Saturday, September 17, 2011

The Trail Ride

Here's "my" horse Annie.

The woods were quite beautiful and would be STUNNING in October when all the leaves have changed color. This picture also shows Annie leading which was a major milestone as she is a true follower!

This picture shows why Grandma got a smaller horse!

I debated with Fred and Betsy what to call this post. I thought about entitling it "My IN-Laws Just Tried to Kill Me," or "Death by Trail Ride." They said I should call it "We Told You to Get Off the Horse," or "Isn't This So Much Fun?"

We started out Friday morning and drove almost three hours down to the campground in southern Indiana. After getting settled, we went for a "short" ride. The horses did great even though we went up and down some large hills AND a deer jumped across the path in front of us.

The night was interesting as none of the horses liked the horse behind them and didn't sleep most of the time. Annie laid down and her head hung out the stall (normal stalls being much too small for such large horses). Every time she lifted her head she hit the gate. How do I know? Because I was sleeping in the truck and could see through the windshield! F and B slept in the trailer on a deflated air mattress.

The next day we rode for seven hours--that was the killer part. Not only were the horses, who normally stand out in the field and eat all day, dying, but their riders were quite sore too! It was quite interesting to see all the different horses and riders out on the trail. (This is the largest ride with over 220 horses there.)

That night was the auction and dance. Although I attended neither I can attest they lasted well into the night!

Thanks for taking me F and B. It was an experience that will not be soon forgotten!

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