Saturday, February 27, 2010- Great long ride in Davy Crockett NF

Set out to follow the Orange Trail today, expecting to ride out for two hours then ride back. After about the first hour, though, we came across a section where it was like a swamp for more than a quarter mile, knee deep with no way around. Hubby tried to get around one section and ended up up to his knees in mud as his mare sank into the mire. He managed to get her back on the trail, and we almost turned around at that point, but finally we broke through to higher ground, and had quite a few miles that were dry or almost dry. We decided we didn’t want to go back that way, so we were committed to doing the entire Orange Trail, a loop that was more than 18 miles long. At least it was mostly flat, which made it a lot easier than Kisatchie’s 20 miles last Saturday, so the horses (and we) didn’t get nearly as tired. I’m certain that with a few weeks of dry weather, this would be a truly magnificent trail ride. Arrived back about 5:30, washed off the mud, gave the horses a good portion of oats and hay, then finally crashed for the evening. A fantastic day!