Had a rough night, worrying about how to solve all the problems with these little burrs, but by the time I got up to let the dogs out, I had a plan. I took four small plastic bags and filled the bottoms with toilet paper, then used hair bands to hold them on. I put these on our big dog Marina and though she tried a couple of times to shake them off, once I let her out, I think she realized the purpose behind the booties and went on about her business. She still didn't go very far though. The little dog Billy, I put him on a lease and carried him to the driveway, which was mostly dirt, and walked him along the edge, avoiding the grassy areas as much as possible, and managed to keep his agony to a minimum, though he still picked up a burr or two that I had to brush off with my gloves on. That solved, after breakfast we headed out to ride the 7+ miles of trails here at Davis Mountain (named after former Secretary of War and later President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis). We especially careful not to get any burrs under the horses' saddles (it's not just a saying, it's true there's little more maniacal than a horse with a burr under his saddle!), and headed out the trailhead. At first the trail was mostly the dirt road, then we crossed several rocky creek beds following the electrical poles. Finally we turned off and headed up the mountain switchbacks. The trails were very rocky, but we waited until we were a mile or so out before putting their boots only, mainly because I wanted my gelding to have something else to think about than taking off on me. After no trailriding for nearly a month, and feed that was mostly alfalfa, he was more than a little frisky. Fortunately, since the first 2.5 miles was almost all uphill, he settled down in short order, and was soon back to his old self. The trail was a lot of switchbacks, and the rocks were rather loose, causing them to slip occasionally. There was one place where two trees looked like they had been split in the middle and the trail went right through them, which was kind of interesting. Near the top, the trail splits, so we headed right toward the overlook about 1.2 miles away. It was still a little climb, but had more level ground, though the ground was still mostly rocky. At the overlook, the view was quite stunning. We could see an observatory on the top of a hill to the west, and a couple of huge covered fields, at least 20-30 acres, maybe much more due south. It was a great 360 panorama. After about 10 minutes of observation and rest (the horses stood perfectly still, and seemed to be taking in the sights as much as we were) before heading back down to the intersection, where we stopped for lunch at a bench under a tree. Afterward, we headed out the other trail, toward Sheep Pen Canyon, passing an old cistern that hace "Abirel 8, 1948" carved in the cement of the trough. Don't know if it was a date, age or name but it was very impressive stonework. This trail was more level and offered a few places where the ground was good for trots and canters, so we sped along that leg whenever we could, until we reached the park boundary 1.5 miles out. We headed back and made it back to camp before 4:00, about a four hour ride. At one point, my gelding got a little ticked at the rocks and shook his head a bit (he's a comedian, my horse), but otherwise it was enjoyable and uneventful. We thoroughly enjoyed being back in the saddle again after our long absence, and I senses the horses were glad to get back on the trail as well. Gave them some oats as a reward, and bedded them down for the night, made one more excursion with the dogs after dinner (what a pain these burrs are!), and settled down for the evening.
