W
e are a group that gravitated together after meeting on various trail rides. We share a sense of adventure and a love of vacationing with our horses. We come
16 / Sport and Trail Magazine
Cover story by Jana Evensen
We come from all walks of life and live scattered throughout Oklahoma. We ride Fox Trotters, Quarter Horses, Mules, Walkaloosas and Tennessee Walkers. For my husband and I, our Sundowner 3 horse slant with a 10 foot short wall is a “mansion on wheels".
This group started off in 2017 by driving 2,400 miles round trip to Tucson last January. We rode under blue skies at Santa Catalina State Park for a week while folks back home were in an ice storm.
Our summer rendezvous was Jack’s Creek in the Pecos Wilderness. Some drive straight through, some caravan together, but my husband and I drive seven hours then look for a convenient place to overnight. (Check out the website Horse Motels, this trip we choose Star of Texas in Strafford, Texas).
Always try to find an interesting place to eat. Our horses watched folks play golf at the Twisted Elm Country Club in Dalhart while we dined. Get your supplies before you head north out of the village of Pecos for the high country. It is a narrow, half dangerous road for 20 miles until you arrive at the equestrian camp ground. The camp is at 8,200 feet, the vistas beautiful and the morning air crisp.
We ride out every day at 10 am. One day to a gorgeous lake, one day to a cave, one day to a cabin and one day to an overlook. We have lunch on the trail. The woods were beautiful with grass meadows, wild flowers and vistas always following the Pecos River. We have communal meals followed by campfires with laughter and stories. We have no cell phone service. An afternoon shower can find you curled up with a blanket in the nose of your horse trailer listening to the rain on the roof.
We take a day off and visit the Pecos Monument, the outpost where the Pueblo Indians and the Spanish were attacked 38 times by the Comanches. Then there is the return drive home. You have to empty and clean the trailer so she is ready to roll again. I am blessed that I ride with photographers who have an eye to capture the moment. Late nights I marvel at those photographs and their ability to transport me back to the high country.
I highly recommend the Pecos Wilderness and Jack’s Creek. See you there next summer.
We ride out every day at 10 am. One day to a gorgeous lake, one day to a cave, one day to a cabin and one day to an overlook. We have lunch on the trail. The woods were beautiful with grass meadows, wild flowers and vistas always following the Pecos River. We have communal meals followed by campfires with laughter and stories. We have no cell phone service. An afternoon shower can find you curled up with a blanket in the nose of your horse trailer listening to the rain on the roof.
We take a day off and visit the Pecos Monument, the outpost where the Pueblo Indians and the Spanish were attacked 38 times by the Comanches. Then there is the return drive home. You have to empty and clean the trailer so she is ready to roll again. I am blessed that I ride with photographers who have an eye to capture the moment. Late nights I marvel at those photographs and their ability to transport me back to the high country.
I highly recommend the Pecos Wilderness and Jack’s Creek. See you there next summer.