The keepers refused at first to give it to her because they said the dog was dangerous. The lady persisted, and finally prevailed. She understands dogs, and the sweet dog that watched us as we talked showed no tendency to be anything but gentle and loving. I got the impression there is a similar story for each of the dogs, but I didn’t want to be intrusive, and I could see they were saddling up to go riding.

As the old man and I had been talking, I had noticed a black horse in the corral next us. He was enormous! This was no mustang or quarter horse! I was told he is a Percheron, one of those breeds developed to carry knights into battle during the Crusades. I remember seeing a Percheron stallion at Connecticut State College years ago, but this animal is different. He has a larger, clumsier head than I remember on the stallion. Maybe it was because the stallion had his ears back, and his neck-outstretched ready to bite anyone he didn’t like the looks of. The horse before me must be a gelding because he was very docile, and he liked being scratched. He even put up with a hug and a kiss from me, a total stranger.

I went back to my compound and watched them ride out of camp; a group of nice folks on  contented and eager horses with a pack of very happy dogs running circles around them in the chaparral. How I wish I could do that again!