Mustang Mountain Trail Ride

I hosted a trail ride from my house yesterday for the members of B Troop and had a big barbecue after. it was a strange day as far as the weather went. It was reasonably warm out until the sun went behind a cloud and then it became instantly cold. I lead a group of eight riders from in front of our house to the west toward the Mustang Mountains. We followed an old road that once ran from Tombstone to the Empire Ranch. Part of the road crosses our property so I described the network of roads in the area and proposed that it might have been used during Wyatt Earp's vendetta ride in 1882. The road once led to the springs up in the Whetstones where Curly Bill Brocious was surprised by Earp's posse and gunned down. Climbing up to the base of Mustang Mountain I described the rich history of the Babocomari Ranch and the valley. The recorded history of the valley goes back 470 years with the arrival of Marcos De Niza in 1539. The terrain east of the mountain is flat and soft and many of the guys took advantage of the terrain to gallop their horses unencumbered by fences or obstacles. As we turned east toward Whetstone one of the local riders who had joined us had an accident. Her Tennessee Walker tripped and went down on both knees spilling her to the ground. The horse stood up, looked around, and trotted off toward home. The troopers seeing the potential for some fun split up into two groups and surrounded and captured the confused horse. The guys had a great time bringing the horse back to her. Fortunately, neither horse nor rider were seriously injured in the accident. Once we got back to the house, we turned the horses out to pasture and then went inside for the barbecue. It was too cold and windy outside so we set up our tables in the interior courtyard. More people arrived to fill in the empty chairs and we soon had a pretty good party going. Everyone brought side dishes for the barbecue or apples and carrots for the horses. The horses would occasionally hang their heads over the fence for a treat and then wander off to explore the pasture. Once everyone had their fill of food, drink, and conversation they loaded up the horses and returned them to the stables at the fort. It was a lot of fun to be able to combine riding with a party and not have to leave home. No doubt we will be doing this again some time.

Photo courtesy of Martina Peters