Hiya Babe,
Woke up before the alarm, got my chores and breakfast done, then loaded up Flash for the hour drive down to a little trailhead parking area on the west side of the Withlacoochee Citrus Tract, where I met up with Sherra, a friend of my old friend Cherryl, and off we went! I had never been to this forest before, and had often wanted to come to the Tillis Hill horse camp, but until last July, dogs weren't allowed (well, except for the camp host, who apparently strictly enforced the rule, while herself had a dog!) so I could never camp here. She has a four year old quarter horse that's been giving her some problems on the trail, which is why Cherryl suggested riding with a nice calm horse like Flash might help. Interestingly, once Flash figured out her horse (Blake) was not in any way shape or form a threat to his lead position, he actually slowed down to one of his slowest walks so as to keep from getting too far ahead. Well, at least for about the first half of the ride. We did some lovely gaits and canters where we were more evenly matched, but a lot of walking as well, while she and Blake sorted out a few anxiety matters. It was a gorgeous day and a lovely ride! We did manage to make it all the way to the horse camp, just because I wanted to see what it looked like, and from my perspective, it was way too civilized. Worse, even though a lot of the sites were taken, we didn't see one horse in the barn, or even any evidence there were any horses around. The issue with this place is that no horses are allowed in the camping area, and you can't really drive anywhere near the barn, which is on the opposite side of the camping area, so you have to haul everything over there every time. Plus, relatively speaking, it was expensive for a public lands campground. Fine, now I've seen it, and ridden the trails, I don't have to go there to camp! We were out over four hours, a bit longer than she originally suggested, so she and her horse got a really good workout, though it didn't stop him from making a fuss once he was in the trailer. A bit of a knot head, but he's young, so entitled to his youthful ways for the moment. It was a very nice ride, everyone got along, and she wants to do it at least once a week somewhere, which is fine with me! She's planning on coming to Apex next week, so we can check the trails out there, and Blake can get some practice going through water, something he's not very familiar with. Anyway, I got back to camp a bit after 3:00, got Flash put away, then chatted with some day riders for a bit before settling down for the evening. A beautiful day! Love you, sweetie! Good night!
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