Muddy Creek Ride

I recently spent a day riding horses in the Muddy Creek Wilderness area in central Utah. 10 horses, 10 riders, and 3 dogs rode back and forth across the Muddy Creek in a beautiful canyon. We made our way to a cabin well over 100 years old and it still had a cast iron stove sitting on the buckling floor with the year 1899 on it. It left my mind full of questions about the people who lived there and the sacrifices they made to live in such a beautiful yet remote place.
About 4-5 hours into the ride our group separated into two groups and we kept our eyes open for the wild horses living in the area. The scenery was beautiful and the terrain rough; the horses worked hard for us. The final few hours of a 10 hour day in the saddle is a little “uncomfortable” and the horses were really tired. We kept getting cliffed-out and finally decided to maneuver down a sketchy drainage off of the plateau. As I led my horse, Laredo, down the steep and loose boulder filled drainage; it was a bit scary. Laredo would begin to lose control of her footing with me standing in front of her. A few tense moments later, we were all safely at the bottom.
When are spirits needed it the most, two wild horses put on a show for us. They ran away down a side canyon and circled in front of us. After watching us for a few moments they ran straight towards us, stopping a couple hundred yards away. My childhood day dreams were being played out in front of me.
Although it was a great day in the saddle, my body has never been so glad to see the truck and trailer. We were all walking a bit funny the next day.