Set the alarm so we would be up earlier enough for an extra long ride today, as we get ourselves in shape for our what we hope will be a grand horseback riding vacation in Costa Rica in a few months, if all works out. Still had a few delays, but managed to get out about 11:30 or so, heading out to the long loop across the road on the Yellow Trail. Apollo was plodding along while we were on the same old trail, but started to get interested when we crossed the road to a new trail. He just hates to go on the same trail twice! Having learned our lesson that the trails are only marked going in one direction, we followed the yellow markers religiously, only once did we think we might get turned around, because a road we were on didn’t seem to be on the map we had. We kept following the diamonds though, and were rewarded with landmarks that proved we were still on the map. The only problem with riding in a well-managed Florida forest is that after a while it all starts to look the same, evenly spaced pine trees with scrub palms all around. We only had one short area of old growth forest, which is much more attractive to us, and it was on the trail we thought we might have gotten wrong. On the farthest loop north we did have an encounter with a family of feral pigs that were rooting up the trail we were on. We had seen signs throughout the forest, but this was the first time we actually saw them. Of course, the horses knew they were around before we did, and I had to get down and lead Apollo for a bit to settle him down. There was a big black mama pig and a bunch of multi-colored baby pigs, including one black and white pinto pig that was so cute! When they saw us coming they all scooted away, which made the horses snort even more. After we stopped for our lunch break, we ran across another family of pigs, and the horses snorted and froze again, but this time they kept going with some urging from us. I supposed if we ran into pigs every day they’d eventually get used to them, but for now they appear to be great horse-eating monsters to our guys, so we just have to be patient. A great ride, a lot of walking and jogging, with a few great canters, got back to camp about 4:30, to find it just the way we like it... empty! Everyone had left and we had the place to ourselves, which frankly, after so many weeks parked at stables and busy camps and people’s back yards, it was wonderful. What can I say, Hubby and I are loners for the most part! Weather is supposed to be pretty cold tonight, and even colder tomorrow night, down near 20 degrees, not exactly what we came to Florida for, but it’s only going to last a day or two, be back in the 70’s by the weekend. Found some hay nearby, and have made arrangements to pick some up on our way out on Thursday. Too cold to ride tomorrow, but have a bunch of work to get caught up on anyway.
Set the alarm so we would be up earlier enough for an extra long ride today, as we get ourselves in shape for our what we hope will be a grand horseback riding vacation in Costa Rica in a few months, if all works out. Still had a few delays, but managed to get out about 11:30 or so, heading out to the long loop across the road on the Yellow Trail. Apollo was plodding along while we were on the same old trail, but started to get interested when we crossed the road to a new trail. He just hates to go on the same trail twice! Having learned our lesson that the trails are only marked going in one direction, we followed the yellow markers religiously, only once did we think we might get turned around, because a road we were on didn’t seem to be on the map we had. We kept following the diamonds though, and were rewarded with landmarks that proved we were still on the map. The only problem with riding in a well-managed Florida forest is that after a while it all starts to look the same, evenly spaced pine trees with scrub palms all around. We only had one short area of old growth forest, which is much more attractive to us, and it was on the trail we thought we might have gotten wrong. On the farthest loop north we did have an encounter with a family of feral pigs that were rooting up the trail we were on. We had seen signs throughout the forest, but this was the first time we actually saw them. Of course, the horses knew they were around before we did, and I had to get down and lead Apollo for a bit to settle him down. There was a big black mama pig and a bunch of multi-colored baby pigs, including one black and white pinto pig that was so cute! When they saw us coming they all scooted away, which made the horses snort even more. After we stopped for our lunch break, we ran across another family of pigs, and the horses snorted and froze again, but this time they kept going with some urging from us. I supposed if we ran into pigs every day they’d eventually get used to them, but for now they appear to be great horse-eating monsters to our guys, so we just have to be patient. A great ride, a lot of walking and jogging, with a few great canters, got back to camp about 4:30, to find it just the way we like it... empty! Everyone had left and we had the place to ourselves, which frankly, after so many weeks parked at stables and busy camps and people’s back yards, it was wonderful. What can I say, Hubby and I are loners for the most part! Weather is supposed to be pretty cold tonight, and even colder tomorrow night, down near 20 degrees, not exactly what we came to Florida for, but it’s only going to last a day or two, be back in the 70’s by the weekend. Found some hay nearby, and have made arrangements to pick some up on our way out on Thursday. Too cold to ride tomorrow, but have a bunch of work to get caught up on anyway.
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