The Uintas

August 21, 2006
Just spent a couple of days in the Uintas with Sam and the varsity boys from church at Hal McEwan's cabin. He has a great place which was built by his father the year he was born--1930. On Monday we rode horses up to Fish Lake, which was a beautiful trip up the mountain. At the top, a few of us jumped off an old CCC dam into the ice-cold mountain lake. We also saw a herd of 12 mountain goats, including rams and little ones, which was very cool.

I enjoyed the horseback ride. It was up a steep and rocky trail, so it was interesting and you had to pay attention. Several times the trail crossed the fast-moving river, and the horses got skittish and didn't want to do it. And they were all kind enough to canter and trot when the trail was clear and flat--in fact, they seemed to look forward to it.

There is a lot of skill to riding horses that I don't possess. But through my rather limited experience it has struck me that much of it is a leadership challenge. Horses need to know you're in charge and what the expectations are. It helps to have some competence. That's enough to get what you need. But the journey is a lot more pleasant for everyone if you have a caring relationship with the horse. Despite this theory, my butt still hurt at the end of the ride.