Sun, Apr 9 2006 - Spring Trail Ride (View Original Event Details)
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What a beautiful day for a trial ride!
I can't say enough about Wildwood Manor Ranch. The people are welcoming, the place is huge with lots of things to do and see, which is great because we got there very early. We had to wait for a troup of Brownies to return from their trail ride before we could head out, so we hung out around their petting zoo. The sheep were particularily melodious. I took some film and sound of these sheep and I'll be sending them out to our group. I think Julia was enjoying the sweet bleats the most. Ha! We also had a little orange cat who was snuggling up to anyone and everyone. Did anyone check out Julia's bags when she left? She looked like she was ready to sneak this little fellow home with her!
Wildwood Manor Ranch is very accomodating to all types of riding levels which made this event such a success. I've always been reluctant to do a trail ride because I ride all the time and end up being bored as most trail ride places will cater to the first time rider. But we had experienced riders like myself, Saira and Jo, or riders like Alan, Julia and Tracey who were willing to take on horses with attitude and first timers like Marianna, Coco and Ruth who were more than satisfied to take it easy, thank you very much! They have horses like the Arabian I got to ride (Star), who was a bit silly until she figured out I knew her tricks then she ran like the wind, or Prince, who had tons of attitude who gave Julia a fun ride, even if he kicked out at poor Briar - the chestnut that Saira was riding, There was JD for Marianna who was a bit nervous starting out so he took great care of her.
We got to split into two groups, the running and the walking group. Myself, Alan, Saira, Tracey, Julia and Jo all decided that we were going to run. Alan and Jo were on the fence at the beginning of the ride, but decided to brave it. We had plenty of opportunities to run, trot and canter throughout the two hours and the walking group were right with us, taking it easy but still able to join us while we winded our way through the forested paths. After watching us for a while, Coco decided she could run as well, and joined us for the last two runs. The two hours went by quickly, the weather was gorgeous and the people were wonderful. After we finished we were FAMISHED, so we all rendezvoused at a Kelsey's, ate burgers, drank copious amounts of diet coke, watched Marianna finish off some delicious Kahlua/ice cream/espresso treat and had tons of laughs and great conversation. I'm sure no one will fall for the 'bears out there, we'll need to share a tent!' line!!
I asked everyone to send me a line about their horse, since we couldn't take a lot of photos while out on the trail:
Marianna: My horse's name sounded like Jadey, but i'm not exactly sure if this spelling is correct (it may be Jady or Jadie). I think it was JD -ed
She was a 22 year old horse of a golden-honey kind of color (i'm not sure what are specific terms for this color in "horsing" language), she was very easy-going and a total sweetheart.
Tracey: Mine was "Thunder", the horse that didn't have any. Despite his lack of enthusiasm, I had a lot of fun.
Julia: My horse was Prince. He was strong-willed, enjoyed tail-gating the other horses, and kicked Saira's horse while passing on a hill.
Steph: I had Star, the arabian mare. She was fast as the wind, once she realized that I knew my business. Just a little leg and she took off. I think I'm in love, and I'll be asking for her again!
Jo:
My horse was "Ranger", a 13-yr old bay gelding. His father "Bud" was often in front of us on the trail. Ranger was great for a relaxing trail ride - calm but responsive when I asked him to go. We got a bit of a canter in the last run.
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Erik Sonstenes at photos@torontooutdoorclub.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.