Sunday, June 30, 2013

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. 

Sunday, June 23, 2013

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!

Monday, June 17, 2013

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?

Riding in the Hood

On Saturday morning, June 15, Lisa Senecal and I ventured out on her horses.  I was on Doppler (my dream horse) and she was on Takota, her dressage partner.

I have always loved Doppler, since the day he was born.  I have a picture of him in my office when he was one day old.  I have another when he was two at a show.  He is a chestnut and white paint National Show Horse out of Calypso Bay.  He is a big horse with a big trot and plenty of go.  The best part is, he never ever spooks, just as steady as they come.
Doppler - 1 day old
So my dream finally comes true, I get to ride Doppler and I was not disappointed - even if we did stay in the neighborhood.  Takota does not have a lot of trail experience so it was really good for him to get out of the dressage arena and check out things that go "swoosh in the bushes."  He had plenty to look at.  There's one path in our neighborhood that takes you behind a little goat farm. They were so cute, the baby goats, baaaahing for our attention.  Takota did not think it was funny one little bit.  Right next door, they have two mini donkeys which for some reason the horses are deathly afraid of - even when they aren't braying.  This same house also has a herd of sheep which is a little unexpected.  So, Takota nearly had a heart attack coming by all of this but he (and Lisa) managed to survive.

Doppler has a lovely big walk and a lovely big trot.  He feels like he can go all day.  I have always teased Lisa that someday I was just going to show up on her doorstep and "steal" him.  Her husband said she should give him to me, but so far she's holding out.  After all, she says, "He is my only trail horse."  I couldn't be that selfish - LOL. 
Doppler - 2 years old

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Orlando Wetlands Park - Again!

Sunday June 9, 2013 it was just Caren Stauffer and I.  She was on Fancie Pants and I was on - can you believe it - Slim!  Forgot the camera so I don't have any actual pictures of our adventure.

Suffice to say, we had a very good time.  Saw a bunch of gators, a deer, three baby otters and a whole lot of wood storks.  Until that day, I had only seen one and there was a whole flock.
The otters were super cute even though they didn't stick around for long.  Saw the first one slither into the water and then realized there were three of them.  One time, we saw two and they were so fascinated by the horses they stayed and entertained us for a while. 
Well next weekend, we'll see who I'll be riding.  Hold on to your horses....

Palm Bluff, Volusia County

If you've never ridden at Palm Bluff, definitely check it out.  It is located off 415 on the way to Daytona from Geneva (or vice versa).  It's a working cattle ranch so you'll see lots of cows and there are a couple of gates to be opened and closed. 

It's a pretty ride and we usually get in 11 or so miles.  This was my first weekend riding OPH (Other People's Horses) and today's victim was Lisa Dietrich's Arabain Kai.  He is a pistol and tried to get me off during the first few minutes while still at the trailers.  After that he did just fine.  He reminds me of riding a pogo stick - bounce, bounce, bounce.  He does have a lovely canter and since he's small he canters most of the time to keep up. 

Joining us on the ride was Caren Stauffer on Jake, Liz Kanan on Amora and new friend Bob (in the green shirt), and Gayle King on Coup.  Lisa was off to Dog Island so I got her horse! 

There were several places to water the horses and as you can see they were having a good time splashing each other and us!

Stayed tuned for more fun on the trails!

St. Kitts Rainforest



Well I never expected to be writing about my ride in the rainforest, but here I am. I spent last weekend in St Kitts, one of the Leeward Islands in the West Indies, a three hour flight from Miami. The trip was sponsored by the General Practice Solo Small Firm Section of the Florida Bar. I'm not a huge fan of commercial trail rides with hack line horses but good friend and horse lover Susan Kirkconnell wanted to experience the West Indies rainforest from horseback. Since I definitely hate to pass up a possible adventure (and the opportunity to tell another trail ride story) I agreed to tag along.

 We were picked up at our hotel, the St Kitts Marriott by Wilfred of Trinity Stables, one of the few riding facilities on the island. We were joined last minute by Angie and seven year old daughter, Brianna. They were both very excited about the chance to ride so Susan and I knew this would add an element of interest to our ride. Our transportation to the "stables" consisted of an open air, very breezy, seat in the back of Wilfred's pickup. We were told the ride was $75, cash only. Wilfred's strong suit is not making change or remembering how much you gave him so exact change is recommended.

We were introduced to our mounts and our trail guide, Scott, an island resident. Susan had requested English saddles for the two of us. Apparently requests are taken but not necessarily acknowledged. All of the horses sported worn western saddles that had seen more than a few rides. Scott asked each of us about our experience and I was given Gypsy (a gelding despite his girlie name). Susan had Mary (not really a good name for her as you'll soon discover).  Brianna was on Pretty Boy and the remaining two horse's names have already slipped from my fifty something brain.  Scott's horse ponied Brianna's - a questionable choice because he really seemed to be a handful and not suited as a pony horse.

Gypsy was the designated leader and off we went into the rainforest. No need to have any real riding skills as Gypsy knew exactly where he was going and at what speed - fast enough to stay ahead of the other horses but never faster than a walk. The weather in St Kitts is like Florida, if you don't like it wait a few minutes because it is destined to change. It looked like we were in for a major downpour. The top of the mountain was shrouded in mist and the sky was dark and overcast. Much to our surprise we never even got one drop of rain and the cloud cover made the day very enjoyable.

Kitticians (the term for locals) don't share the same view of animals as Americans. In St Kitts an animal must have some sort of utility or it is disposable. We were told there were more monkeys on the island than people. Well you couldn't prove it by me because I only saw one living monkey. On the trail ride i unfortunately saw two vey dead monkeys that looked like their demise was anything but pleasant. They were hung grotesquely tethered between two trees as a warning to the possible fate of other unlucky monkeys who might venture that way.  In addition there were several goat heads mounted on sticks. Very voodoo and very unsettling. I prefer my animals alive and well, living free from human interference except for food, love and affection.

Likewise the dogs we encountered we're either tethered with heavy chains or roaming free, obviously fending for themselves. The females have the additional burden of providing for pups, without the comfort of a regular meal she can count on. The cats were all feral, some with tipped ears indicating either they had been trapped, neutered and released or somehow mutilated. Others had their kittens in tow eating scraps of discarded food or courting the beach bar patrons for leftovers and handouts.

I digress.  Okay, enough about the need for a St Kitts Humane Society and more about our trail ride.  The views from the trail across the village landscape out to the ocean were amazing and well worth the effort.

Once we reached the top of the hill, Scott unlocked a creepy corrugated metal gate giving us access to an area where the local atv attraction was prohibited. We rode down the hill a short way to a dilapidated padlocked shed. I have to admit that my danger radar was on high alert. After the dead monkeys and goat heads, it was all just a little too weird. We dismounted and Scott prepared soft drinks for us - nice touch  Still can't figure out what the paring knife was for unless he brought it  in case we wanted to carve our initials into the shed as evidence we actually survived the ride. 
During our refreshment break, Gypsy and Mary were allowed to roam free.  I was hoping they would be interested enough in the lush hilltop grass not to abandon us miles from the beginning of our journey.

We soon learned that Scott's horse was a fully intact male, a stallion in all his glory. This explains his erratic behavior on the trail. We also quickly discovered that Mary was in heat and very interested in the possibility of a husband (or a quickie). Scott decided to indulge his horse's natural instincts and we all (especially young Brianna) got an up close and personal lesson on where baby horses come from. Sadly, I was dumbstruck and couldn't get my camera out before the deed was done and Miss Mary was no longer the virgin Mary, although I got the impression this might not have been her first trot around the block either.

 And right when we thought we'd had all the excitement we could stand, Scott invited us to follow him down a deserted trail. My imagination was on high alert, conjuring up the next day's headline - Four American Women Missing in the Jungle. Sorry Scott but it  really was a little creepy and strange to be in such a remote place with a total stranger on a randy stallion in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in the ocean, thousands of miles from home, West Indies.

Actually my instincts were dead wrong, thankfully, and he only wanted to show us a really cool banyan tree. Thank you, Jesus.

We made our way back to the horses, remounted and enjoyed the descent down the mountain without further incident. Both the stallion and Mary no worse for the wear and both in a much calmer frame of mind.

Not sure I can top this one any time soon, but stay tuned.