Where's Your Favorite Place to Trail Ride?

My Favorite Place to Trail Ride is...

Across the world people love to ride their horses in some of the most beautiful places and trails that allow man and beast.  Please share with all of this blog's viewers some of the best places you have been on the back of a horse.  It can be a public trail, your neighbor's fields, or even some where in your backyard.  Click comments under this post and leave your message for others to view.  If you do not have an account simply choose anonymous and you will also be allowed to post.  I look forward to your posts!

Memorial Day Ride East Fork TN

Aaaahhh the best thing about summer are the vacations!  Memorial Day jump starts summer and all summer activities.  We packed up the camper loaded the horses and early Friday morning headed to Eastern Tennessee!  Smokey Mountains here we come!  If you trail ride and have never been here, you are really missing out!  Leaving early Friday was a great way to miss all the busy weekend traffic.

Once we checked in and settled into our campsite, we just took in the nice weather and soaked in the scenery.  By late morning we decided we were ready for our first ride.  Hooves clip clopped over rocks and creek beds, passing the aromatic scented pines mingling with the pure fresh air.  Deep breaths of it relax the mind and soul.  Breath taking over looks span the ride.  Each stop along the trail helps me sink down in the saddle more.  I ponder how warm it is already for so early in the summer, but shake it off thinking that a hot day in the saddle trumps a comfortable day at work.  How easily time skirts away when there are no clocks and nature is all around.  Upon arriving back at camp the charcoal grill is started and jalapeno and cheese brats sizzle over the coals.  Food just tastes so good outdoors, even if it is just a hot dog!  Our camping neighbors meander over and ask if we are from Bowling Green.  Low and behold "Carpie" had told Eddie and Nancy also from Bowling Green that we were going to be at East Fork and to look us up.  Out of all the camping spots in the campground they were camped beside us!  We had a great visit and it was quickly decided that we would ride together the next day.

Early Saturday morning I prepare a breakfast of bacon, eggs, and biscuits and gravy.  Now this is the stuff vacation is made of!  Nothing better than going out the front door with a view of your horse and eating with mother nature while watching her make the day. 

Saddles are cinched and saddle bags are loaded...it's time to hit the trail.  We decide to go to the waterfall this glorious day.  Keith is his normal self and before long we have another friendship with our latest neighbors Eddie and Nancy.  Eddie and Nancy have been together "dating" 21 years and are proud mule owners and competitive riders.  They have won numerous saddles and prizes for their abilities.  Eddie is a talented welder who can I am sure make anything out of a horse shoe. check out his website under  the tab Horse Stuff.  Nancy loves to take pictures like me and is also very talented with photo shop!  Check out some of her stuff at: http://www.youtube.com/user/nanvideomaker?feature=results_main

What a great day of forming new friendships!  After a nice supper of Spicy bacon wrapped chicken, fried squash, and green beans the boot scoot'n boots are pulled on and we head to the entertainment for the night.  Fun was had by all!  The band played until after midnight and we shut the place down!

Sunday morning camp was very quiet.  I guess a lot of cowfolk had way too much fun!  We weren't saddled and on the trail until almost after 10.  My motto is there are no clocks on vacation though, so no harm done!  Our equine crew leisurely strolled through the pine sprinkled hills pausing to view the awesome over looks.  We stopped at Ding Dong Rock, Janes Overlook, and Swift Ford just to name a few.  God is such a great artist!

Since it was such a hot day we were thankful that there was water along the way for the animals to drink!  Notice the color of the water.  Some of the water contains iron and Eddie's mule "Moon Pie" seemed to love it best.  Heading back to camp on this day seemed a little sad knowing it was our last ride for the weekend.  Although back at camp still proved to be an adventure.  Keith has decided that he is a professional agravator.  Which most of us already knew!  He just had to challenge a young man with a race through an obstacle course there at the stables.  Wonder who won??  Well it wasn't a professional agravator!  What a hoot!  We had a great supper of my crock pot stuffed green peppers, fried potatoes and onions, with corn on the cob a little late that night, but still it was welcomed.  We ended our evening listening to ZZ Top with Eddie and Nancy just vegging out.

And then all good times must end!  Monday morning was here in a flash.  And as always I am planning our next trail adventure...Happy Trails my friends... 

Howard Cole Sunday Ride

Gas and diesel prices continue to make riding a horse an empty wallet.  Searching for affordable, enjoyable, and convenient but worth while rides is a challenge.  Sometimes the challenge is met and all are pacified.  Today was one of those days.  After a hospitable invite by one of our newest friends "Carpie" and a recent trip to Mammoth Cave we thought that a trip this close to home was just what the wallet ordered.  We were immediately taken in with open arms by the host Howard Cole.  We met yet many more horse people that are sure to become friends we will again ride with. 

A group of about 12 gaited horses and one lone quarter horse paraded, rhythmically in time down the black top.  Thoughts of what was to come flooded my mind, but nothing could equal what my eyes laid on just over the hill.  Lush meadows with ripe seed heads waving in the breeze as our menagerie passes.  Tight cowboy dirt paths winding through hills of fresh timber mixed to the perfect Kentucky recipe.  Quaint little creeks and water passes for man and beast to cool off in lined with beautiful rock banks. 

Howard was a great trail boss and along with his guiding and the company of the wonderful horse people that accompanied him I had a most enjoyable day.  The best was yet to come!  Upon arriving back at Howard's he announces that supper is served!  Now this was a surprize that no new comer to Howard's rides would have ever expected.  A long day on the trail arriving back where you started with a growl in the belly and the thoughts that when you get back home, if you want to eat your work is only half done once the horses are unloaded, fed, and put to pasture.  Nothing better than clove and honey baked ham, bean soup, home made corn bread from an iron skillet, coleslaw, and southern sweet tea!  Wowee!  Everyone left with a quenched appetite, full belly, and a well cared for spirit.  Howard really knows how to plan the best ride!  Thank you Howard!

I can't wait for the next invite, even if there isn't food!  What a great day!

Miss Kitty Moves In

Meet Miss Kitty, Keith's new addition:

Age: 1

Special talents: braying, pulling, snooping, and sneaking

Keith's favorite quote about Miss Kitty: This may be my last ride

Kerry's favorite quote about Miss Kitty: matching-to Jazzy my palomino mare and well...we each match our rides!  HA! Mules are always good for a great joke!

Favorites: being rubbed, exploring, and kicking up her heels

Challenges: everything...she is a mule

Unusual:  color-palomino mule

Hopefuls: that she is gaited like all her siblings, and easy to train

What Miss Kitty misses most:  other mules to play with...the neighborhood dogs just won't come out to play!

LBL Weekender Camping Trip

YeeeeHaaaaawwww fellow riders!  Spring is just getting started and this is our THIRD...yes I said third camping trip this year!

We had several beautiful rides this weekend!  It is amazing how quickly the foliage blossoms out in the spring.  Spring was in full swing when we got to LBL.  The camp ground was over flowing with endurance riders for the weekend ERIC event, so we almost didn't get an electric site.  One of the ladies at the check station was very gracious and called a friend that had a permanent site and asked if we could stay in his spot for the weekend.  We were very fortunate and grateful for her kind act.  Again there just aren't people like horse people!  We settled into camp after searching for our spot in the dark...something that does NOT make Mr. Simmons a "happy camper"  HA pun intended and then settled in the horses and tucked them in for the night on their high line. It was actually my fault that we got to camp so late because I had to work until 5:30. We cooked pork chops on the grill and had a really late supper, but we were hungry at that point!  Then it was straight to bed for us, for a new day of riding would dawn before we knew it!

We started out riding by ourselves, but as usual Mr. meet someone today started talking to a woman and her two daughters at the Blue Hole.  He was really impressed at how well the youngest girl had trained her horse to be so responsive with the bit and under saddle.  He even had to try her horse out.  But as we know this meeting could not come with out a little professional aggravation from the expert himself.  Not sure what this group of women thought of Keith, but I think they questioned it!  We followed them in to camp on the trail but we lost Keith brush popping on the way, therefor I returned to camp alone.  Now this is not my ideal situation...I begin questioning myself...is he alright?  Do I need to go looking for him?  How long do I wait?  Men!  They just sometimes don't know what they do to us!  He returned safe and sound and we got to enjoy a very nice supper by campfire while listening to the coyotes howl in sweet unison through the hills of Wrangler's camp.  There must have been hundreds of them, for the sounds of their beautiful songs encircled our camp.  Harley didn't appreciate it as much as us and let us and the wile ole coyotes know that this was his turf and camp and that they better not dare to come near.  He woofed out his warnings to them repeatedly while he bounced on his front paws and held his head back loud and proud to see just how vicious he really was!  What a chuckle we got from him!  Bad dog Harley, that's my name!

On this camping trip we camped among the pine grove and the smell of the pines and campfires mingling together are a treat to the senses.  Our second night in camp Keith again makes friends with the neighbors and they invite us to supper more than once with their group up the hill.  We don't partake but it was a very nice gesture.  Later they ask to join us around our campfire and we sit staring at the fire and talk the night away.  It was very late when we went to bed, but remember my motto is "no clocks on vacation".  

The next morning, our last morning to ride we decide to ride some uncharted territory.  Keith and I were planning on going to see the buffalo, but decide that it is too long of a ride for this time.  We chose to see the old tobacco barn.  On the way we pass trails lined with flowering bushes a great act of God's handy work. We stir up millions of butterflys that kiss our faces and bodies engulfing our horses and us as we pass.  What an awesome experience!  As we round the bend and break through the forest, in the clearing can be seen a relic of history, standing still in time, lending a story from our past.  I can almost visualize the farm, and the family working there with their horses and hear the sounds of complete sustainability that farms and families once had.  I sit on my horse in awe. looking up into the rafters and imagining what that life must have been like.  Harder but satisfyingly simpler...I savor this day as if it were that time...no cell phones, automobiles, city noise, or pollution...just me, Keith, horses, and nature.

On our way back to camp I tell Keith of an old cabin or corn crib that I would like to photograph.  I found it when I was waiting for him to return to camp the day before.  Again I am amazed at the craftsmanship of our forefathers and let my mind drift to what kind of history was made in this spot so many years ago.  Were there little children running around in overalls and calico dresses?  Chickens pecking in the yard?  The old milk cow chewing her cud in the meadow.  A team of mules harnessed and waiting to plow...I picture a true scene from Where the Red Fern Grows.

As all good stories do this one ends another chapter.  For my story will not end until I do.  My next chapter starts with my next adventure.  I hope you will join me to see what that next chapter brings.  Happy trails my friends....see you on the back of a horse, the best place to be!

Benefit Ride Logan County Saddle Club

One thing I have noticed since Keith and I have been together is that you can never have too many friends!  Of course I already knew that, but Kieth takes it to a level most just don't.  He never sees a stranger he won't talk to and this outgoing part of his nature has lead us to a lot of new acquaintances.

One evening in April was no different.  Keith had been talking to a coworker about a horse his brother had that he might want to look at to buy.  After checking out the horse he stopped to talk to his coworker about motorcycles.  He told Keith of one a neighbor had just down the road.  This led us to a man's house we will forever refer to as "Carpie" which is what all his friend's call him.  Now he is not the man who had the motorcycle, however because of his magnetic personality all of his neighbors end up at his place including the motorcycle belonging to the neighbor.  Before we left the whole neighborhood was in "Carpie's" garage having a wonderful visit.  We find horse people in the most unlikely places and here was no different.  After Keith and "Carpie" discussed who they each knew and where they liked to ride we received an open invitation to ride with "Carpie" sometime and it wasn't long before we got the chance. 

On April 21st the Logan County Saddle Club organized and had a benefit ride for Debbie Stamps a cancer survivor.  The day was very chilly but every one's spirits were high with generosity.  We started the afternoon with a ride through the hills of Mike Johnson's farm and ended back at the saddle club for an amazing pork BBQ sandwich meal and auction.  People were so generous with their bidding that they weren't even sure what they had bought.  We left with a few halters, girths, and some black berry bushes, which Keith is patiently waiting to produce it's first bounty.  Every part of my body was numb with cold but my heart was warmed with the spirit benevolence.

High Knob-Max and Mary Style

No matter how many times we pull into a camp ground to set up camp and plan a riding trip I am just as excited about the ride as the first time I ever got to take my horse out camping.  It was a dream I had as long as I can remember in my childhood days at home with my beloved Gypsi pony.  My parents didn't have a fancy trailer and we weren't a family that based our weekends around trail rides or horse shows, but they sometimes fueled my dreams by taking me into our small home town for the county parade each year.

Rounding the corner into and past the High Knob camp ground we were greeted with the witty camaraderie of Ms. Jojo Moomey camp ground owner.  I anticipate the humor and fun that will be had by all in the company of these wonderfully enjoyable horse people.  As usual she demands that we make ourselves at home and set up camp where we like.  We had planned to meet up with a couple we met here back in October for a nice weekend ride.  Our first day Keith and I enjoyed some time alone while we awaited the arrival of our new found friends.  I knew once they arrived I was in for a side splitting time! 

After getting set up Keith and I took a nice short ride deep in the Shawnee forest and enjoyed the scenery of the huge rock formations that cover the forest.  That evening I built my famous campfire and we enjoyed each others company as we listened to the serene distant call of the first spring message of the unforgettable whippoorwills.  A lone coyote howls in unison.  We reminisce about our first meeting with Max and Mary.  The nights and days were cool but not unpleasant.  The nights proved to be just what a fire calls for.

Day 2 we meet up with Max and Mary at the spring.  Max leads up through The Lower Hurricane and the Snow Cone.  He tells us the story of a professor and his wife who tried to live here in the hills and rocks away from civilization.  It was deemed The Snow Cone because he thought he could set up a drink and snow cone booth to sell to passers by.  As we pass The Snow Cone and enter The Lower Hurricane Max tells the story of the mountain man who lived in the cave at the bottom of the canyon.  We get off and explore and still see tell tale signs of his existence.  We come across the infamous gator that has been humorously placed in the Forest for finders to move when found.  The men decide to oblige.  The humor projected by Max and Keith is unrelenting and merciless.  That evening we meet Max and Mary at their cabin for a nice fire and some more comedic relief.

Day 3 Keith decides that we need to ride to H Canyon.  Max and Mary decide to sit this one out since their ponies haven't gotten in many rides yet this year and H Canyon is a longer ride.  We meet up with Grady a High Knob resident and his friend Barbra.  H Canyon was breath taking!  The canyon was deep and lush.  Fresh spring water was flowing and it was a picture right out of a wild west movie.  We had lunch at the bottom where someone has positioned rocks for a campfire and stones to make reclining seats. 

Day 4 we take one last long ride for the weekend.  We ride to the ti pee and through dead horse canyon.  It was a long ride but the day seemed to pass as if it were only minutes.  We arrived back at camp tired from playing hard, but happy.  We decided that since it was getting late our best option for supper was the steak dinner at M and M camp ground.  Boy were we right!  A medium well cooked sirloin with a baked potato loaded with the works complimented with a side salad and a tall glass of southern sweet tea!

Before we knew it we were packing up to go home and planning our next back of a horse adventure!  Times like these always pass in the blink of an eye!