I had been looking forward to yesterday since our last months womens horse group luncheon. We were invited to bring a potluck lunch at one ladies farm where they have 30 miles of trails on 1000 acres (called Eagles Nest). My horses are still in California & I am really going through Horsey withdrawel.......but I figured that enjoying the lunch & getting to know the women who live around me is a wonderful relaxing day. I had decided to make a huge crock pot of BBQ'ed pulled pork & bring tortillas to wrap in it......& also a nice orange jello salad with pineapple & orange bits in it.

Then I got a bright idea over the weekend. I have a horse trailer & the truck to pull it with....just not the horses......so maybe someone needed to haul & I could exchange that for a horse to ride.......the mind is always working. It turned out that the lady who owns the farm, has 5 horses she was bringing out for others to ride. The lady who was going to haul for her couldn't make it, so she called me yesterday morning early & my truck (didn't need my trailer) came to the rescue. The horses she has are all gaited horses.....from saddlebreed to Kentucky Mountain horses. All I have ever ridden are the thoroughbred type where you have to post to keep your rear end from getting smashed against the saddle.

Well, I hauled, successfully I might add (as I am learning how to haul a trailer in the first place) her 2 horse trailer, following her with her 3 horse trailer over to the farm. We got there early & got the horses groomed & saddled. It was then I realized just how much horsey withdrawel I am going through. We got on the horses a bit before everyone else showed up & rode a short ride.....just walking. Came back & ate lunch, then took off on about a 1 hour trail ride through the countryside of Kentucky. Oh, the beauty. There is a gorgeous lake with a damn on the property & trails through pasture, trees, & streams. She found some open area where we could actually take the horses at into their gait. I was amazed....you just sit on top of the horse & glide along....smooth....no bumping, no smaking your rear on the saddle. It was the most enjoyable trail ride I have been on ever. We got back & took a short rest & then another person came & wanted to go out on the trail, so we loaded up & went back out for another hour. Picking up some trash on the way, on the way back to the lunch area, I was riding with a liter pop bottle in my hand.....even with that challenge, the ride was awsome.

My California horse hasn't exactly been a wonderful experience in trail riding, so it is amazing that I have enough nerve to do trail riding anymore, but this new adventure is totally awsome & when I get settled, I will be looking for a Kentucky Mountain horse for my trail horse as my 17 + hand tall baby isn't a good idea for a short person to take out on a trail ride. To explain a bit about my previous trail experiences.......I have been knocked off by a huge tree branch when I didn't duck soon enough. I have been dumped in a puddle of water when he refused to get his feet wet (Mister always hated water to the point he wouldn't even step in his own pee puddle). Then at the end, he stumbled over a small mound of dirt & went down....gashing his leg with a 2" x 6" gash that had to be stiched....at the same time, I went over his head, landing on mine, cracking my helmet & getting quite a concussion & sholder injury myself. These are just a few of my trail experiences with my old horse. These gaited horses are very sure footed also.

I am a bit stiff & sore today, but I haven't ridden since last September.....so my body would hurt doing any type of real exercise. The countryside was gorgeous....spring flowers out, the trees with their new leaves on them. The grass green instead of the sage brush & tumbleweeds of the California desert. It was like the dreams I had as a child of riding my horse (which I never had one at the time) through the woods & pastures. It's interesting how the dreams & pictures we had in our head as children can actually come true sometime in our lives.

Brushing down the horses after the ride, obviously, I came across a few ticks on their legs.....she had a bottle of alcohol to put them in to kill them.....ewww, the buggies I am not used to....we had them in California....I just didn't come across them in my experiences.

I am so blessed with this move to Kentucky....wonderful people I'm meeting & getting to know better everyday. The peace of the country is so wonderful. Finding a relaxation that I never was able to experience in my previous life. Even with the financial stress, I am finding that I am able to relax & breath.....& live through the rough times without falling apart.

Three of my doggies always go with me in my truck.....& they enjoyed the outing.....I didn't take them along on the trail as I didn't want to worry about the bugs even though I use the revolution which is put along their skin & goes internal to keep the fleas, ticks, & mosquitoes away.......I still don't want to take any chances.

I was invited to go to breakfast & to an estate auction this coming Saturday with a couple of the women from the group.....as my horse trailer might come in handy if they buy one of the horses they are interested in.......Life is great no matter how many stumbling blocks find their way into my life.......I am surrounded by beauty & Blessed beyond what I ever imagined my life would be like.

Now that the fighting & wars with my husband have been left with him in California, I can truely find the life God meant me to have.

Enjoying another day in Kentucky,
Debbie