Sunday, April 5, 2015

4/4/15 Jesusita Ride, Santa Barbara, CA



  • A short ride up into the front country 

6.62 miles,  2.5 hours, with a Rocky mule and an Arabian.
The blob at the bottom right is Tobe & I doing a lesson in the arena at the ranch. 
 If you enlarge the map you can see us making a spaghetti of movement, and a wee tiny mule and rider in the center of the arena ....... when the Google Earth fly-over was done! 
We warmed up with the arena maneuvers and then we were ready to RIDE !



 Walking up the hills out of the ranch the first thing we see is the Lauro Canyon Reservoir. In the midst of the terrible drought California is experiencing this is a welcome refreshing sight. The grass may all be burned brown, but the reservoir is sparkling in the sun.


 Looking in the other direction we see the coastline of the city, with the Channel Islands just barely visible on the horizon in the ocean's haze. The horse ranch we left from is on the very edge of civilization. Immediately above it is the Los Padres National Forest. What a resource!

Zo the Arabian  came along for the fun. His owner has been riding since he was put in a saddle when he was 2 weeks old, so they were fearless companions who led Tobe and I upward.
Zo would like to race to the top of the mountain, while Tobe is more inclined to mosey along.
The geldings compromised on a medium pace, and we moved steadily along the trail.


Amazingly there was still water in the stream in the canyon and under the ancient oak trees it was lush and cool.
There were lots of hikers and dogs, out for Easter weekend strolls, and I think the sight of us on our stylish steeds quite possibly inspired more than a few of them with a wish that they, too, had an equine!


For Tobe and I this was our first trip up to explore the mountain from the Jesusita Trail. We needed an escort! And we found a wonderful one!
Now that we have learned the way to this trail it will be easy to return again, and begin to explore the many trails that connect to it to access the mountains. Onward to adventure!