Red Bluff Bull and Gelding Sale

California isn't all Hollywood parties, glamour and movie stars with their fancy awards ceremonies. My Dad wouldn't visit me here for the longest time because he was not interested in setting foot in this crazy land of 'nuts & fruits'. I will agree that California may have a few 'interesting qualities', but I am here to share some of the rural roots we find so appealing.

For example; the 50th Anniversary of the ''Red Bluff Bull and Gelding Sale'' held in Northern California, in.....Red Bluff! We took a little five day working vacation and spent five days with no plans to buy either Bulls or Geldings. We just enjoy the country folk and the atmosphere.
If you aren't a 'horse person' you may be wondering what a gelding is, or I don't know, maybe everyone knows what a gelding is? Anyways, a gelding is the term used for a male horse that has been altered (castrated). You all should know what a bull is, a massive male bovine that has not been altered (castrated). Some of my worst and most humorous memories of vet school involved working with bulls *shudder*. I am definitely a horse person, not so much a cattle person. You won't find me referring to myself as a cowgirl. Nope.

So, back to Red Bluff, we set up our camp in the parking lot along with all of the other rural campers. Right at home in the mud and muck. This was the second day and the road had dried up quite a bit. Those who thought ahead had packed rubber muck boots, we hadn't thought ahead. But it sure beats paved city streets, eh?

I enjoy watching fine horses and people watching. There was a rigorous three day screening program for the geldings, all between 3-10 years old, all ranch and cattle horses. I like horse rumps.... apparently from my pictures, cowboy bottoms too.

Some say people and their dogs look alike........

Lots of cowboy hats, lots of horses, lots of visiting.

I so enjoy watching youngsters show their horsemanship skills. This young fella rode a very well-broke young horse and he handled that rope with skill. The ladies were lovin' him. One grandma-type asked if he came along with the horse if she bought it. He seriously answered,"no 'mam".

It was a whole family affair. Seems as though this entire family rides together.
Up in the left hand corner is #50, "Molly". Mules are the exception to the gelding rule, she is a she-mule. I bonded with her, I got me a buyer's number, I remembered our agreement NOT to buy a creature, I did not buy Molly, good thing too, she sold for $6000.00!

Here is the sale ring. This horse was an amazing cow horse. This was a $25,000.00 horse.

I think this was the oldest man at the Auction, he couldn't stay awake and he was sitting ring-side, where it was very noisy and busy. I was worried about him and kept looking over to make sure I could see his chest moving.

He didn't seem very interested in the auction, I wondered if his family made him go.

This young cowboy wasn't getting the high bids he wanted for his palomino so he kept upping his act. Everyone is wanting a horse you can stand on to rope your cattle off of, don't you know. I think I heard the grandma-type lady yell out asking if he came with the horse if she bought it?

Then there was the Rodeo, Bull Riders and Bronc Riders. Great family entertainment.

The pre-rodeo show was a local band. After the rodeo, the local country-rock-new age-rap- combo band played some more and a dance was held out in the arena. Have you ever danced out in arena dirt? Strange experience.
Also strange was watching young adults at the dance busy texting friends while standing in groups with friends also busy texting others. There are no tables out in the arena, so another strange thing was watching couples dance while holding on to their full plastic cups of beer, while trying to maneuver around in the dark arena dirt. This was getting way too red-neck for even Jerry and I so we headed back to our swamp.

You know, at least those movie stars have tables for their drinks at those fancy affairs of theirs.

The Military carried in the red-white-and blue and we thoroughly enjoyed a local singer do an absolutely wonderful job singing the national anthem. I love it when the cowboys and cowkids take off their hats for the flag.

The Bull Sale was awesome, bulls are massive and scary. Some people handled their bulls with only halters without nose rings. My palms were sweaty. Bulls make me nervous. I think the high dollar bull sold for about $6000.00. There were hundreds of bulls sold that day. I wasn't even tempted to go find my buyer's number.

Then I go out and see this tiny little munchkin helping her Daddy shine up their bull for the ring.

/div>

Sunday Brunch Bunch

The gang's all lined up for brunch out under the trees.

Cort's just checking that everything is in order, it's his job. Every happy Queensland has a job.

Horses shuffle around as they eat, Wrangler wanders around paying a visit to everyone.

Pistol and old Remington seem to enjoy one another's company.

These two, Cheyenne and Rock, are together when they aren't bossing around the rest of the herd.

The lovely ladies, Millie and Willow are sharing the same pile of hay.

Check out the body language. Can you see Willow clearly indicating that Millie is most unwelcome "in her space"?

Millie moves off a bit and her expression asks, "is this far enough away?"

I'm not sure what Cheyenne is trying to tell me here.....

Happy Autumn Trails!

Point Reyes, Part 1, Ride to the Coast

Ten days ago we loaded up two horses and headed to Point Reyes, on the coast, north of San Francisco. Hot and dry at home, the weather predicted rain along the coast and coastal range for the weekend. There, on the windshield, our first raindrops since spring. The drive was nice and I was hoping that the rain wouldn't ruin our trip.

We arrived at the campground safe and sound, quickly set up camp, saddled up the horses and hit the trails with some friends who had been there for a few days already. It was very foggy and damp in the forest, so refreshing!

The trails were bordered by lush green trees, bushes and ferns. It smelled so good!

Back at camp, the horses are napping on the high-line. A group of our friends had been there for several days already. We all enjoyed a pot luck dinner and a surprise birthday cake for one gal. Jerry had made his delicious cherry cobbler which everyone always gobbles up. The group warned us about the persistent raccoons hanging about the campground, scavenging any bit of food left unsecured. One couple had stashed all of their food in coolers in the bed of their pickup truck the first night, only to find all of their food eaten or destroyed in the morning by those pesky coons.

We kept all of our food and horse feed locked up in the horse trailer. But in the morning we found raccoon prints all over the hood of our truck.

The second day was rainy enough for slickers, it was more of a fine mist and it was deliciously cool! We took an easy trail along the foot of the mountains, mostly flat, some wooded areas, and we had to ride through several cattle pastures with lots of momma cows and new baby calves. Not many pictures, my lens was wet and the pictures were awfully splotchy.

On the way back we stopped to watch this fella browse along the trail. Then he decided to mosey along ahead of us for quite a distance before he turned and disappeared into the thick underbrush.
After returning to camp, the others in our group packed up camp and went home. They all had previously ridden the trail over the mountains and to the coast before we arrived, it rained the day they rode to the beach.

We woke Monday to a beautiful day! After eating breakfast and packing our saddlebags with a lunch, we headed out. The trails are nice and well manicured, no dust, lots of green and even flowers still in bloom. So many wonderful trees, many of the large ones were Douglas Firs, and numerous Bay Laurel trees with that wonderful bay scent.

This is the view I had of Jerry and Cheyenne for most of the ride. Cheyenne was eager to be walking out at quite a clip while my mare and I were happy to quietly stroll along the paths.

We would catch up with the boys for some yummy green grassy snack breaks. But notice old Cheyenne, he is looking ahead wanting to be on the move again.

Some stretches of trail in this rain forest area were still wet and muddy, we did some slip sliding around on the steeper slopes. Lots of climbing uphill on the way to the ocean.

We loved these trails, cool wet and refreshing. Not humid at all. And No Dusty Trails!

to be continued.......

Point Reyes, California Part 2

The way was very well marked and there is a very large network of trails in this park. Hikers, bikers and equestrians with no motorized vehicles allowed. Many of the trails are for horses and bicycles only. We started at the Five Brooks Trail Head 6.0 miles ago and at this point it was 0.7 miles to get to Wildcat Camp on the beach.

The trail is drying out, the trees are further apart and the sunshine was streaming through.

We've reached the summit of our climb through the wet rain forest surroundings, and catch our first glimpse of the ocean. The narrow, slick-with-mud, steep trails were now behind us. I was giddy with anticipation......

We frequently dismount on rides to give the horses a break, especially on the steeper down hill trails. The horses seem to enjoy it and we get to stretch out our tired limbs and rest that part that sits on the hard leather seat. This was long, tough ride and we all appreciated the breaks.

Just zooming in on the coast ahead and below. My focus and settings aren't that great on the trails, most of the time it's get out the camera and shoot fast while my mare is walking along.

Cheyenne kept wanting to look out to sea, his mane blowing and his nostrils flaring. The blues were incredible but I haven't taken the time to adjust the color on this picture.

The remainder of the ride to the coast is along this two track dirt road. There is a camping site next to the beach that folks can hike into and the road is used by the Rangers to service the outhouses and check the campground daily. The road runs the entire way but it is a much more scenic route to ride or hike the trails.

Steep switch backs take us lower quickly. It is dry and windy, and the vegetation is completely different on this furthest west slope of these coastal mountains

Here we are, finally at sea level. It was lovely.

One last bit of narrow, steep path, just a few steps from the sand and the Pacific Ocean.



To be continued............

Point Reyes, California, Part 3, The Pacific Coast

We made it! Tracks tell that we weren't the first riders on the beach that afternoon.

Our destination, the Pacific Coast. The waves were high, the wind blowing and the roar of the surf constant. Both horses were on high alert.

First close-up look at the big noisy ocean.



Once she figured out the waves weren't attacking, she focused her attention on the globs of kelp littering the sand.







As we s l o w l y walked aong the beach, my mare kept watch between the waves, the kelp and the small rocks that tumbled down the cliffs beside us. Horses point their ears in the direction of their interest, her ears were spinning like little wind mills. I did not take bunches of pictures, there was the greater need to use all of my skill to keep my hot, red-headed, firecracker of a horse between my legs!

It was a great time.
I think I need to return to this sweet place.

HAPPY TRAILS!