Saturday, June 22, 2013 – First Ride at Van Buren State Park, OH

With the forecast indicating temps over 90, we decided to get out reasonably early today, and managed to have breakfast and be saddled up by 11:00. It helped that no one’s feet needing trimming, and that from the looks of the trailhead, boots won’t be necessary. We headed out with map in hand, and this map seemed to be more comprehensive, with names and intersection numbers along the way. We only hoped they would actually show up on the trail! (Believe it or not, they often do NOT!) As we came to the first intersection, however, we were relieved to find both numbers and color markers clearly indicating each trail. The footing was hard-packed dirt that, thankfully, didn’t look like it had seen much rain lately, so mud wasn’t any issue. Apollo and I both breathed a sigh of relief, as did Hubby and Clio, and we relaxed into a much more enjoyable atmosphere than we’d had lately. The woods were thick as well, which kept the temperatures much cooler than in the campground. We followed the Red Trail down to the Pink Trail at the south end of the park, a pretty short distance as the park is quite small. On the Pink Trail we encountered several steep ravines, one which caused us great pause, but when we couldn’t find a way around it, we finally managed to persuade the horses down it, with Clio uncharacteristically going first. The problem wasn’t so much the ravine, though it was quite steep, but the sharp turn onto a bridge at the bottom of it, making it look extra scary. I think Apollo remembered how slippery the last trail’s ravines were, and they were making him hesitate as well. There was a sign earlier in the trail indicating to be cautious, and to be sure of yourself and your horse (which, of course, we are! : -), so we couldn’t say we weren’t warned! Anyway, we made it through okay, and then the trail flattened out a bit, and turned into what they called the “Pink Maze,” which was a bunch of spaghetti-like trails that criss-crossed each other. We stayed on the outer loop until we hit the road, then had a little confusion about the trail being linear when we realized that if we crossed the bridge that was part of a main county road, we could pick up the northern trails in the park, so that’s what we did. We stayed on the Yellow Trail for the most part, saving the Red Trail tomorrow. It was a fabulous ride, with several good opportunities to canter, especially as it edges a field, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It was a great way to erase the difficulties we’ve had the last few rides. The only problem was it was too short! We covered the entire perimeter of the eastern half of the park in just over an hour. As we looked more thoroughly at the map, we discovered that there were more bridle trails on the western half of the park that we hadn’t previously seen, and worked out a route for tomorrow so we could cover those. A really, really nice ride, and Apollo seems more comfortable than ever in his new saddle/bareback pad, and so am I! Spent the afternoon on the computer, with Hubby watching sports, until we turned to the sequel of City Slickers (we had watched the original earlier this week) before starting our evening routine. A great day, just the kind we live for!