Wyoming 2010

The long awaited horse vacation to Wyoming is here and gone. What's the saying? "Take only pictures, leave only footprints." That we did. Plus a lost EZ boot minus the gator.

In true Vasa fashion, we had truck issues on the way out. John thought there was a problem with the differential, but ended up, we were just overloaded. We drained some water and got back on the road. Later, after lunch in North Platte, the truck decided to not start at all. After a four hour delay, John somehow bypassed the starter. We had a choice of finding a Chevy garage or heading on down the road. We opted for the latter and pulled into camp around 7:00 PM.

It's strange to go somewhere you haven't been before. We were most anxious to hit the trails, but the first day found us wondering around aimlessly. I lost that aforementioned EZ boot in the first hour or so. Torn right from the gator when we got into some mud crossing a meadow. The warranty is worthless because I don't have the lost boot. Although they seemed to protect Windy's unshod back hooves, I am very disappointed they could that easily rip away. I was worried about losing them, not destroying them! Oh, well. Back at camp, I have to say we were all disappointed in our ride. We just weren't seeing the good stuff. But that soon ended.

That evening we drove across the road to another area that looked promising. We talked with some other horse campers and found out where they ride. And headed there on horses the next morning. We started out on a trail marked with orange ribbon that soon found us hanging on the steep side of a mountain! We backtracked to another trail head and here we found the kinds of trails we drove 8 hours to ride! Beautiful tree-lined trails taking us up to the summit with spectacular views along the way. We even saw a moose!


Now that we got our trail riding groove back, we explored the first area once again the next day and went deeper into the forest and up on the rocks. We kept it fairly easy that day as the horses had been putting in some long hours. Once again, we had some beautiful views and a day of riding entirely different from the previous rides. And did I mention beautiful?

Our next venture was over to Vedauwoo, specifically Devil's Playground. Again, something different but awesome in it's own way. We watched in awe at rock climbers hanging on the side of the mountain. And the skies were so blue.

Unfortunately, we had to cut our vacation short. The truck was not handling the mountains well and was overheating, not to mention that pesky starter problem. John's decision to try to quit smoking while in the mountains was taking its toll on all of us. Family vacations aren't all they're cracked up to be, especially when only one of us is passionate about the ride. I do give Case credit - for not having another kid around to hang with, he did pretty well. I enjoy watching him ride and hope he will remember Wyoming fondly. Me? I'll be back. To do it again and more.

Pictures say so much more than words. Here are a few of my favorites.

Riding in WY

No wireless so blogging via text; postcard style. Weather great, riding awesome... Wish you were here. Can't wait to share it w/you.

I'll Never Be Hungry Again!

I won’t lie. Camping with horses is a lot of work. Not only the necessary preparations that I talked about in my previous blog, but setting up the camp once we are there. Over the years, we’ve perfected it, but you still don’t know what you don’t know (terrain, etc.) until you get to the destination. We assume we will be setting up our portable fencing but there is also a possibility we will high-tie or picket. We’ll be prepared for either. Our horses have been stabled many different ways on camping trips; picketed, tied to the trailer and even hobbled. They’ll live.


There is not running water where we are going. We’ll bring 50 gallons with us for the horses and 30 gallons for us plus a couple dozen bottles of water. There is no garbage service, so we pack out what we pack in in the wilderness. So we must be mindful of that, too. After we run out of horse water, we'll fetch it from the stream or go in search of a campground with running water. That won’t be the end of the world either way. It’s part of camping.

On the human side, there is the food situation. I don’t like to cook on a good day at home. The idea of spending the day in the saddle and coming back to prepare food over fire to feed my family is about enough to make me not ever want to camp with horses. But over the years, I have solved that problem, too. I prepare dishes in advance, freeze them and then simply warm them up on the camp stove.

Just because a person does not like to cook does not make them a bad cook. I’m no Pioneer Woman, but can follow a recipe pretty well and have a knack for improvising for the tastes of my family. The boys get pretty excited when I start cooking for camp and have asked on more than one occasion why we can’t have this or that more often. Lacking the joy of cooking makes me really feel like a failure as a mother, but I more than make up for it when we camp.



Some of what I have planned is PW Chicken Spaghetti, Pulled Pork, Lasagna, Ho-Bo Dinners, meat for Taco Night, Steak Night and Sweet & Sour Chicken. I also made Oven Ham Sammies for the saddle bag if we are eating on the trail. I’ve made potato salad, pasta salad and homemade salsa. We’ll also have plenty of hot dogs, lunch meat, wraps and chips. We certainly won’t starve.

I’ve been freezing ice blocks for the cooler. My friend, Sam, has provided me with pounds of artificial ice blocks that she has in her lab. We also have a frig in our trailer. It’s likely we will have to make an ice run mid-week; probably about the same time we make the water run.

I have been doing pretty well with the diet since I’ve joined Weight Watchers again; only 6 pounds from my goal. All I can say is I had better do a lot of hiking between riding to work off what we will be eating. My food choices weren’t wise ones from a dieter’s perspective.

Three to Get Ready

Okay, first, all you robbers take note. Yes, I am leaving for vacation, but please be advised our home will not be empty. It will be occupied by my 40-something-year-old truck-driving brother who spent time in prison and my 20-something-year-old niece who just returned from Iraq and I hear she is a pretty good shot. Technically they aren’t here to combat thieves, but to ride rough shod on my 16-year-old son while we are gone. But hey, they’ll do what they have to do. Then there is my brother and sister-in-law who lives right down the hill in plain view and my other neighbor who I am pretty sure is armed when he checks the cattle.

Oh, and don’t forget the pesky German Shepherd that keeps even the Schwan’s man from coming to our door. He just honks and we go to his truck.

Boy, that disclaimer took more space than I had planned for a short blog update!

Usually, every couple of years I plan a horse vacation. Usually somewhere out of state and more than a weekend long. I started this blog two years ago when we traveled to the Black Hills for our 2008 horse vacation.

If you think it’s hard to get kids ready for a vacation, try traveling with horses. When crossing state lines, you need to have blood drawn for a Coggin’s test to show that your horse is not harboring Equine Infectious Anemia. Also known as Swamp Fever, it is more prevalent in the Southeast, but we have to play by the rules here, too. After the tests come back negative (which is good for a year), we have to visit the vet within 30 days of our trip, so he can declare them healthy and issue health papers which among other things, denotes the horse is negative to Swamp Fever and states specifically where we are traveling to, so that we can be found should some equine disease break out in that area. Got all that? Good.


Our horses are flatlanders and for riding around here, they are unshod. Usually these out of state trips take us to the mountains or some rocky regions, so we shoe for these occasions. I do not want to travel 500 or more miles and have the horse lame up the next day. Last week I had the farrier out to shoe the mares.

I had a bit of a surprise though. Windy’s back hooves, it seems, did not have enough wall to support shoes. I do recall when I had Windy shod for South Dakota a few years ago; we had a heckuva time keeping shoes on her. My current farrier was very reluctant to even attempt to nail on back shoes. And I trust his opinion. So, I pulled out those super duper EZ Boot Gloves that I didn’t find real EZ the first time I tried them. He took off the flares on her back hooves and we fitted the EZ boots nicely to her feet. Hopefully, they will stay on. Out of all the mares, she is the one I am least worried about getting sore. She has tough feet.


Finally, there is the weed free hay requirement when traveling to national parks or forests. According to the Feds, all hay must be certified "weed free" to reduce the spread of noxious weeds. To certify your hay, the county extension office must visit your field before you cut it. Then, once baled, they will provide you with a certification label for each bale (for a fee, of course). It can be costly to have done. So even though I believe we have some fine hay, and a full hayloft of it, we can’t use it for the trip. I had to buy some from a friend who has theirs certified. Cha-ching. So, if you are keeping a running tally….

Shoes x 2 ½ = $200
Coggin’s test and papers x 3 = $90
Hay for 7 days = $50
Trip to the mountains = Priceless.