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MY SECOND AWESOME TRAIL RIDE IN MY NEW TOWN!
I feel so lucky! A reader asked me to join her for a beautiful trail ride at Montana de Oro Park in Los Osos, CA. She said she would even furnish one of her seasoned (and in shape) horses so I wouldn’t have to drive my (unseasoned and out of shape) horses down there.
Yes!
So we went on Saturday. I drove South, got lost, found myself and met up in the equestrian parking lot.
Some things are the same all over. Equestrian parking lots are all configured differently, but the goings-on are always the same. I’m not sure how to compare it, but you just know all you need to know with one fell swoop of the eyes when you are in an Equestrian parking lot.
Anyway, I showed up and didn’t have to do a thing. Wow! What a concept… Arrive and ride. Loved it!
Me, at the beginning of the ride. Isn’t Rambo handsome? The ocean is under that fog bank. We did some hills, first.
HER HORSES DO YOGA TO WARM UP! And they were clean!
Boy I felt like a lazy owner. Both of her horses did yoga as a warm up. Mine do nothing but demand cookies…
And, her hroses were clean. My horses are dirty. I no longer have warm water and none of them will stand for a cold bath (well, actually, they like to run through the sprinklers so I think they are faking me out…).
To be honest, I had some trepidation to ride her very tall and beautiful gelding, Rambo. He seemed, well, VERY TALL. I’m not. Not very tall.
But, once on board, he was so good and so well trained, I had no issue.
And we were off!
Rambo doing his stretching pre-ride yoga. (There is a hand feeding him a cookie – you can see it if you look closely.)
REBECCA SADDLE
I was riding in a Rebecca treeless saddle. The fit was very different and I wasn’t sure I liked it. (I’ve ridden in my Boz for 20 years and I love it. ) But, I did adjust and after a while, I was quite happy with the feel. And, at the end of the ride, nothing hurt. Nothing. Not my knees or any other part. Nice.
This is an image from the Rebecca saddle website.
THE RIDE
We gabbed (blah blahblah blah blah) so much, at times I forgot to take in the amazing scenery of the Central California Coast. I didn’t take many photos! The forests (trees and vines) were so interesting but I didn’t take one pic. Sorry.
I was comfortable heatwise, too. I swear, at my house it was 100 degrees and on the ride, it was 70 and foggy – just 50 minutes away! Such a relief! I even borrowed a jacket!
Anyway, this park had a variety of terrain. All Coastal – so all sand. But, it had dunes and forests and hills and the ocean. Some of the trees looked ancient and wind blown like you’d see in Carmel, CA. Very beautiful and so different than the forests/meadows I frequented in Oregon and Grass Valley.
Rambo was very kind to me. He was surefooted and very accurate in grabbing whatever tall grass was near his mouth. But, he was such a gentleman, I let him have his snacks along the way.
Me again, always trying to take a photo. The cool beach was lovely!
LUNCH
Afterwards, the weather was so moderate, we were able to leave the horses in the trailer (with lunch) while we went to a very cute bistro for human lunch.
Such a lovely day!
I was amazed when I got home… I wasn’t DIRTY. Usually, when I trailer my horses and groom them and then ride, I’m filthy. But today I was happy, full and clean! Yay!
This is my very generous friend on her “Willy” – Another gorgeous boy. We stood and admired Mother Nature.
TIME TO GET FINN OR BG IN SHAPE!
Once the weather calms down (Fall, probably), I have to find the best place to start riding Finn and BG. It may be a local vineyard, I’m not sure. But, I will find it.
Look at Rambo’s neck! My kinda horse! (Willy looked like Aladdin.)
THANKS FOR COMING ALONG!
Aw, sweet. Thanks!
I have found that other horse people with more than one horse love to find someone who will go with them on rides. They tend to wear out any of their friends, ie: going on a long ride as a novice can make one hurt so bad they don’t want to go again! LOL. So when they find someone willing and able to go, it makes it so much fun! I love the gabbing note, as that meant it was a good meeting of personalities and interests. So glad you got to go. Maybe once yours guys start up again, you can go with her as a co-rider. Very happy for you both!