A 8 hour trail ride — lots of words, but I wanted to get it off my chest.
Last Saturday was a nice sunny day — from time to time a threat of rain — but none came.
Forecast for Sunday was more dire. So, say we — lets ride today instead of tomorrow – Sunday. Mr and Mrs H said they would cut some trees that had fallen over the last quarter mile of trail and return to pick up their trailer. I would travel to Whitney Bay to pick up my trailer. 1 hour spent.
Could have stayed home and re-painted the trailer door!
Take two trailers to the road on the north side of the Island and park them at the entrance gate to a coastal resort. We would ride through the woods from the farm — using logging roads, old homestead roads, and new “Jeep”/”snowmobile” roads — No one but Mr H knew of the chain of roads through 5 miles or so of northern Michigan “forest” but we had faith that he knew the path to take– he assured us, with the tress they cleared from the end of the trail, we would have clear sailing — I mean clear riding.
The trip to deposit the trailers was 4 miles by road. Mrs H. picked us (me and Mr. H. ) up in her truck. One half hour spent. Back to the farm.
First chores — bringing horses to the barn, putting fly spray on them, saddling them, and riding to the trail head — 1/2 hour
Begin the the ride — homestead site and trail
Three horses — one golden colored 16 year old quarter horse “Goldie”, one 6 year old beautiful black Icelandic know phonetically as “Aus Dees”, and one 10 year old Icelandic named “Perla”.
Already 2 hours into the project — 2 more trail hours planned to ride to trailers. Off we go. Clip/Clop on and on through some of the most beautiful forest with wild flowers every where – deer are glimpsed from time to time -all through as series of homestead roads and new logging roads —
Trees, fields, and flowers
then we needed to join up with a set of new “Jeep” roads. What is a jeep made to do — — You got it — see how much mud can be splatter over them — through mud holes that look like rivers — some actuallty flowing — what do horses like to trail through — You got it -nice smooth trails with flowers and grass to munch on
— WOW three hours of splashing through mud hole after mud hole — water up to the cinches , wet feet in the stirrups – hooves slipping and sliding — one hors loves water and wants to lie down in it with rider (me) on it — did that once — feet even wetter — one horse refuses to enter water and needs to be coaxed or lead around through the woods and underbrush. — and one that is unpredictable and tries to brush rider in mud puddle by getting half way thru and turning left or right to brush rider off using trees along the puddle as the “Knock-Off” weapon.
Miles of mud, ponds and rivers to cross
As a result of Mr H’s inexperience with”Jeep” roads after a week of rain — Two hour prediction became 4 hours – with constant “working” at helping the horses deal with the unfriendly environment we put them in — this sport we called trail riding! Mrs H says — worst trail ride ever — and she is an experience trail rider. I said, quit an experience because I am not experienced and thought all trail rides were rides to h_ _ _. — now six hours in the project. Mr. H is saying nothing!
Got through that one!
WOW — there are the trailers — I will not bore you with any details — but here is an overview — we have 3 horses that love to rid in the trailer and go off to a new experence — Well, they want no new experience today — 2 of them refuse to enter — I am sure they think we lead them to a cave at the end of the mud holes (that is what the trailer must look like to their minds) with a bear sleeping in there — ready to wake up and eat them when they enter. So, one hour later — with sweating riders – wet feet – tired bodies we were able to convince all three horses the we had full control of the bears, would protect them from the bears and would have their food awaiting them back at the barn with their buddies.
In addition, I did explain that a 15 minute ride in the trailer was a lot better then that 4 hours ride back to the barn — the only alternative for them and us of course. Whew!!!! they agreed and jumped into the trailer.
Back to farm we go — un-trailer the horses, brush them down, muck out barn — poop from the 4 buddies left behind all day. I think that adds up to about an 8 hour trail ride –completed in what seemed like only 14 hours — I still have muscles that hurt — and a horse that now suspects that all trailers are caves with bears in them!
Finally home on the front porch.
- & thinking of a smile or is it an out-right laugh at our stupidity for planning such a “worst” ride?.
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