Horsing Around Rancho Oso

Hi Blog! On Sunday, November 17th, we drove up into the hills above Santa Barbara to meet up with our friends, Connie and Karen Stoll.  They were staying at a Thousand Trails campground called Rancho Oso.  Here is the view from the Vista Point above their campground.

After driving into the back of the beyond, we finally found their campground nestled deep in the Santa Ynez Valley.  Rancho Oso is surrounded by the Los Padres National Forest.  The original ranch was part of a land grant by the Governor of Mexico to Jose Dominguez back in 1845.  Since then, the property has passed through several hands before become part of the Thousand Trails, Inc. network of RV resorts.  Here we are walking up to Connie and Karen's rig after parking Great White in the overflow parking area.

After a hearty lunch, we went over to the corrals to saddle up and start our trail ride.  Just as the wranglers were about to begin giving us the do's and don'ts of trails riding, Trevor the rooster began crowing.  Apparently, every time one of the wranglers begin to speak, Trevor joins in.

One by one, we mounted our trusty steeds.  Here is Kathy aboard "Lippy." Now Lippy might seem like a strange name for a horse, until you meet this guy.  He apparently can't keep his mouth shut.

As we began our tour of the ranch, Dave ended up in the front of our pack.  Since he was th eonly one with a camera, he had to take photos over his shoulder as we rode.  Sometimes, his aim was a little off.

As we headed toward the Santa Ynez River, we could see the ocean fog beginning to work its way over the foothills.

Meet Sabrina - our guide.  She learned to ride a horse before she could walk.  Here she is upon TJ, an Arabian mix that she rescued from a cruel horse trainer.

This is one of my favorite shadow photos.

Here is Dave upon his trustee steed - Drifter.

Here are Kathy and Lippy.

Karen rode Chili.

While Connie rode Pepper.

After our ride, we walked around the ranch to meet some of the other residents.  Here, a small deer stops to watch us walk by.

The ranch has a small herd of cattle which are crosses between a Texas Longhorn and Mexican cow.  The result is that, instead of having long horns, they have goal posts.  We just watched the newest member of the herd frolic about.

Here Kathy got a chance to say hello to "Oreo," a miniature stallion - well, at least he was a stallion last week.  According to our wrangler, he is a stallion no more.

After an hour in the saddle, we decided we needed to relax and unwind.  Nothing says relaxing like a good soak in a hot tub!  Here is a rose between two thorns.

We finished our day with a great crockpot dinner.

We had a great time with Connie and Karen and look forward to meeting up again in Temecula.  Until then, Happy Trails!