OUR EXTREME DREAM

     Erik rode Izzy for the second time today. It wouldn't be such a big deal except it was on the TRAILS. He had planned on riding her at home several times before this, but unfortunately something always came up. So today, he rolled the dice and went for it.

     We met several firends at the Live Oak entrance of Jennings Forest. Everyone was very excited to see Erik and Izzy on their first trail ride. We decided it would be best to for us to be near the front since that's where I'd normally pony her at. Much to my surprise, Izzy opted to take the lead.

     Izzy's confidence did not last long. A deer or two startled her when they went leaping thru the woods right in front of her. She graciously let Linc take the lead after that.

     Chele on Dawn

     KD on Stylin

     Cathy on Busta

     Linelle on Poca

     Susan on Apache

     Tracey on Tucker

     Mike on Rusty

     Erik on Izzy; Chele on Dawn

     Izzy and Rusty say "Hi" while we rest at the picnic tables.

     Izzy and Erik did really, really well. The bugs were awful up front, poor Izzy is so sensitive to them. She kicked at her belly most of the ride, but she never did offer to buck (unlike Busta, who LOL was throwing mini hissy fits throughout the entire ride). Linc and I tried to help by leading them through the brush, on and off of the trails. This at least gave her some relief for a few minutes.

     All in all, it was a fabulous day. We rode around 3+ hours. Izzy had a few episodes, but there were no land purchases. You can't ask for much more than that.

     HERE are the rest of the pics.

     On Saturday Cory and I rode with Chele, Marilyn, and Traci K. at Shangri-La in Ocala, FL. It's part Greenway trail system. We made the trip to take our chances in a Poker Ride to benefit a local trail riding group.

     We followed the red trail loop on our first trip out.  It was a short ride, only about an hour and a half.  Upon returning to the trailhead, we took a short break and drew our poker hand.   Unfortunately, none of us had the winning hand.  No worries though.  Our real reason for coming was to explore new trails.

     We tried to hit every trail in Shangri-La area. We rode blue, yellow, red, one color we're not sure of, and green (our favorite).  We rode all the way to some hard road, up and over hills, down little valleys, and through some VERY close trees. There were some narrow trails through places that looked like a jungle.  There were areas where tall tress blocked the sun and made it appear almost cloudy out. We rode past many large rocks with and without trees growing out of the top that made the some of the horses spook. Let's just say the place was amazing!

     We would definitely call this an advanced trail ride. There were no passengers today. We really had to pay attention and actively ride our horses almost the entire time. Cory rode it like a trooper and hung in through the whole ride, which was about 4 hours all together. It was the most advanced ride she has been so far. She and Beauty have become fabulous partners.  They have no fear of trotting off and/or picking on Mommy and Linc.  Go Cory!

     All and all, we would like to say it was well worth the drive to Ocala. It is a very nice place to ride and hopefully will allow camping again very soon so you can hang out over night and relax. YEE-HAW!

     My friend, Crystal Emery, and I went riding at the Equestrian Center with Tanya and Chele today. It was Emery's first time in many, many years on a horse.

     We first headed to the gazebo. We were still curious why it was in the middle of nowhere. Come to find out, it's not. We passed two car loads of people along the way. LOL, they were obliviously from the inner city and were very surprised to see us. We decided to find out where they came from by following their tire tracks. They took us all the way to FCCJ. From FCCJ, we picked a "new to us trail" and found the lake Susan that told us about last weekend. Then, we headed out another trail and wound up on the main drag.

     The trails at the EC are nice, but I have to admit it's not my favorite place. The majority of the rodes are paved. This is great for cyclists (which we saw lots of) but not so much for horses. I am hopeful though. There was a crew of loggers clearing areas while we were there (horses did well with all of that). Maybe they will leave the new roads unpaved???

     Tanya lead us out on her new horse, Genny.  Emery followed on Rocky.

     Here's a nice pic of Tanya and Genny

     After our ride, you know we had to check out the EC.  There's just so much to play on there.

     Tanya opted to bathe Genny in the new washrack instead of playing.

     Of course, we had to get a pic with the EC horse.  Now you have to understand that Rocky is a horse who likes to work.  I honestly think he is bored with pics (they're not part of his contract).  These are the best we could do.

     HERE are just a few more.

     Susan, Jeannie, Chele, and I checked out the new trails at the Jacksonville Equestrian Center today.

     When you first head out, the roads are paved (for walkers and bikes) with some grassy areas on the sides.  One of the first side trails we went down had a lovely gazebo on it.  It seemed like it was in an odd place, but ???  I took a moment to take a few pics while we were admiring it.

     Susan and Apahce

     Jeannie and her new horse, Sheban

     Chele and Ranger

     At one intersection, we had to laugh at Ranger and Linc.  They are such good buddies, and Ranger instisted on aggrevating poor Linc.  LMAO, he kept trying to remove his bridle (and dummy just lets him).

     EC trails are located on old military land.  Along many of them, we saw bunkers just like the one below.  Jeannie and Susan were having a ball trying to figure out what the were for and visualizing secret tunnels.

     There were also storage type buildings as well.  We had to sieze the training opportunity at this one and play on the ramp.

     We rode for about 2 hours or so and headed back to the trailer.  There are many miles left to splore another day.  Chele and I ate our lunch, and then decided to plunder around the EC.

     It was the perfect time to walk thru the barns since they were empty.  LOL, Linc has had too much time off and was not really thrilled with that idea.  This is his "Are you sure?' pic.

     It literally took us 30 minutes to get down the first barn.  We would go 2 steps forward and 1 step back the whole way.  Garbage cans were scary things.  I was ready to chicken choke him, but I kept my cool.

     We eventually made it thru all of the barns.  Next, we worked on curbs with Ranger.  He wasn't so sure about them at first but was a champ at the end.

   Got to pose with the horse.

     I sure do LOVE my boy!

     HERE are all of the pics.

     What a fabulous day!  After several weeks off, I finally got to ride.  Cory, my niece (Melody), and I met some friends Thomas Creek in Callahan.  These are some newer trails so it felt like we were sploring.

     Denise on her new horse, Ace, and Melody on Rocky

     Robbie on Ramsey

     Liz on Monarch

     Cory and Melody trotted much of the ride.  It makes my heart happy to see Cory on her pony.  They are true partners when she's relaxed and not worrying so much. 

     Me (who's still working on those fat arms) and Linc (who's worried about his buddies leaving him)

     Cory is a superb trail boss!

     HERE are a few more pics.

I met Chele, Liz, Robbie, and Jamie at Diamond D this morning.  We were trying to beat the heat, but it didn't work very well.  Summer is definitely here.  Linc was excellent today.  I think he enjoyed being back out in the woods.  I really have missed riding him.

HERE are the rest of the pics.

     This made me laugh out loud, so I had to share it with y'all:

     We covered both horses with a ton of fly spray and 40 percent deet as I noticed a few yellow flies at the parking lot but they are expected at this time of year. This is yellow fly mating season till mid June.

     We rode in aways and we had the expected number of flies. As we got close to the water the yellow flies picked up so Mustang cut us a branch for swattin which only helped slightly. All of a sudden we were swarmed like one of those bee swarms that you see on TV in those extreme animal attack programs. Both horses were freaking out and if we did not have those riding masks on we probably would have gotten thrown. There are no maps for Cedar Point which is real close to Pumpkin Hill so we had no idea where we were or how to get back to the trailer. I over heard one of the flies say something to his buddy about there not being any witnesses to see us drug off into the woods and eaten alive. It was at that point that we hauled butt to try to out run them. Cedar Point has tree roots every where so cantering or running for your life is pretty much out of the question. Let's just say we were doing Endurance training and testing our balance as we were still swatting with the tree branch while extended trotting out of there. Mustang just let Linc decide how to get back. Heck we were just hanging on for dear life and swinging that tree branch trying not to get eaten.

     The yellow flies must have been eating their Weaties as they were keeping up with us. I'm not sure how long or far that we did our extended trot but I got blisters on the inside of my leg from my new saddle. We made it back to the fence line where ya ride into Cedar Point. We had lost most of the flies some wheres along the way so we were able to walk back to the trailer from there. I'm glad as Linc and Ranger where tired. So much for a nice relaxing early Saturday morning short ride. Heck I would call that a workout. GEEZ??.