Alford Arms Greenway, January 24, 2021

What a great day for a trail ride! The weather was very nice – not too cold and not too hot! I was the first to arrive at the trailhead with Quia and Sadie but two endurance riders were there getting tacked up. I asked Chris if she and Edie were riding with us, but they were doing training for an endurance ride. Stephanie came in after me and she was riding my mare, Sadie. Next was Corina and Rusty, who follows us on Facebook, and I was delighted to meet her. As we were talking, Ester pulled in with Dana, followed by Joyce with Blue. Linda came in with Blondie and brought Nancy and Gypsy as Nancy’s trailer is in Ocala for repairs. The last to arrive was Lauren and Jollie who brought Rocky and Flicka with her. We haven’t seen Rocky in a while, so it was a real pleasure to have her join us. We rode the perimeter trail so we could stay in the woods and encountered a lot of bicycle riders, but they were all very nice and polite. We also saw folks walking their dogs and encountered a darling Asian couple with their young son who was excited to see the horses. The crew that maintains the trails have done some work to open up the single tract perimeter trails and I think it was done for two reasons: 1) to act as a firebreak and 2) to allow easier passage as there were bikers and hikers using the trail along the railroad track. When we reached the point where we could take the new trail with the bridge, we went that way back to the trailhead as some folks had never ridden it. Much to our surprise, the trailhead was packed with other horse trailers, but we never even saw any other riders on the trail! We counted the trailers, and the total was 12! All in all, the ride was very enjoyable, and we got to share a lot of conversation! My thanks go to those who supported the ride!
Sue