The weather was tolerable, I thought, as I pulled into the trailhead with Quia. It was 82 degrees. I wondered who would be participating and was surprised to see a couple of trailers already there. A couple of other trailers showed up and I said “this will be a good ride”. Megan with Gus and Carol with Breeze were the trailers who arrived after me, and then Linda came in with Blondie. I went to the trailers who were there when I arrived and discovered they were Fox Hunters and wouldn’t be riding with us BUT they really appreciate all the work STA does to provide access to beautiful trails to ride. I thanked them for their nice words and told them to enjoy their ride. So, here STA was with 2 Paso Fino riders, one quarter horse and a TN Walking Horse! I said, this would make a very interesting ride. I explained to our group that because of the heat, I would like to ride the perimeter trail so we could stay in the shade. Everyone was in agreement with that, so we headed east for the single track trail that takes you behind neighbor’s homes. We proceeded to the trail around the Arm and encountered a few walkers who were glad to see horses. As we proceeded toward the major portion of the lake a couple of deer crossed the road to the interior in front of us. We were excited to see them and wondered if we would view them again. When we got to their crossing place, we looked in the woods and THERE THEY WERE, JUST STARING AT US! They were young and curious and we enjoyed sharing a few minutes with them. We headed down to the railroad track single track trail. (I was told some time ago that the track had been sold and that probably is the reason we don’t encounter many trains anymore.) When we got to the point where the single track comes out on the wide greenway corridor, Megan suggested we exit the single track to use the Pine Tree Multiple Use Single Track Trail, so we decided to do that! We rode it from the back side and wondered if we would encounter bikers since it is one of their favorite trails. It is also the first trail that was completed as a result of a grant the county acquired. The Paso girls got out in front and started “doing their thing”. Quia was wanting to keep up with them so Linda offered for me to get behind her so I wouldn’t wear my hands out trying to keep her under control. That worked out great! This trail is very windy and we would see Megan and Carol way up in front of us and wave at each other. Quarter Horses don’t move as fast as Pasos, so we continued on the trail and wondered when we would meet up again. Well, we finally did at the other entrance and all the horses were relaxed so we got back on the single track trail and took the new one toward the trailhead. This part of the trail has a bridge on it. Quia knew where she was and was stepping out, knowing we were getting close to the trailers. When we came to the bridge (which she has been over many times), she stopped and looked at it like it was something new. I told her she had been over it many times before and she proceeded very gracefully, across it. From that point on, all the horses knew where they were and that they would be back to the trailers very soon. We encountered several bike riders and they were all very courteous and friendly. All in all, this was a great 2 hour STA ride!
Sue