The morning started off drizzling again, but gradually it lessened enough by 1:00 to convince us we could take a ride today. Dave had provided us with a couple of rough maps of the area, and we chose a short, 3-mile loop, which I then roughly mapped out by hand and downloaded to my GPS, just in case. We weren’t sure about the condition of the trails, as one of the first things Dave had pointed out to us when we arrived was that horses were allowed on all the same roads as hikers and bikers, so we were afraid much of the riding would simply be around the neighborhood. Anyway, we saddled up the horses, who seem quite ready to go on a ride, having been standing around in the rain (with their winter blankets on, of course) for the last day and a half. Headed further up the road we came in on, which was heavily graveled, until it finally narrowed, with a left fork turning into a road with a barrier, and an actual trail (with no markings whatsoever) off to the right. After consulting my GPS, we determined that right was correct, and headed off that way. We went through forest with rocky trails and lots of pine roots, before finally coming out at an intersection (which wasn’t marked on the map at all). We defaulted to straight ahead, which my GPS eventually confirmed, and the trails along here were grassy with just a few rocks. Then the trees started closing in, and with all the rain, many branches were hanging low, so we were getting wet as we passed by. Then we came out in a clearing where another gravel road, (though with less gravel, thank goodness) headed us back downhill. That eventually leveled off and we got a lovely fast canter in, the horses almost racing each other for quite a ways before they decided to slow down. I love it when we have a stretch long enough for THEM to make up their minds about stopping. Then we passed around a gate, which then turned into a dirt road through a neighborhood for a short ways. Then, thanks to my GPS and some directions from Dave, we found another trail through the woods, not rocky but still with a lot of pine roots sticking up, that took us uphill to Brock Road, which is where the campground is. At the top of the hill we turned right, and viola! We were home. Gone just a little over an hour, which was perfectly fine considering it was cold and damp and we were wet. The horses had gotten just enough exercise to be ready for more, though we’re not likely to ride again in NH. Got them settled into a new paddock (the one they had been in was so muddy we decided to move them next door), with their blankets on so they would stay clean and dry and warm, and we headed in for hot chocolate and ice cream before settling in for the day, more writing and more laundry, not to mention getting lots of movies recorded for later viewing!
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