Archives for April 2017

After spending the morning washing vehicles and packing up stuff as we prepare to depart our winter Florida "camp", I packed up the horses and brother Jeff and headed out to Riverbend to take him to the new (to us, anyway) trails that Hubby and I had found in and around Riverbend and Cypress Creek. We were saddled in short order, and took much the same route as Hubby and I had taken on Friday, doing one small loop backward for variety. Apollo was being a bit skitzy today for some reason, even though there was no wind, but all went well until we came across a peacock on the trail. For some reason, both horses were sure it was a horse-eating peacock, and we had a dickens of a time getting past it. I spent a few minutes schooling Apollo, and was actually backing him up in the direction of the bird, with my intention being to back him up right past the dang bird, and that was working until a guy on a bike came along and we had to stop to let him pass. By then, the peacock had moved just off the trail, so there was still a lot of snorting and prancing as we went by, but at least we managed it. Silly horses! As brother Jeff said, you would think that horses with as many trail miles on them as these guys wouldn't panic at the sight of a big bird, but there you go! Horses never stop being horses, do they? Anyway, all went well from there, and the rest of the ride was drama free, except once when Apollo tripped at a canter and nearly fell on his head, but he managed to recoup before he got to his knees. Gotta love the old fashioned four-wheel drive! Another beautiful day on the back of my horse, couldn't ask for more!

Though we've taken a few uneventful rides around the neighborhood, we finally decided it was time to give our horses something new to look at, so we packed them in the trailer and headed down the road 10 minutes to Riverbend Park. My brother has been telling me they've been putting new trails in around the area, so we thought we'd go exploring a bit today. They've got the entrance to the park all torn up, evidently they're putting in new parking and/or a new building, so we had to bounce through that short area, then reached the trailhead field as usual. We saddled up and headed out, not sure which way to go, then decided since we were looking for something new, we headed straight north on a grassy trail we've never tried. That weaved through the woods, then soon curved around a lovely lake with some nice grassy stretches, perfect for a canter. It was windy, and the horses were fresh and full of vinegar, so we had to be careful lest they get too excited! We followed the edge of the lake, went through a couple of horse gates, then paralleled a canal for a bit. We passed a wildlife photographer whose mega-lens was trained on the nest of a swallow-tailed kite, waiting for someone to come home and feed the chicks. We passed a few words, then headed down to where the trail ended on Jupiter Farms Road. We turned around and headed back, around the lake again, this time crossing a bridge that took us toward Indiantown Road and the new Cypress Creek parking and viewing area. Unless we wanted to following along Indiantown Road away from the park, we could only turn around again and head back to the park, as the trail around the back side of the lake didn't allow horses. Across the bridge once more, then this time we stayed on the shellrock trail, until we reached the park road. Across the road there was a sign for Battle Field Trail, another grassy trail. We weren't absolutely sure whether it was an official horse trail or not, but it looked so inviting we followed it along the river, then finally curved around and back to the trailhead. Less than five miles, by a very nice 90 minute ride on a beautiful day, with my wonderful Hubby on our two fabulous horses... who could ask for more than that!