The day is finally here. For weeks my husband and I have been working non-stop to get everything packed and ready to begin our "Year of the Horse." After taking several extended horse trips during 2009, we decided to go "full-time" this year. We are ready to go anywhere, pursuing the simple goals of work and weather. As consultants and facilitators, our work could take us anywhere in the country, and having spent so many years where the winters are cold, we decided to seek out 60-70 degree daytime temps, whereever they may be.
Having secured six-month passports so that our horses could travel across many state lines without further certification, we left our Tennessee mountaintop home. I drive the RV trailer, Hubby drives the horse trailer. After several stops along the way (to pick up propane, some parts for the RV to repair a mouse-chewed water pipe, and, of course, gas along the way), we arrived at our first overnight stop, the Hard Labor State Park in Rutledge, GA, east of Atlanta along I-20. Easy to get to, well-marked, we arrived just after 5:00. We went straight to the campground only to discover we needed to go to another part of the park, to the Trading Post, in order to register. On our way out, we stopped a man (James) in an official looking cart who told us the Trading Post was closed at 5:00, but just to find a spot we liked and settle in, we could take care of it in the morning, so that's what we did.
The first sign we saw said "No Horses in Campground", an ominous beginning for horse campers, however next to the parking area there was an arena and a series of stables, all thoroughly locked, both gate and stalls. James came to the rescue, unlocking everything for us, so we unloaded the horses, found them stalls, and fed and watered them. No troughs in the stalls so we used our own large bins. No hay racks either, so we just threw the hay on the ground for now, figured we could get the hay bags out later. Once done, James was right behind us to lock every up again.
Had a great night sleep (we were both exhausted after our long weeks of preparation), woke up about 12 hours later, listening to the continuing sound of rain, as it had rained all night. We were glad the horses had been under cover, though usually we would just put them in the trailer on stormy nights. We were looking forward to a day off to rest on the morrow!
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