Mommy escape

Today I did the best thing. I escaped! No kids, no housework, no hubby. Just my horse and me, and a good friend and her horse. My friend Tiffany and I decided we needed a mommy escape. Tiffany has two kids around the ages of mine so she gets me and my craziness. I suggested we get out of dodge for the day and she jumped at the notion. We dropped the kids at respective babysitters and headed out for a day on the trails at Brown County State Park. We are so lucky to have this gem in our backyard, it is about 45 minutes from our house. Brown County Park is a great place to camp or day ride with about 60 miles of horse trails. The trails vary from flat and easy to some tough climbs that reach elevations of almost 1,000 feet. I am pretty adept at riding the park and am an excellent guide since I can decipher maps.
Today we took some different trails into what is called hidden valley.

I should start by telling you that Tiffany and her horse Cisco are three day eventers. We couldn't be more different in our riding styles or the size of our horses but we both share a love for all things horses. Once Tiffany accompanied me to a lesson and actually got up and tried a finished reiner just to see what it was like. She is always game for any horse event and has traveled with me on little horse vacations. She is coming along with me next month to Buffalo River for the week. Here is a shot of her and Cisco at a small creek we crossed today. Note he is sporting his fly armour! It worked great.




We started out on trail B which is a wide trail that runs the length of the campground and has trails that loop of it. The going was easy and with an overcast sky it wasn't that hot. We were pleasantly surprised at the few bugs we did see.
We took trail 14 which was a 3 mile loop off of B and it narrowed down to single file. Harley didn't care for the trench like trail at first but settled in just fine after a bit. There were lots of downed trees to practice our walkovers and he thought of jumping a few larger ones. The trail was beautiful with lots of little stream crossings and plenty of wildlife to view, we even found some berries out there to nibble on. Here is a shot of the Harley and I in a stream bed.



We only encountered one group of riders today so it was a peaceful and relaxing trip.
The horses got along great and Harley did a fair amount of jogging to keep pace with Cisco's long legs. I tried out a new saddle today and am in love! But more on that in another post. We went back the same way we came in on B trail due to time constraints on Tiffany's part. I didn't care was just happy to be there. We decided we should do this more often and made a pact to schedule it at least once a month for the summer. Ah .........the glow of a perfect day.


HAPPY TRAILS............