It’s been a cold and windy winter here and the thought of riding in water when it’s not 80 degrees out was at first thought, not very appealing. Yet, in southern California we don’t have the opportunity to ride in water — creeks or ponds — like in other places of the country. So on a windy Sunday morning I headed out to ride with a few ladies “in the know” of where a dam had been opened to let some of the water run out into a local “creek.”
The morning started off slowly as my stubborn mare Dollie did not want to get into the trailer. After 15 minutes of longing her near the back of the open trailer, she decided she’d rather get in where she could stand than continue to do circles. With the extra time the trailer loading took, my deadline to be at the destination and in the saddle ready to ride by the designated time was tight.
I figured that if I missed the ladies, I could still use the trailer ride as a lesson for my naughty horse. Plus, this group is usually a few minutes late for the “in the saddle and ready to ride” time anyway. When I arrived, there was a trailer pulling in ahead of me, so I knew I would make the water ride.
I saddled up Dollie and joined a few other women on horseback waiting for the rest of the group to get ready. The friend who had invited me joked that I was the last to arrive and still the first one in the saddle. We all laughed.
As we headed across the dirt full of Joshua trees and tumbleweeds, it was hard to imagine that there was water somewhere nearby. After a short ride on dry land and over a small hill there was a babbling little stream of run-off water as clean and sparking as any mid-west creek I had ridden as a young girl.
We headed our horses down the small embankment and into the water. Dollie loves water. She likes to splash in it, drink it and sometimes tries to lay down in it. We rode up stream for about 2 miles splashing and enjoying the scenery and the company before exiting the water to avoid a man-made waterfall. Back on land we rode through more Joshua trees, saw some pretty sights and some not so pretty — graffiti and trash — before circling back toward the water where we finished the route riding back down stream to the trucks and trailers.
As the ride was coming to its end, I learned that the creek full of water happens only a couple of times a year, and that it’s kept pretty quiet. The reason for my lack of description of the location above. If a lucky rider happens to stumble upon the stream on a ride, she is sure to share it so others can also enjoy it quickly before the spigot is shut off!
