Had a wonderful ride today. We couldn’t remember if all the footing here was sand or if there were some gravel roads, so we put boots on the horses just in case. It turned out to be surplus to requirement, as, indeed, there was only sand and dirt footing, which was perfect. It was also perfect because there were many great places to trot and canter, and the horses seemed to thoroughly enjoy it, especially after some of the rougher terrain we’d seen in recent weeks. We headed out the Palmetto Trail, which transverses all of South Carolina, and which was the only one "officially" open during the week. Apparently, most trails are considered closed on every day except Sunday, in order to prevent conflicts with hunters (who apparently rule the other six days), but rumor has it that as long as you wear your blaze orange and go out in the middle of the day (as opposed to morning or late afternoon). We eventually had to loop back, so we took the Red Trail to do that, and it was a beautiful section of the forest. A lot of this forest has been clear cut, and so it isn’t very pretty, but some sections like this are really gorgeous. We made one wrong turn on an intersection that was poorly marked, but the good news is that there’s one road that goes right down the middle of the forest, so as long as you know which side you’re on, you can always find it. We headed in that direction and soon found our way back. The ride actually ended up being quite a bit longer than we had anticipated (over 15 miles), and the horses were just about done in by the time we got back, but it was fabulous, with perfect weather, perfect footing, perfect horses! Got everyone settled in with extra rations, then relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Had a wonderful ride today. We couldn’t remember if all the footing here was sand or if there were some gravel roads, so we put boots on the horses just in case. It turned out to be surplus to requirement, as, indeed, there was only sand and dirt footing, which was perfect. It was also perfect because there were many great places to trot and canter, and the horses seemed to thoroughly enjoy it, especially after some of the rougher terrain we’d seen in recent weeks. We headed out the Palmetto Trail, which transverses all of South Carolina, and which was the only one "officially" open during the week. Apparently, most trails are considered closed on every day except Sunday, in order to prevent conflicts with hunters (who apparently rule the other six days), but rumor has it that as long as you wear your blaze orange and go out in the middle of the day (as opposed to morning or late afternoon). We eventually had to loop back, so we took the Red Trail to do that, and it was a beautiful section of the forest. A lot of this forest has been clear cut, and so it isn’t very pretty, but some sections like this are really gorgeous. We made one wrong turn on an intersection that was poorly marked, but the good news is that there’s one road that goes right down the middle of the forest, so as long as you know which side you’re on, you can always find it. We headed in that direction and soon found our way back. The ride actually ended up being quite a bit longer than we had anticipated (over 15 miles), and the horses were just about done in by the time we got back, but it was fabulous, with perfect weather, perfect footing, perfect horses! Got everyone settled in with extra rations, then relaxed for the rest of the evening.
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