Had an excellent night sleep for a change, then oatmeal for breakfast to compensate for all the extra calories we had for dinner last night! Early in the afternoon, my brother and I saddled up for our Sunday ride, a habit we formed last year and are continuing to this year. We decided to cross over the canal to Hungryland, which, despite the fact he’s lived here for over 15 years, he’s never been to before. The horses were excellent, with only a slight hesitation before going down the steep incline, and climbing up again. I showed my brother, who is really in to the flora and fauna of the area, a skeleton of a fish that we had passed several times before, and which I was sure was a piranha, even though they’re not native here (there are lots of stories about folks letting them loose in the Everglades, though it sounds like just another urban myth, like alligators in the sewers of NYC). When I first described it he thought it might be an alligator gar, but they are long a thing, and this thing had a blunt nose and huge teeth. When he saw it, he agreed it wasn’t a gar, and couldn’t think of anything else other than a piranha, though he’ll be more convinced when he looks it up on the internet (which I’m sure he’ll do at some point). Anyway, we headed out the Indiantown Trail out to the pavilion, where he checked out the old stockade area of the former cattle ranch that this was. We had run into a ranger on the way in, and he was telling us about the history of the place, and suggesting some other places to ride on the other end of the WMA. After a bit, we headed further west on the main trail, but then we reached a spot the horses got a bit stubborn about, probably because they could smell pigs, but also, I think it was because we’d done the trail before, and they get bored easily and didn’t want to do it again. Clio finally headed down a trail to the south, and Apollo and I followed out of curiosity. I was a bit concerned we’d run into too much swamp, but we could always turn back if it got too bad. Well after a bit, we did reach a small water hazard, but there were clear tire tracks of a recent vehicle passing this way, so we took the plunge and went through. Fortunately, it wasn’t even knee high, and the bottom seemed quite firm, so we plowed ahead. It seems most of the bottoms here are pretty firm sand with just a bit of sediment on top, but that’s in the well-traveled areas. I’m not taking risks off the trail. Anyway, we continued to follow the tracks, even when it started getting more water on the trail. Clio was being brilliant, without the slightest hesitation, even when the water got higher. We never quite reached chest high, but almost. Eventually I could hear a noise of machinery, sounding like a generator one of my brother’s neighbors had been running for the past few days, so I realized we were probably on the same trail Hubby and I had taken yesterday, the one where we stopped because of the water hazard. Once we reached the end of the water, I confirmed it was the same trail, which was perfect because it headed us home. As we were getting closer to the main road, my eagle-eyed brother spotted what looked like an eagle’s nest at the top of a dead tree, and just as he was pointing it out to me, we saw a very large bird flying towards the next, carrying a snake, probably about 4 foot long. Amazing! I guess he or she had babies to feed! We watched for a little while, then kept moving back to the road, where we had to go around a gate. We were less than 100 feet from the entrance of the park, so we were home in no time after that, once again crossing the canal with no problem. Old hat for these guys now! It was a great ride, and I can’t wait to search out some other areas, though Hubby said he was ready to trailer the horses out to Dupuis or Riverside this week, when we have time. Got lots to do this week! We had a nice dinner, watched a few programs while we recorded the Super Bowl, than zipped through that play by play (as is our habit with football... Sorry, but we really detest commercials), before heading off to bed.
Had an excellent night sleep for a change, then oatmeal for breakfast to compensate for all the extra calories we had for dinner last night! Early in the afternoon, my brother and I saddled up for our Sunday ride, a habit we formed last year and are continuing to this year. We decided to cross over the canal to Hungryland, which, despite the fact he’s lived here for over 15 years, he’s never been to before. The horses were excellent, with only a slight hesitation before going down the steep incline, and climbing up again. I showed my brother, who is really in to the flora and fauna of the area, a skeleton of a fish that we had passed several times before, and which I was sure was a piranha, even though they’re not native here (there are lots of stories about folks letting them loose in the Everglades, though it sounds like just another urban myth, like alligators in the sewers of NYC). When I first described it he thought it might be an alligator gar, but they are long a thing, and this thing had a blunt nose and huge teeth. When he saw it, he agreed it wasn’t a gar, and couldn’t think of anything else other than a piranha, though he’ll be more convinced when he looks it up on the internet (which I’m sure he’ll do at some point). Anyway, we headed out the Indiantown Trail out to the pavilion, where he checked out the old stockade area of the former cattle ranch that this was. We had run into a ranger on the way in, and he was telling us about the history of the place, and suggesting some other places to ride on the other end of the WMA. After a bit, we headed further west on the main trail, but then we reached a spot the horses got a bit stubborn about, probably because they could smell pigs, but also, I think it was because we’d done the trail before, and they get bored easily and didn’t want to do it again. Clio finally headed down a trail to the south, and Apollo and I followed out of curiosity. I was a bit concerned we’d run into too much swamp, but we could always turn back if it got too bad. Well after a bit, we did reach a small water hazard, but there were clear tire tracks of a recent vehicle passing this way, so we took the plunge and went through. Fortunately, it wasn’t even knee high, and the bottom seemed quite firm, so we plowed ahead. It seems most of the bottoms here are pretty firm sand with just a bit of sediment on top, but that’s in the well-traveled areas. I’m not taking risks off the trail. Anyway, we continued to follow the tracks, even when it started getting more water on the trail. Clio was being brilliant, without the slightest hesitation, even when the water got higher. We never quite reached chest high, but almost. Eventually I could hear a noise of machinery, sounding like a generator one of my brother’s neighbors had been running for the past few days, so I realized we were probably on the same trail Hubby and I had taken yesterday, the one where we stopped because of the water hazard. Once we reached the end of the water, I confirmed it was the same trail, which was perfect because it headed us home. As we were getting closer to the main road, my eagle-eyed brother spotted what looked like an eagle’s nest at the top of a dead tree, and just as he was pointing it out to me, we saw a very large bird flying towards the next, carrying a snake, probably about 4 foot long. Amazing! I guess he or she had babies to feed! We watched for a little while, then kept moving back to the road, where we had to go around a gate. We were less than 100 feet from the entrance of the park, so we were home in no time after that, once again crossing the canal with no problem. Old hat for these guys now! It was a great ride, and I can’t wait to search out some other areas, though Hubby said he was ready to trailer the horses out to Dupuis or Riverside this week, when we have time. Got lots to do this week! We had a nice dinner, watched a few programs while we recorded the Super Bowl, than zipped through that play by play (as is our habit with football... Sorry, but we really detest commercials), before heading off to bed.
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