Headed for your Head

By Patty Wilber

Most horseback riders wear something a top their cranium when a top their equine.

For many, that is a helmet. Besides the whole save your brain feature, the thing I really appreciate about helmets is that they strap on and do not fall off.  I was just debating (with myself) whether I would attempt a cowboy hat or go with my helmet at the reined cow horse show this weekend in Lubbock.  My cowboy hat usually flies off (hair pins and hairspray not withstanding) and if it does stay on, I get a headache…waaa.  My helmet WILL remain a top my brain.  But who in the world wears helmets at events like that? The cowboy hat is SO much cooler!

Here is a helmet sample from our back Country Horseman Project on March 30.

Helmets generally do not have much of a brim and in the summer, the high altitude and bright sunshine made me resort to wearing a baseball cap under my helmet.

Helmet with hat. Could be worse.

 But then Amber discovered Da Brim. Da Brim is a Goretex brim that attaches to the helmet.  Perfect! For most people.  Mine seem to dislodge from my helmet a lot, (I am installation impaired, apparently) and also they catch the wind, so if my helmet is unbuckled, say AFTER the ride, the entire contraption goes flying.

We also had the baseball cap and visor contingent.

 And a lone cowboy hatter. Fitting.

In addition to hat modelling, we also did some work! We rode into the 2008 Trigo Fire burn on Box Spring Trail.  The trail has been closed since that fire and as you can imagine, it was a mess.

LT (spotty butt) got to wear the newly rigged pack saddle and carried her first load of tools. Lacey (left) was the lead mare. Friday the 4th, packer girl LT, heads to TX to compete in a reined cow horse event.  Her life ain’t boring, anyway!

The Trigo Fire was very hot in this area and many of the standing trees were killed. Now they are falling…across the trail. We cut and moved a LOT of trees. Many were rotting, so though they were fairly large, they were draggable, or “draggers”, as in.  “Hey Richard,” (via radio), “we rode over three draggers and left them for your crew.”

The downside of draggers in a burn area. It is sooty work, but someone’s got to do it!

Box joins Ox Trail and on April 19th, we hope to return and make good headway on Box as it heads to the Crest Trail. View a nice map of these trails by clicking here.

After looking at that map on the link above, I think a good goal would be to ride the entire Crest Trail.  It looks like a two day trek.  Start at 4th of July, join the Crest Trail and ride to Red Canyon Campground (where the support crew will have set up camp and prepared dinner(!)). There are horse pens at Red Canyon, so the horses have a place to stay.  Then the next day, ride Box to Ox to the Crest to Pine Shadow Trail, where said support crew would pick us up…

Think I will have to go scout out Forest Road 422 first to see if a trailer can get to the the Pine Shadow Trail head. Not to mention that I am unsure of the condition of the Crest Trail…

Any takers??