Went riding......

Two of my 4-H Quiz Bowl/Horse Judging members had a rotten time at the District 4-H Horse Show yesterday afternoon. So they loaded up and came to my house and we went riding. They rode bareback but I'm not quite ready to ride Voosh bareback.

We crossed the river looking for a trail called Olga Loop. I can find either end of the loop as it comes off the main trail but making the connection can be difficult. The trail hasn't been ridden much this year so the devil's club and ferns have taken over. We just turned around and came back the way we went in. Next time I'll take the other beginning and maybe we can find our way through.

The girls weren't ready to head back so we rode our main east west trail called LeEllen. This trail is the most travelled of our trails. We've ridden both Poker Rides both directions on it and it's the connector trail from one group of houses to the other. You would not believe the wild raspberries! I had to stop several times to fill my mouth and all the berries I could hold in my hands. At the end of LeEllen we could go back on the road, retrace the trail back to the river, or continue on. Do I need to tell you that the girls voted to continue on?

As we approached our Gittlein Trail (named for the owners) the air was filled with the sound of big gun shots. The horses never flinched even though the sound was getting louder the closer we got to the shooting range. We never saw anyone but figured the guys were sighting in their hunting rifles. Moose, caribou and bison season starts soon. After walking through the woods on the Gittlein Trail we were faced with another choice: left, right, or go home? The girls chose left which took us on the Janice Trail back to the beginning of the Gittlein Trail and back to LeEllen and back to the river. They said they get enough road riding from their house and wanted to really trail ride.

At the river we opted to go up Dead Horse Hill and complete the circle back to the house. We rode for 4 hours and covered quite a bit of ground. I took pictures on my cell phone thinking that they could be downloaded with the old Motorola program that works with my daughter's phone. Wrong. Maybe we'll get it figured out so you can enjoy more pictures.

It feels really good to get back to riding on a semi-regular basis. Fair starts the 27th and my critters will need to be checked in on the 26th. We'll spend the week before getting everyone ready since sheep take so long to dry. Hopefully I'll get some more rides in before Fair.