Heaven's First Ride - Checking out Chuluota!

Heaven came home yesterday and today (yes, today) we took her out for her first trail ride.  She settled in as soon as I got her to the house so no better time than today (since I have to go back to work tomorrow) to try her out! 

 She did so great.  She was not spooky (at least not a lot, if the other horses jumped, she jumped).  She was a little afraid of one of the neighbor's dogs but he was acting crazy.  She didn't know he had an invisible fence collar and wasn't going to eat her. 

We rode through the Chuluota Wilderness - the dry parts - and then out onto the Lee Ranch (now Charles Bronson State Forest).  Always a great place to ride and today was no exception.  We didn't ride far, but we had a great time.

Heaven even took the lead at a fast trot on the way back.  So, it was me on Heaven, Caren on Slim, Gayle on Coup - who is headed to training for a month at Mary Nords - and Lisa on Charm (affectionately referred to as Trouble). 

Everyone is taking off to different destinations for the 4th - Have a great  Fourth of July - but at least Caren and I will be hitting the trails. 

When it's wet, ride the Wetlands!

The best place to ride when Central Florida trails are wet is ironically, the Orlando Wetlands Park.  The Park has miles of raised, dry, sandy trails. 

Today's ride featured me on Slim, Caren Stauffer on Jake (aka Tatum), Lisa Dietrich on Kai and newcomer, Stacy Brabanec on Chili.  We didn't ride far, but we had a great time.  Saw a lot of birds, a few gators and yes (unfortunately), the spiders are busy building their webs for unsuspecting riders!  Yuk, yuk and yuk. 

We splashed in the water.  We chatted with hikers.  We avoided the camera buffs.  We had a great time.  And, we were home before 11 a.m. - still had plenty of time for weekend chores before we head off to work tomorrow! 

See you next time, happy trails!

Little Big Econ - a Lot Buggy

Sunday June 16, we met at 8:30 a.m. at Little Big Econ.  I was riding Slim (again, yeah!), Caren was riding Jake (a/k/a Tatum because of his cute butt), Gayle got Honda out of storage and Liz was on Amora.

We had a great ride but it was very very buggy.  Usually we are fighting deer fly at LBE but today it was mosquitos the size of small birds.  They were everywhere.  Still, we tried to do enough trotting to keep ahead of them and enjoyed a few moments of splashing down at the river.  The river is really high due to all of the recent rain so Jake (also known as Water Bug) was having a terrific time.  Slim lost a shoe on the way out - we never noticed until we found it on the way back, but he never missed a beat. 

Splashing at the River

I thought Caren and I were going to look at horses in the afternoon but it wasn't meant to be. Maybe next weekend.  I did actually get approved for adoption by the Horse Protection Association of Florida. 

They have a lot of gorgeous, large Thoroughbreds they are trying to place in forever homes.  Not sure I want a Thoroughbred but I'm willing to look.

Mac - Available for Adoption HPAF.org

If anyone has a lead on a good solid, forward moving trail horse that is paint, pinto, buckskin or chocolate palomino definitely give me a call. 

Posing for a picture - Where's Liz?