Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Giddyup
During our weekend at Brian's parents house in Evart, Michigan, we thought it might be neat to go horseback riding. The weather was beautiful, and I thought there might be places out in the country that would support riding stables open to the public.
Brian's dad heroically called a bunch of places, and Brian called a bunch of places. It turns out that many stables that normally would have trail riding were closed either for the holiday or because it's hunting season.
I suppose it would suck to get shot at while out riding.
When Brian and I left on Saturday, we found ourselves on the western side of the state at the Double JJ, which did indeed have openings for a trail ride at 2:00 p.m. We arrived early and wandered around the "Back Forty" which is set up like an old western town complete with jail, souvenir shop, and saloon where you can get burgers and grilled cheese and fries and what not.
We lined up to climb the stairs of the mounting platform, and the ranch employees brought forth around 20 horses for all of the people riding that day. We were instructed to take the horse over to one of the watering troughs, then line up by the gate. Brian's horse, Speckles, was very thirsty and Brian couldn't get him away from the trough (later during the ride, we opted for the slower ride that was walking only...I will not say it was specifically out of deference to Brian's lack of experience--I'm tempted to, but it's just as well I didn't try to bounce the heck out of my gimpy hips on a trotting horse). There was some debate about my horse's name. Some of the employees call her Oatmeal. Others call her Vomit. She was sort of dappled beige, cream, and brown.
I guess it depends on how you feel about oatmeal.
I enjoyed the ride very much. We saw wild turkeys and did not encounter any hunters. The Double JJ has cattle drives where they actually teach you how to herd cattle.
This ride was important to me--back when I broke my hip, I remember emailing Sarah (Sarah and Danielle and I had talked about planning a trip to a "dude ranch" the previous summer) that I probably wouldn't be able to ride horses any more, and that the possibility of a dude ranch vacation wasn't looking good. Well, f*ck that. I can ride a horse; I don't see why I can't take any kind of vacation I want (money notwithstanding). I am very proud that I was able to get on the horse's back and that I could walk when I got off. Ok, I was a bit saddle sore, but that's normal.
Brian says he prefers his steel horse. That's fine, but I don't get to ride the steel horse by myself.
The Double JJ also has sled dogs; we spent some time feeding them doggie treats from a gumball machine bolted to a tree by their enclosure. There's an indoor water park, but we did not have bathing suits. As we ambled to the car, walking funny from the long ride, a wedding party showed up--the bridesmaids were carefully carrying their dresses and I think we saw the wedding dress arive. They (the people AND the dresses) were going to assemble in the dance hall for the ceremony. I wouldn't necessarily have wanted a western wedding, but it made me pretty happy that people were assembling to have fun and celebrate.
Brian's dad heroically called a bunch of places, and Brian called a bunch of places. It turns out that many stables that normally would have trail riding were closed either for the holiday or because it's hunting season.
I suppose it would suck to get shot at while out riding.
When Brian and I left on Saturday, we found ourselves on the western side of the state at the Double JJ, which did indeed have openings for a trail ride at 2:00 p.m. We arrived early and wandered around the "Back Forty" which is set up like an old western town complete with jail, souvenir shop, and saloon where you can get burgers and grilled cheese and fries and what not.
We lined up to climb the stairs of the mounting platform, and the ranch employees brought forth around 20 horses for all of the people riding that day. We were instructed to take the horse over to one of the watering troughs, then line up by the gate. Brian's horse, Speckles, was very thirsty and Brian couldn't get him away from the trough (later during the ride, we opted for the slower ride that was walking only...I will not say it was specifically out of deference to Brian's lack of experience--I'm tempted to, but it's just as well I didn't try to bounce the heck out of my gimpy hips on a trotting horse). There was some debate about my horse's name. Some of the employees call her Oatmeal. Others call her Vomit. She was sort of dappled beige, cream, and brown.
I guess it depends on how you feel about oatmeal.
I enjoyed the ride very much. We saw wild turkeys and did not encounter any hunters. The Double JJ has cattle drives where they actually teach you how to herd cattle.
This ride was important to me--back when I broke my hip, I remember emailing Sarah (Sarah and Danielle and I had talked about planning a trip to a "dude ranch" the previous summer) that I probably wouldn't be able to ride horses any more, and that the possibility of a dude ranch vacation wasn't looking good. Well, f*ck that. I can ride a horse; I don't see why I can't take any kind of vacation I want (money notwithstanding). I am very proud that I was able to get on the horse's back and that I could walk when I got off. Ok, I was a bit saddle sore, but that's normal.
Brian says he prefers his steel horse. That's fine, but I don't get to ride the steel horse by myself.
The Double JJ also has sled dogs; we spent some time feeding them doggie treats from a gumball machine bolted to a tree by their enclosure. There's an indoor water park, but we did not have bathing suits. As we ambled to the car, walking funny from the long ride, a wedding party showed up--the bridesmaids were carefully carrying their dresses and I think we saw the wedding dress arive. They (the people AND the dresses) were going to assemble in the dance hall for the ceremony. I wouldn't necessarily have wanted a western wedding, but it made me pretty happy that people were assembling to have fun and celebrate.
Labels: Brian, Danielle, Double JJ, Evart, hip, horses, Sarah, Thanksgiving, vacation, wedding
