Two Mule Club Rides!

On April 9th we converged on H. Cooper Black for our Annual ride there! We had a good group with two wagons on Saturday! Marty with his mule Deb and a nice new wagon and Jason with his new horse and wagon. Prince is a huge draft horse with a black and white paint coat. He impressed us all by seeming to be bothered by nothing and was strong and steady in pulling his wagon!
We headed in a little early on Saturday because the sky was starting to look like there might be some Thunderstorms coming. We got in was able to wash off the mules, get a shower ourselves and rest a little before dinner. Stacey once again pulled off a wonderful dinner and desert! She is the next Paula Dean! Then the Thunderstorms came in. I was glad that I had fed and checked my mules for the night! That night we have two other storms blow through. One brought some hail which was extra loud on the trailer roof. We were lucky that there was no damage to anyone's vehicles.
Sunday morning was bright and pretty! Chelsea decided she wanted to ride Sadie Mae so she helped me groom and tack her up! We had a little smaller group and the ride went a little slower as all the mules where not as sharp from yesterdays ride. We all relaxed and enjoyed the day.
Photo of: Sadie Mae on top of Mule Killer hill in Uwharrie National Forest!
The next ride was Uwharrie. I once again pulled in late in the evening. I was told by a friendly lady the next morning that the horse guys at her camp fire was were taking bets on if I was going to be able to back the rig into the parking space. I had, what I call, "A Good Backing Day" and swung it right in! The next morning I got Sadie all ready to go and began talking to some of the ladies in the camp that were interested in mules! One of the ladies and I figured out we had met at Leatherwood a few years ago too!
We headed out with almost 30 mules for a nice ride! The weather was nearly perfect. Cool in the woods and warm in the sun! I wish it could stay like this all summer! Sadie Mae never took a bad step all day! I sat back and relaxed as we rode along! We rode to Badin Lake and then to "The Rocks" before heading in. We arrived about 5Pm. Many of us let the mules graze along in the camp ground after having a bath. They hopped around in their hobbles and enjoyed the green Spring grass! Our Board meeeting went well and the deserts afterward were very good!
Sunday AM found the camp in a cool Fog that burned off as the morning sun came up. We took our time getting the mules ready and partly packing up so that when we returned it would be faster to pull out. We rode out about 10:30 after Church! It was another nice day for riding and although we said we wanted to be back around 3pm we ended up staying out longer because it was such a nice day. Sadie was tired but kept going and even picked up her pace on the way home!

Chelsea riding Sadie on Sunday, Shannon and Seven on top of the biggest hill at H. Cooper Black with Teddy Royal riding Leon.