Saturday Road Warriors - Sunday Hunter's Orange

The boots we bought for Zora and Divna (The Girls) have opened up a whole new world of riding (see past post). With these boots, we can ride places where we never felt comfortable before with our unshod horses. We bought the boots so we could ride in rocky terrain without having to put shoes on The Girls. But what we found is that we can now explore the backroads of rural LaPorte County. So that is what we have been doing the past couple of weekends.

On a recent Saturday we took off to ride a back road that we used to drive down when we first moved out here. This particular road is very pretty with ravines and lots of twists and turns. However, the fastest route to get there takes us down the County Line Road which separates Porter and LaPorte counties. In years past that road was lightly traveled -- it is no longer that way. So it was a bit nerve wracking riding on this busy street, but The Girls handled it like pros. Most drivers were very considerate -- slowing down and moving to the other lane for us. Of course there had to be one "clueless" driver out there -- an elderly man in a small pickup truck came right up behind us and not only did he not move over one inch, he actually honked his horn when he got right behind us! Scared the hell out of me! Divna jumped just a little bit, but otherwise she was fine -- clearly it unnerved me more than it did her.

We decided we would take a different route next time so we don't have to go on County Line Road.

We rode the country roads, and it was such cool and different ride. We passed a house that had a lot of  horses. The people were outside, so we stopped and chatted for a while, and the horses came up to visit and check out our Girls.

The next day we decided to ride through the woods and on the abandoned railroad line near our house. It is hunting season in Indiana, so we had to get everyone decked out in orange.

 

 Zora in orange....













Divna in her orange....




On the railroad line there is a serious wash-out spot. It has been there for years, and just keeps getting bigger and bigger. We already had to make a new trail to go around it, and it looks like it won't be long until we have to make yet another trail around it. We are always nervous about this spot -- especially if it is dusk. It sneaks up on you and you are on it before you know it. The hole is deep enough to lose a horse in. It is difficult to tell from this picture, but trust me, it is dangerous.

So we put up some surveyors tapes on the trees near it, and on the trail about 20 yards before you get to it to serve as an early warning system.

Can't wait to get out there and so more riding, and try our new route to the country roads....

Stay in the saddle!!!