# Arizona Trail Ride Pics



## LesandLily (Oct 8, 2012)

I just got back from a photo workshop I led in Arizona on horseback. We rode a total of 6 days (four for the workshop) and rode about 50 hours all total. The weather was great although I would have preferred better skies for photos at time. The horses my outfitter provided were awesome and the company was great. We rode trails some and cut cross country some too. A few of us in the group were very experienced and a few were first time horseback riders. They learned how to trust their mount and saw the value of a tried and true trail horse. I would hate to see some of the show horses I know out on these trails! 

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and ideas for riding in the desert, they came in handy and I made it through with only ONE cactus spine in me and none in my horse!!!! Surprisingly, even with the amount of cross country riding we did we only heard one rattlesnake although the outfitter and wrangler saw three in a different area while leggin up the horses before I got down there. Too bad, I kind of hoped to see one.  I can't wait to go back and do it again!

Enjoy the pics!
Cheers!
Les


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## ThatAppy (Jan 5, 2013)

Beautiful!!! Makes me very jelious, especially with all the snow up here in Canada! 
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## LesandLily (Oct 8, 2012)

Yeah it was kind of tough going back to South Dakota and the snow and cold we have here too. I don't think I could live in the desert, but I sure like to visit! 

Cheers!
Les


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Beautiful!

Looks like the desert between Tucson and Phoenix. I have lived in Arizona my whole life. 
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## Oreos Girl (May 24, 2011)

Very beautiful photos. Brave taking the expensive stuff on horseback


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## LesandLily (Oct 8, 2012)

DraftyAiresMum said:


> Beautiful!
> 
> Looks like the desert between Tucson and Phoenix. I have lived in Arizona my whole life.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Most of this is shot in McDowell Mountain regional park near Fountain Hills. I am getting to the point that I REALLY love the desert...but I sure couldn't live there year round. Once it was in the 80s that was too hot for me. Also, what's up with the jumping cholla...does that stuff sit in the field and plot against you!? 

Cheers!
Les


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

I live in what's called the "high desert." Travel a out 90 miles north of Phoenix and you're in Prescott, my hometown (kind of... I actually grew up/live in Chino Valley, eight miles north of Prescott). Ponderosa pine trees, scrub oak, juniper, mild summers (we rarely break 95F in the summer) and mild winters (we rarely drop below freezing in the winter).
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## LesandLily (Oct 8, 2012)

Oreos Girl said:


> Very beautiful photos. Brave taking the expensive stuff on horseback


While I do carry expensive gear on horseback it is not my MOST expensive gear.  I have a custom made holster that sits on the side of the horn and allows for easy in and out and a special scabbard on the other side of the horn for my tripod. Makes my horse a traveling photo bag.  Combine that with a camelback backpack with a couple extra lenses and water and I am all set. I have gotten to the point where I can change CF cards in the camera at a trot or lope catching up to the group or getting ahead. They should that as an event in an ACTHA contest. Either that or trotting down the trail while looking through a wide-angle lens. Talk about throwing off your sense of balance! 

Cheers!
Les


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## LesandLily (Oct 8, 2012)

DraftyAiresMum said:


> I live in what's called the "high desert." Travel a out 90 miles north of Phoenix and you're in Prescott, my hometown (kind of... I actually grew up/live in Chino Valley, eight miles north of Prescott). Ponderosa pine trees, scrub oak, juniper, mild summers (we rarely break 95F in the summer) and mild winters (we rarely drop below freezing in the winter).
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Sounds like a nice area. I know this won't be my last trip to the desert! I may have to get up to your area sometime. Sounds pretty and unique. 

Cheers!
Les


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

Great pictures!


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## thenrie (Sep 10, 2012)

That picture of the cholla you included above is similar to the type we call "teddy bear cholla" for obvious reasons. Looks like you could just hug it...until you get up close and look. Stuff is bad news.

Once, when I was a kid, I got too close to one and got a chunk if it stuck to my thigh. I tried to pluck it out with my fingers. Grabbed a couple spines and jerked and let go, trying to fling it off and away. It grabbed back and when I flung it, it went straight up and came back down on my shoulder, right by my neck (ergo the name "jumping cactus").

So, my little brother tries to help me out. He picks up two rocks and tries to squeeze the cactus and pull it off my neck. Of course he dropped one of the rocks on the cactus and pounded it into my shoulder.

I finally got it out myself. After that hard lesson, I rarely had any problem with cholla!


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