When I arrived at the trailhead, there were a lot of cars in it and I was concerned about where we would park, but everything worked out ok as we only had five trailers. Jan came with me so Quia and Sadie both got a day out in the woods. Next to arrive was Joyce with Blue, then Suzanne with Wyatt, followed by Linda with Scarlet. The last to come in was Rocky with Flicka and Michelle with Bindi. I explained to everyone that I would like to ride all the way to Thornton Road Trailhead so we could go on to the church and see what the State Historical Division has closed of the single-track trail because of a newly discovered cemetery. We started for the single-track trail out the back way of the trailhead and found the entrance blocked so we made our own path across the small creek and worked our way to the trail. It was in good shape, so we hugged the fence line and rode over to the crossing at Miccosukee Road. The caution lights worked well, and we had no difficulty crossing. As we rode on to the entrance to the next single-track trail, I noticed that it was overgrown and made a note to schedule a workday to clean it up. Sadie and Jan were leading at this point as Sadie is a really good trail horse. After we had gone through some downed trees someone yelled “bees” so we sped up for a short distance and then I saw Joyce off Blue and she was swatting at the wasps on him. She was the only one to get hit. Soon we were on our way again going around downed trees and ducking under limbs with grape vines. The single track was like this until we got near the portion that follows Miccosukee Road where it cleared up and the ride was very nice. When we got to the crossing to go under I-10, the equestrian light wouldn’t work but we had no trouble crossing the road. Going under I-10 was chaotic as we had several horses who had not been under it but we managed to stay safe. When we arrived at Thornton Road Trailhead, Richard and Lena were arriving and several of us spoke to them. We then crossed the hayfield to the entrance for the single-track trail and had to wait on Suzanne who then brought Lena and Richard along. The area that has been closed is quite large and forces us to use the main trail for a distance. (The Friends of the Miccosukee Greenway is evaluating this situation and will determine if a reroute is feasible to recommend to the county and state.) At this point the group split up as Suzanne, Joyce and Linda decided to ride with Lena and Richard and the rest of us headed back. When we got to the first road crossing, the equestrian light worked so I guess it’s just the equestrian button on the south side that’s bad. (We will report this to the authorities.) We decided we would stay on the regular trail to return to Crump Road. The footing is not very good for horses with tender feet because of small pebbles so we will also bring this to the attention of the new management for the park. All in all, everyone had a good time, and we rode for 3.5 hours.

Submitted by Sue