Antelope Island Ride

Since the weather was so lovely here this weekend, D and I decided to take the horses up to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake for a ride on Sunday morning.  It was a gorgeous, 65-degree day with lots of sun and a light wind.  The island itself rises from the flats of the Great Salt Lake to just over 1000 feet in elevation at the peaks and all the humidity from the water makes the vistas seem to shimmer in the distance.  Here's a view looking out towards Salt Lake City itself (towards the east).

We decided on an 8-mile or so loop that would let the horses stretch their legs a bit, although they were hot when we first started out, as we were on the side of the island protected from the wind and they already have their winter coats on.  They picked up the pace once we reached the top of the rise and were able to feel the nice breeze coming in out of the northwest.  The rock formations on the island are really interesting, since the island was part of the bottom of the large Lake Bonneville.  There are some of the oldest and youngest types of rock found in the state on the island.

Another fun feature of the island is that they have a bison herd who live year-round out there.  Bison aren't creatures you should treat lightly.  They sorta look like cows, but they certainly don't act like them.  When we reached the upper portion of the trail, we turned toward the northeast, and were able to see the trail winding out through a large portion of the herd.  I was a bit nervous about going through the group because A) bison are big and can get testy and B) Digg is NOT cowy, so I wasn't sure how he would do with things that sorta look like cows.  The herd was spread out on both sides of the trail, so the horses had to move in between the two halves of the large group. 

I was VERY proud of Digg, however.  He was a little bit nervous when he caught their scent on the wind and realized they were moving around (albeit slowly while they grazed).  As we came up within about 25 feet, several of the larger, older cows moved out of the trail and out into the grass, which seemed to reassure Digg a bit that he could move them away from him (like we practiced with the cow next door), but some of the younger bison stood in the trail and faced us while they figured out what we were.  Being on horses usually makes other grazing animals more comfortable than if you are on foot as a human - they may not understand why the horse looks so odd (with the rider on them), but they can tell this is another herbivore, and it often means they won't bolt away from you.  We rode slowly into the midst of the group and as the older cows moved away, the young ones eventually decided they should do that too, and cleared the trail for us.

Digg danced a little when some of the youngsters kicked up their heels as they moved away from us, but he walked nicely for me through the herd and only after we were 100 yards or so away, did I let him trot out to burn off some of his anxiety stress.  We rode up to the top of a slightly higher rise, and Digg wanted to turn around and check to be sure we weren't being followed.  Once he was sure all was clear, he gave the herd a little snort....just to put them in their place, and then he followed Hap out as we turned turned northwest towards the trailhead.

On the rest of the ride back, we saw a few more large bison bulls out on their own - usually standing in the shade or napping while they digested their breakfast - and several antelopes who sprang away through the tall grass in front of us.

The horses did great and we have plans to go back next month and ride the longer 11-mile trail that runs along the eastern coast of the island down to the ranch at the southern tip.

All for now....

Comments

[Carol]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing this. Seems Digg is one fine horse. Look forward to more adventures!

[Cathy]

Ohhh... I have wanted to ride at AI for 25 yrs. It is amazing. Dan O'Brien got some of his bison from the AI herd (read his book Buffalo for the Broken Heart)

I am presently bison down with fawn alpaca - carded it together yesterday on a whim and it is so wonderful.

Think I need a bison meal for dinner...

:-)

[Cathy]

That should be "spinning bison down". Tho, you never know.

More pictures of AI?

[minnie]

i never did much horse riding as a kid, although my dad did own horses for a few years (he always had tall horses, and i'm very short, lol). this, however, makes me wanna ride. i can recall riding trail horses at a local state park in girl scouts as a child (these horses were on auto pilot, and the "trail boss" told us the horses would take care of everything, lol), and i did enjoy the novelty of being taller than all the adults who were on the ground, lol

[Birdsong]

What an amazing place! I keep learning so much about Utah from you grrls... this is one I would like to return and visit - and bison up close. You are wise to be cautious.