Took our second ride today, starting out along the canal behind my brother’s house, to a spot we had picked out on our previous ride that had relatively low banks on both sides of the canal where we could easily cross. After several minutes of persuasion, Apollo slowly managed to cross the shallow canal, stopping at several intervals (down the bank, stop, cross the water, stop, climb the other bank, hurray!) until finally we reached the other side. Of course, once the “colt” was across, Mama had no trouble following along. We traveled east along the canal until we reached a gate, which, alas, was locked, a development we had not counted on. So we headed back along the canal to the point where we crossed, and this time, Apollo had no trouble going back the way we came. We headed east again on the south side of the canal, until we reached the spot where the gate was. The canal at this point had much steeper and deeper walls, and frankly, looked kind of dangerous, but it was obvious other equestrians had come this way, so we decided to make a go of it. I had to dismount and climb down the bank before I could get Apollo convinced it was safe, and after a minute or two (and some serious rein pulling), he followed me down. At the bottom, I climbed back up, then managed to get him across the water (which was only a few inches deep and only a few yards across, if that much), before climbing up the steep wall on the other side. Thank goodness horses come with four-wheel drive! I had to hang on to the saddle horn, but we made it with no problem. Hubby and Clio followed afterward with very little hesitation, good Mama that she is. From there we headed up Old Indiantown Rd., which was the original road built in the early 1900’s, just a nice hard packed sand as far as the eye could see. We went up maybe a half to three-quarters of a mile, cantering most of the way, just to get an idea of what the trail were like here in what is known as the Hungryland Wilderness Management Area. Apparently it’s just recently been added to a Greenway that allows riders to go from almost the Atlantic Ocean to Lake Okeechobee, almost 70 miles, a route that will come in handy after the Apocalypse : – ), whatever that might be. We saw numerous side trails that looked very inviting, but today we just wanted a short ride to keep the horses in shape, we had too much to do back at the RV to spend the whole day out. Got back just after 2:00 after about two hours on the trail, then got to work on some essential chores. Settled down for the evening to our usual routine.
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