What a great day for a ride! The temperature was 73 degrees when I left the house with Quia to go to the trailride. When I arrived at Alford, Laura C. was already there with Jewel and then Nancy S., a new member, came in with Rosie and brought a guest, Marilyn M., with Bruin. Next to arrive were Sharon and Herb H. with Beau and General, then Paulie P. came in with Image. The last to arrive was Kathleen D. with Jett. I went down to close the exit gates and on the way back I heard a loud “boom”, like someone shooting a gun. I thought this couldn’t be happening in this area and when I got back to the trailers, I learned that Nancy had a tire blow on her horse trailer just sitting in the trailhead! How’s that for a bizarre event? We decided to call for help after we were on the ride so we would be there when help arrived.
Knowing the temperature was going to rise, the route we took utilized the single track trails and the shaded multi-use ones. We ran into several bikers and folks walking with their dogs.
At one point, we talked with a couple who had two dogs and Kathleen discovered the guy was an attorney who spoke to her as she is a retired Judge. She then learned that Marilyn is also an attorney so they had a nice conversation, too. The county has been conducting fires for maintenance on the greenway so we stayed away from the first access to the trail along the railroad as they had a sign up asking trail users not to use it. We rode on the edge of the fields and said goodbye to Kathleen, who had to leave us, until we had another chance to access the single track along the railroad. There was a slight breeze and Nancy and Marilyn had not ridden the single tracks so it was a nice experience for them. We stopped along the way for Sharon to call U. S. Rider for Nancy’s flat tire and then continued on the single track. When we came to the split to access the new multi-use “single track” we took it and crossed over the only bridge on the greenway which is near the return to the trailhead. We then arrived safely back at the trailhead from the two-hour ride. As I left, Nancy had a short wait for tire help and company from Sharon and Herb. Also, the temperature was 83 degrees! A true blessing for a nice day to enjoy riding with friends!
Submitted by Sue N.

Oh, to be 7 years old again……. Herb, Wendy, Nancy, Lena and I met the park manager of Phipps Park and his 7 year old daughter at Phipps on Saturday for a ride. It had been many years since Robert had ridden and those weren’t great experiences, so he was a bit nervous. Kate had only ridden a few times, but was extremely excited to ride a horse again. So Herb and I cleaned out our 3-horse LQ trailer, normally ready for camping with the 3rd stall used for storage, and made room for 3 horses to transport to Phipps. We also packed up tack, etc. for 3 horses. Well I forgot how much work that can be…..whew! But when we pulled in to Phipps and saw Kate peeking out from behind her dad with a HUGE smile on her face, the thought of the workload faded quickly. We saddled up our 3 boys (Beau for Robert, General for Kate and Cricket for me). We tried to shorten the stirrups to fit Kate’s legs…..failed at that, but did manage to make her helmet fit. She was a sport and so happy to be up on General, she didn’t care that she couldn’t reach the stirrups. We got Dad up and settled and off we went for about an 1.5 hour ride, me leading General with Kate. One thing I wanted to do was give Robert a different perspective of those trails and that I did. While riding, Robert agreed seeing the trails this way was very different and very enjoyable. I told Kate that General really liked to be petted on the mane occasionally while riding. It was so cute, when I looked back and caught her small hand patting General’s mane. Like I said, oh to be 7 again……
Interestingly enough, we came up on an SUV that was trying to drive down our trail. Was basically lost trying to get out of the park from a Gulf Winds Track Club meet. We also passed a biker with his dog off-leash. Other than that, all hikers and bikers were very considerate and almost all were happy to stop and admire the horses. On the way back to the trailers, I asked Kate if we were going to have to drag her off General and she quietly said with a grin “maybe”. It was a perfectly beautiful day and everyone really enjoyed the quiet ride through the woods. Needless to say I was really happy to get two people back in the saddle again. Something worth thinking about….. if you have the opportunity to reintroduce a child or adult to horseback riding, do it. It has multiple benefits and is quite fulfilling for yourself.
Sharon

What a great day for a ride! The weather was not too cold or too hot. When I pulled into the trailhead with Quia, there were four horse trailers already there. Wow, I thought, we’re going to have a good ride today! Alas, they were not going on the STA ride. I then wondered if this was going to be my second “ride of one”. But…I was not disappointed because Maria M. came in with Trovi so it made my first “ride of two” official STA event!
Ron T., my husband, Frank, and I had spent 3.5 hours on October 12 doing much needed maintenance on the Orange Trail to remove downed trees and trimming the sides of the trail to remove brush. We decided to take it because it would be clear. The woods were pretty quiet as we rode along but we chatted a lot and I gave Maria some history on how the trail came to be and some of the interesting things we learned while establishing it. After we had ridden for quite a while, we came upon a hunter who popped out on the road in front of us. We had an opportunity to talk with him briefly and expressed that we hoped we had not ruined his hunt. He said “no” that he was leaving but his truck was parked in the road a ways down and he hoped we wouldn’t have any problem getting around it. We said it wouldn’t be a problem and asked his name. We then explained to Ryan that we have marked trails in the area and if he is interested in knowing where they are, we have trail maps at the Rivers Road Trailhead. He was unsure where that was as he entered the forest off of Spring Hill Road, so we explained how to get to Rivers Road and find the trailhead. We then went on our way and maneuvered around his truck to continue our ride. I showed Maria where we had put in a by-pass trail years ago because a hurricane came through and blew over a LOT of sand pines on our trail making it impossible to traverse the area. We continued on the trail and when we reached the point where the bypass would bring you back to the trail, I pointed that out to Maria, and we discussed how the Spring Hill blue trail out of FR 362 has a long and short route. We decided to bring this up at the next board meeting to see if it would be feasible to restore the bypass route so that riders who may have a problem or want a shorter ride could get back to the trailhead faster. The rest of the ride was quiet, and we chatted more about our own histories with horses and our lives. When we arrived back at the trailhead, three of the other riders were just coming back so we talked with them for a few minutes. All in all, it was a really good 2.5-hour ride!
Sue N.

What a great day for a trail ride! There was a great cool breeze requiring the need of a jacket while tacking up the horses. Regine K. and I arrived with Sadie and Quia followed by Maria M. with Trovi. Sharon H. came in next and brought her new horse, Beau, a gorgeous Quarter horse. Last to arrive was Esther D. with Dana. Ester, Sharon and I were part of the crew that trimmed the single-track trail on August 27, so we were anxious to see how it looked. (After that workday, I had cleared the firebreak out of the trailhead of overhead branches, so we rode that first to see what it was like.) After we crossed Miccosukee Road, we headed for the single-track trail and were impressed with the work we had done. The trail was still pretty clear, but we noted that the underbrush is really thick in places and trying to encroach on the treadway. There was also a huge tree that had fallen across the trail during one of the storms we have had since our workday. We rode all the way to the gate where the single-track ends and then took the main trail to the grassy area that takes you around to the road crossing leading to the Thornton Road Trailhead. We decided to ride to Thornton Trailhead and discovered the flashing light at this crossing is not working. (We have made several attempts to get it fixed but may need to meet the crew to show them what the problem is.) We were able to get across the road ok and noticed there were a lot of rocks on the main trail. It caused some problems for Sadie, who is somewhat tender footed, but she was able to use the sides and avoid a lot of them. We arrived where the trail goes along Miccosukee Road and under I-10 and Regine, Maria and I then rode under I-10 while Sharon and Esther waited for us. When we started back, Regine was worried about Sadie as she was slightly limping on her right front because of the rocks. She finally got off and checked all her feet and removed a few smaller rocks. I explained she probably had gotten a bruise because when she got off the main trail, she was much better. We rode the single track back to stay off the main trail and after crossing the road again, we headed down the main trail for a short way until we could take a trail through the woods back to Crump Trailhead. All in all, it was a good 3-hour ride with good weather, good company and good horses!
Sue N.

The weather was pretty nice for this 1 3/4 hour ride that brought together some old friends and a new friend. Sue brought Quia and also Sadie for Jan. Much to our surprise old friends were already there…Connie with Camsoix and her sister, Debbie , with Truffles. Then a trailer we had not seen before arrived and it was Rick with Quirt. Rick lives in Georgia and it was his first ride with STA. To round out the group, Wendy came in with Arrow and Joyce arrived with Blue. We started out on the trail next to Miller Landing Road and took the first trail to get over to the power line. We then took the single track trail along the soccer fields. The ride leader switched often during the ride but the pace was slow enough for everyone to be able to talk with each other. There is a new recreation manager for the City of Tallahassee and he has done a great job of getting the trails cleaned up and ready for enjoyment. We stuck to the perimeter and enjoyed riding next to Lake Victoria and the bat house that never seems to have any occupants. Rick was interested in the permanent jumps that are used for the Red Hills Horse Trials as he had never seen them before. We rode near Lake Jackson and then took the single track horse trail up near the pines along Miller Landing Road before heading back to the trailhead.
Submitted by Sue

We had a nice turnout and great weather. Those that rode were Sharon on Cricket, Herb on General, Lena on Scooter, Sue on Quia, Jan on Sadie, Donna on Magnum, and Wendy on Arrow. Sadie lead the pack at a fast walk and that seemed to set off Quia and Arrow……all the way through the single track near the soccer field. Finally, Sue put Quia in front, followed by Sadie, then Arrow. The pace slowed a little, but not enough until Arrow was next to Quia, blocking Sadie. Ahhh, the order we must keep amongst our horses to keep them happy. After an hour the group really took a deep sigh and was at a relaxed walk….. until we entered the single track approaching Lake Victoria. There was a small hill that Arrow decided he wanted to canter down and pass everyone. Wendy corrected him and guided him back to repeat the hill 3 times until he took it at a slow walk. While this was going on, a man and his dog were visiting with the group. Yet another dog on the trail that had never seen horses before… Not much happened after that, but we did cover some ground as the entire loop was done in 1.5 hours. I’d say that was a pretty quick ride.

Sharon, Herb and Lena took it slower and had to stop early on. But that gave Lena a chance to ride a loop alone with Scooter – first time for them. She was smiling when she got back, because Scooter behaved himself like a perfect gentleman…a new found confidence in his abilities. It evidently was a day for building confidence in our horses, because Donna said Magnum did very well on the trail….I think she even likes him a bit more than she did before 🙂 We of course stayed around for a bit and caught up. Great day with our horses.
Submitted by Sharon