12 Days of Christmas.....
Or was it 12 days of Fun in the Sun? No not "The FITS" (an AERC sanctioned endurance ride) and it was a little early to be my Christmas present... I know! How about a birthday trip? What more could a girl ask for then a wonderful extended trip spent conditioning two of our young distance horses... Well for good measure, throw in warm dry weather, seemingly unlimited sun shine, a great camp site, plenty of wildlife, good friends, perfect trail conditions.... Oh yes most important of all ~ "the most superb" husband who enjoys all of the same things! JSide Note: For those of you who know Gordon... when he read this the first time he added a few things to my good measure list ~ but it did not get past the editors! J
We spent a quiet holiday traveling south on I-95 with our very precious cargo loaded in the back... That would be Gordon's favorite 4 legged horse, Nickleback, Corina's stunt double Ambrosa, and Gordon's other horse~ a beautiful blue Heritage Soft tail. That's a Harley Davidson for those of you strictly in love with the 4 legged breed.
| Friday we arrived at the River Rise Preserve, a section of the O'Leno State Forest specially for the horse lover! The RRP is completely fenced & gated. Only campers & riders with passes or who have paid the camping fee for the day get thru the gate. They offer a lighted horse barn complete with running water, hoses, wheel barrow and fork. A bath house with hot water supplied to his n her restrooms and showers. And the camping area has numerous fire rings, benches, and picnic tables. The trails are well marked and maps are also available. Everything is first come first serve and the park hosts, Mal & Gene who live on site most winters are great people and do a wonderful job of caring for the campsite and making you feel at home. |
 Ambrosa waiting for her bath |
 Pocita & Yoda |
Saturday Ed & Lindsay joined us to ride at River Rise. Sunday we
followed them a few miles to the San Felasco trail system where these first
two pictures were taken. This facility does not offer camping but the
trails are more technical yet well marked. This park also offers
separate mountain bike trails, restrooms, and wash racks for the
horses and the bikes! The weather was so perfect we enjoyed taking the bike for a spin both nights to join Ed & Lindsay for dinner. Even riding back to camp after dark was no problem! |
After the 1000 + mile transport and riding most of the day Saturday and Sunday Nick had the edge off but Ambrosa was tired and slightly confused about her sudden lifestyle change! We took a slow easy ride around River Rise on the boundary and part of the green trail for an hour or so on Monday to let the horses loosen up. Moved our rig to the prime camp site by one of the big fire rings as we now had the whole place to ourselves. Then enjoyed a more extended bike ride exploring the local area.
Gordon's other horse - you know ~the blue one
Tuesday and Wednesday we enjoyed the wildlife and more exploring of the trails at River Rise each day followed up by more exploring on the bike!
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There is plenty of well groomed easy to follow trail. The challenge for our horses was the sand and the temperatures. The sand is not terrible in this area and this shot actually shows one of the deeper sections of sand encountered during our explorations. |
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sand does increase the stress level on the tendons and ligaments but our
horses adapted to moving in the sand very quickly. Ambrosa is not as a
far along in her conditioning as Nick but that provided the opportunity to
enjoy this view rather often!
I did not mind going a bit slower then normal as I am admittedly paranoid about stressing this young girls legs and beside that I wanted her to last 7 or 8 days so even going slow we were asking a lot of her. She was willing and graceful even when tired. She never asked to stop and I believe she showed she can take care of herself. A good quality in a distance horse. |
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This shot is harder to make out but this evening Nick was polite enough to stop so I could try to get a photo of the 4 deer that were standing in the trail looking back at us. The deer are protected inside the park and believe me they must know it! These 4 and the other 6 you can't see standing just inside the tree line stood FROZEN in fear while Ambrosa and I caught up to Nick and then fumbled to get the camera turned on. |
| This is one of the many Cypress gardens you will see through out the park. This area is technically in a draught right now but when water levels are normal these roots are typically viewed growing up thru the water. |
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This moss
covered tree was so dead the mere act of taking this photo sucked the
life out of my camera.
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| Some interesting critter visitors came to enjoy the sun at our campsite ... |
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Thursday
Ambrosa and I rode alone and Nick rested up while Gordon paid some extra
attention to that blue horse.... I don't think Nick minded too bad.
Draught or not there is a lot of water along the trails as compared to around home but there are Gators so no we did not practice any sponging this trip! |
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Friday we made a long day of it in the saddle and packed a lunch and made a
second attempt at the longer trail that crosses 441 into another area of
O'Leno. There was logging going on at this time to harvest some beetle
infested trees and a short section of the yellow trail which is normally a
loop was blocked off. So we were temporarily permitted to ride the
horses across a connecting section of path normally restricted for hikers.
F This tree reminded me of how I feel sometimes when I just can't make up my mind which way to go! |
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Anybody thirsty? Looks like pea soup! |
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Saturday morning we packed up everything we could before taking the bike out
for a couple hour ride and then back to camp for the horses. We
reluctantly hit the road north about 3pm. I don't even think Nick and
Ambrosa really wanted to leave the south!
However when we pulled up to the barn at 2:30 Monday morning it was a very different story. There was no room to doubt that both Nick and Ambrosa knew exactly where they were AND they were very happy to be home!
Somehow the horses did not seem to mind the snow covered ground that greeted them nearly as much as Gordon and I did... BURRR
Before we were even home Gordon started to plan our next adventure. Of course you know I am just kicking and screaming trying to get him to stay home...
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