Time Out in St George, Utah and Reinmakers Equestrian Park

 

Several equestrians recommended wintering in St George, so we opted to spent ten days at Reinmakers Equestrian Park. This stable fills up with horses during the winter months and is very popular (with good reason), so if you want to winter in St George, book early. 

The grounds are huge with more than one arena and round pen. Lots of amenities for horses and boarders and trails you can access off the ranch - although many boarders opt to trailer out to the nicer trails.

The horses are in large corrals with a shade area. They have automatic waterers so they get plenty to drink. The hay they are feeding looks like really good quality. Both horses started dropping weight, so we had to up their feed.

We have water and electric hook-up, but no septic. This is problematic for a longer stay. We are using the bathroom in the barn except at night so our black tank doesn't fill up too quickly. This means if you truly want to winter in St George, you board your horses here and stay elsewhere.

There is lots of shopping and restaurants, although nothing too fancy or out there. Most of the places are chain establishments.

I was able to find a Barnes and Noble as well as an Old Navy, so I am pretty happy. The town is laid out like Roseville - everything is spread out and far away from each other and you use surface streets to get from one place to the next, so it takes a good hour to go shopping anywhere.

I play Pokemon and wanted to take advantage of being in civilization, so I spent Wednesday night at Thunder Mountain Playground. This is a very wonderful playground - with a water play area, a volcano that erupts every 15 minutes, a train ride that costs only a dollar, zip lines, rock climbing, and just lots of fun play areas - all free. There are also tennis courts, a volleyball court, a lovely demonstration garden and walking path.

I stayed until dark and enjoyed watching the children playing. Since I am an old lady, everybody assumed I had a grandchild somewhere in the vicinity so nobody called the cops on me. A little boy ran past me yelling "I am going to play on everything on the way to the car!" as the parents tried to hustle him out of the playground before it was totally dark.  I laughed and told the parents how wonderful it is to have goals.

It was fun to watch how different children moved through the playground. One little boy stepped very carefully as if to feel the squishiness of the rubber mats.  One little girl skipped from one plaything to another. A toddler patted every object with her hands to test how it felt. Several boys ran at top speed, yelling to their friends, racing to their desired play space. 

Ari has been riding Lennox on the local trails every other day. I have been patiently waiting for Mercy's sore to heal on his flank. I don't know if I will be able to ride while we are here, but it is a lovely place to spend a time out before we continue south.

Paria River Ranch - Kanab, UT

 This is our last stop before we take a two week break in St George and then head down into Arizona for the winter months.

Mercy has developed a sore near his cinch and I would like to give him at least a week to heal before riding him, but it looks like he will have to hang in there a few more days before he gets his time off.

The horse corrals are set up in two packs with shade for guests at Paria River Ranch. The owner is currently selling the ranch and there is much consternation in the horse traveler community about the future of this place. It is a popular place to stop and ride. There are water and electric hook-ups for LQs and also small cabins for people who don't have an RV or LQ to stay in. 

We're about 20 minutes from the Arizona border. I drove into Page, Arizona to go grocery shopping at a Walmart (the closest place to shop). It was a little surreal crossing state lines just to go shopping.

Getting ready for our morning ride. 

Temps look to be in the mid-80s, hotter than Bryce Canyon, and the nights are warmer as well.

Our first ride was to Moonrock Canyon - just up the street from the ranch. It's called that because the rock faces are white, like moon rock.

The barefoot trim I gave my horse seems to have done the trick. He seems a lot happier.

On the way back, we had to ride through the Paria River.  Not that much water...it was more like a creek.

The chimney rock looks really cool.

A balanced rock also pretty cool.

Riding desert canyons is a different kind of beauty than riding in forests, but you still get a sense of awe.

Bryce Canyon, Utah

 

You can ride from the rodeo grounds to the rim of Bryce Canyon. We love this ride (did it back in 2003) and the best time of day to do it is sunset or dusk so you can see the rocks change colors.

During the ride I noticed my horse was babying his feet even though the trail was pretty much sand. Twenty years ago, Ari & I took a class on barefoot trimming. The idea was not to replace regular farrier visits. Instead, we wanted to be able to do easy touch ups on our horse's feet when we are traveling so our horses stay healthy. 

We dug out our barefoot trim equipment - a hoof trimming tool and a file.

The way I trim is I take a little off, put the foot down and watch my horse put weight on it. If he licks and chews after he puts weight on it, I know his foot feels better.

Three of my horse's feet had frogs (these are the foot pads) with tears and shredding. So, I cleaned up the pads and shaped his hooves.  I could tell he was a lot happier after his manicure.

I highly recommend learning basic trimming if you keep your horse barefoot as well as taking a classes on how to evacuate your horse in the event of a fire or other emergency and a basic wound care and vet class.  These classes are usually offered at horse expos, but some vet clinics teach these classes as well.

Bryce Canyon, Utah

 

As we were loading up and packing up Miller's Knoll, these cattle came out mooing their farewells.

On our way out of Panguitch, we stopped at Orton's Farm Center for some more hay. This video shows how they loaded the hay on to the top of our trailer so we could get it stowed in the hay pod. Great place to stop for equine supplies!

On our way into Bryce, we decided to stop at the Cassidy Trail and have a ride. We rode this trail back in 2003 on Laertes and Oberon. Back then, the trail was pretty much known only to locals. It was not a developed trail and there was no signage. Local legend is that Butch Cassidy and his gang hid out in a shed at the end of a box canyon while Wyatt Earp and his posse searched them out. Back then, you rode through a dry creek bed until you get to a one room wooden shack where Cassidy and his gang hid out. The shack looks to have been demolished and gone. There are now developed trails and signage.  A little history has disappeared.

There is now a large lot big enough to accommodate our LQ as well as outfitters with stock trailers. The lot is below street level, so if you don't know to look for it, you will drive past it. If you drive through the first arch on the way to Bryce, you have missed it.

The canyon is still pretty and the trail system is well laid out.

This is our second time visiting Bryce Canyon with horses. Our first time was in 2003 with Laertes and Oberon.  Back then, we kept the horses at the rodeo grounds and we stayed at a Hilton across the street. The Hilton is now a Best Western.

The rodeo grounds look pretty much the same.

I had reserved stalls 5 & 6 on-line, but when I got there those stalls were taken. I complained about people taking my reserved stalls and got an earful about how when they came somebody had taken the stalls they reserved, so it was a domino effect.

What would be helpful is if management put cards on reserved stalls so people don't take stalls that have been paid for and reserved.

The rodeo grounds manager, Brady, got us this cute Maverick 2H stock trailer to use while we are here.

In 2003, we parked near the day use corrals used by the outfitters that lead guided trail rides through the canyon. In 2020, we were directed to the Mixing Circle service yard - where they mix the building materials used to maintain the park. This was confusing because there is no signage and when you go down the road there is a sign that says "No Entrance - Service Road". 

However, once we found the lot, it was no problem - plenty of trailer parking.

A ranger met us in the lot to review the health certifications for the horses and to give us this map. This map is very useful and much better than the one provided when you go through the park entrance.

You are supposed to call ahead 72 hours before your arrival. We didn't. 

There is a trail directly from the parking area and you just follow that trail, past the lodge, up to the day use corrals. Once you get to the day use corrals, you have to check in with the guided ride outfitters and figure out when you can continue so you don't clash with any of the guided rides.

We rode the Peek A Boo loop. The views of the canyon were amazing, but this trail is not for anybody who is scared of heights.

It was interesting remembering what it was like riding this trail almost 20 years ago. Back then, we weren't nervous at all. We totally trusted Laertes and Oberon on the trail. If I just moved my butt or head slightly, Laertes would adjust his direction. I didn't even have to touch the reins. On this ride, both Ari and I kept our hands on the reins and paid attention to our horses. Ari has had Lennox for five years now and I have had Mercutio for three years, so while they have come a long way, they still aren't as clued in as our previous riding partners. I guess it will take another five years before we feel totally safe on them.

Miller's Knoll - Panguitch, UT

 Miller's Knoll is a fairly new horse motel about 30 minutes away from Ruby's Inn. This is a better option of a place to stay than the rodeo fairgrounds. There is full hook-up for the trailer, the horses get nice indoor stalls, and the owner has the perfect 3 horse bumper pull trailer for rent so you can visit all the local trails.

The horses have a nice shady cool place to relax between rides.

My horse is spending most of his down time enjoying the views.

The RV sites are pull-through with full hook-up, including septic. There is wifi, but we are using our phones as hot spots as they are almost full bars here.

We ate at the Cowboy Smokehouse BBQ joint in Panguitch (about 15 minutes away). Service was a little slow, but the food was pretty good.

We took our host's trailer to the Coyote Hollow parking area so we could ride in Dixie National Forest.

We rode the Thunder Mountain Trail, the inspiration for the Disneyland ride.

The views from the trail were breathtaking. Overlooking Red Canyon.

If we had known we would be so close to Bryce Canyon and all the trails, I would have opted to stay here longer and skipped Ruby's. Oh well...on to Ruby's tomorrow.