Te Pohue

Friday lunchtime we headed towards Te Pohue. Stopped at Cambridge BP and spent too long talking with Dean who just pulled in at the same time.
We made it to Titiokura Station just before 5 pm. Getting dark and none to warm either!
There was one horse truck that had obviously just arrived as well. They had sussed out the facilities so we set to work and made up our bed and made sure the horses were settled before it got too dark.

Summer was super excited!!!! Trapper just followed and wondered what all the fuss was about.

Later on when it was well and truly dark another truck pulled in and introduced himself as our guide for the weekend.

We headed off to bed and spent the night listening to the wind and rain. Oh dear, what were we in for tomorrow and why were we here?
The morning came and it was surprising warm, no wind and the rain had all gone. Others started arriving in time for breakfast. Its going to be a good day.
The wind picked up so while it was fine it was certainly cool. Everyone was well rugged up in warm jackets etc. The horses were going great. Summer was performing like a well seasoned trekking hack and Trapper was showing Charlie his new 'super boost' method on climbing large hills.
Really nice riding, good variety of terrain, had to watch for Tomo's though and Bush Nettle.
The group was well match, not too big so no real separation happened as it does when you get huge numbers. There was 17 of us in total. We off roaded quite a lot. No need to follow tracks, round and up and down we went. A few people had saddles disappearing over horses necks on some of the down hills. Mine had to have the girth tightened (need a crupper) but stayed mostly where it should.

Summer dislikes filled rolls but does like chocolate crunch

She watches every move I make at times like this.

Just as we made it back to camp it started to drizzle rain. Half an hour later it was absolutely pouring.
The horses got rushed into covers and put in paddocks. Summer and Trapper were separated as Trapper had started his usual rarking up tactics that morning and put Summer through the tape fence. He is an absolute menace in the paddock. No wonder he gets kept on his own.

Dinner was fabulous. What a really nice group of people. Everyone got on fantastically. It stopped raining about 9 pm but the wind got up again during the night.

Amazingly though Sunday too dawned fine with the promise of not too bad a day after all.
Summer was quite reactive when being girthed up. I suspect she was a bit sore from having a very tight girth the day before. She has also zinging and keen to go. I had to have Charlie hold her while I go on and lead her even for a few strides as she threatened to let rip.
We crossed over the highway and spent the day on a neighbouring property. Wild deer, heaps of goats and Tui's singing all over the place.
Simon (our guide) again lead us on a great ride. No tracks, round and up and down some really quite steep places. A Tomo opened up under his horse at one stage and he made a very quick exit and she pulled herself out thankfully. A real heart in mouth moment.
At one stage we were all perched on the side of this horrible steep hill. People up front were going single file as there really wasn't a good track anywhere.
Summer decided to take things into her own hands (hooves) as she was clearly not happy about all the hanging around. She spun sideways and launched us up this vertical bank. I was not ready for it at all and was completely left hanging out the side and back of the saddle. Thinking I was going to bail out as we were going to fall surely, she bounced again, I grabbed the front, yelled out t0 those standing around up front to look out as I had no real control, gave her a kick and hoped for the best,
She seemed quite pleased with herself at the top of the hill. Several people said that they certainly weren't following her example and went a different way round!
It was another day of great riding. I did dismount and lead down a couple of hills as things were quite wet and slippery. Actually everyone did. Amazing how big the skid marks were and how hard the horses were working to keep themselves under control. Just as well we weren't on them.
Trapper needs to learn to go round as well as straight up and down. He is hilariously funny (well he is too me) to watch as he tries to take charge and head down where he thinks he should go. Charlie doesn't think it so good but I have this theory that sometimes in those more difficult places that you just need to trust them, sit still in the middle of your saddle and try not to interfere too much.

Again, just as we made it back to camp it started raining. We put our horses on the float and headed for a final cuppa before leaving.

We got home just on 9 pm. A long weekend but a most enjoyable one. I hope we get to go again.