My riding buds and I went on our first "official" horse camping trip of the fall/winter season. We were like little kids getting ready to go to summer camp! This was a place that we had never ridden before and was for a good cause as well. We went to Rock Springs Run State Reserve for a fundraising trail ride for the Children's Miracle Network.
Although the charity ride was just for Saturday, we went down on Friday to set up camp and scout out the trails. The camping was primitive (just no electric sites) but they had a nice bath house and a barn for those who got there early enough. We didn't, but we were able to set up around a nice oak tree and high tie the horses.
It was a 2-1/2 hour drive door to door, so that's not bad at all. We do that occasionally for a day ride. The trails were fun...not too much different from those at home, but we did have a little excitement. I saw my first black bear on the trail. We've always seen a lot of scat when riding in Central Florida, but never the actual live animal. Cathy and I had split off from Marilyn and Mustang and were riding a parallel trail where we could just see their heads bobbing above the brush. We heard Mustang give a squeal and wondered what she had seen or stepped in. About that time we hear the movement in the brush between us...thinking it was just an armadillo or something small. The noise continues and the bushes start moving...way bigger than an armadillo. Now Cathy and I are getting a little nervous because we had seen a lot of hog sign. We think some pigs are about to crash into the trail so we start hollering "go away.... get back....shooo". It didn't work, but it did divert the beautiful young black bear from running right into us. He crossed about 20 feet ahead of us and kept gettin' it across a big field of brush and palmettos. Our ponies were champs; they didn't even care. It made my whole weekend seeing that critter and made me appreciate what I get to do with my friends and horses even more. I am truly blessed.
As you can see by the picture above, Cathy rode my other horse Dixie for the weekend because her big guy Busta is still lame. My 25 yr old Appy is still going strong - I was very proud of her. She's only been camping twice before.
Here's a bunch of PICTURES that Mustang took during the weekend .... enjoy!
