Horse Camp
Clip-clop, horse-flop… Suddenly the joint is full of horse trailers!
Today is Sunday. Thursday, a couple of horse trailers rumbled into the State Land Trust parcel I’m on. Friday, many more came. The three campers here were soon surrounded by maybe a dozen horse trailers, and I’m not talking about one-horse or three-horse. We’re talking the bigger ones that range from a two-horse with bunk ahead, to huge travel trailers with slides, and horse stalls in the rear. They’re no doubt here for the Desert Caballeros ride, an annual invitation-only men’s ride out in the boonies that lasts for five days. The departure day is Monday. These people tend to come from all over the West.
Yep, I was impressed. I assume that fencing tape is electrified.
I did a walk-through on the way to a short trail hike as sunset drew closer, just to take a few pictures.
Lo and behold, the Strolling Amok curse begins to swirl overhead. See the little Dachshund, which the AKC says is “spunky, curious, friendly?” He came out to stand in my path and bark at me.
Perhaps the largest Doberman I’ve seen. He followed the Dachshund out and also stood in front of me, determining my threat quotient to his unseen master. I called out “This your dog?” to several people, but they either said no or ignored me, which didn’t put me in much of a mood to interview anyone. The dog eventually sensed my stranger-danger level, lost interest and walked toward another camp that clearly didn’t want him there, and I was able to resume my forward progress along the path.
What, couldn’t you find a bigger trailer?
A horse and its owner at that same rig.
This is more my style, if the goal is to go traveling and horse camping for awhile.
Toldya the sun was getting low! This is the modular approach: Simple two-horse trailer and a pop-up truck camper. A bit cozy, but talk about versatile…
I didn’t look to see the stall setup, but nearly all horse trailers include some sort of tack room where all the gear can be stored properly. Saddle weight can get impressive, so you won’t see any setups that don’t let you get up close and personal.
Oh, yeah, the walk! I like these things, especially right now.
These aren’t as common, but they’re still scattered all over this area.
A quick look back toward camp. You can’t see it, but the Mighty Defiant is farthest right, with the Mighty Furd (red dot) next to it.
A tent camper out in one of the more remote spots. If you have high clearance and 4WD with either a tent or a pop-up truck camper, you have some unique additional options out here. This one is still within the flat camping area.
This is for fencing without the electrics. It folds or otherwise disassembles for storage.
Half the space is donated to horses, whether you use the stalls for them or something else. What’s left is yours.
Oddly, every one of them moved out today, Sunday. Beats me where the next destination is, since the staging area tomorrow is downtown Wickenburg. But, there are many possibilities a little closer to town that would be suitable for a five-day stay and be much more rideable to get to the Community Center parking lot. It’s a big lot, but at well over 100 participants, it would not cut it for loading and unloading. They all have some time-worn scheme that works well – I just don’t know what it is.
Strolling Amok 
Well, I’ll be!
Be what, Swank? Jiggered? Hornswoggled? Durned? 🙂 What was unexpected for you?
Great horse pics! 🙂 You got some pretty cool pics of the Rigs too but its the horses I crave! 😉
I do love the desert when its in bloom. They have some of the most beautiful flowers out here. I am surprised they only came for a couple of days and left.
In again, out again, gone again, Finnegan!
I would have thought they’d want to settle in and plant, but perhaps the closer area is not laced with very nice riding trails, as this is. Most of them (the wives, anyway) went riding together daily.
I must say that one rig is absolutely huge! I don’t ever think I’ve seen a horse trailer that big before. So when do the men go for their ride? Or did that start this last weekend?
Rachel, the departure day was Monday the 13th.
Thanks Doug. 🙂
you lost me at ”men only”
Never fear, Chris! The “women-only” ride, “Las Damas”, begins two weeks to the day later.
This group is not the same as the one that started Monday. I spoke with one and was told they are a club that has a ride each month.
Thanks, Roger. What a weird coincidence in timing. I just assumed, and you know the saying behind that one…