Wanted to share pics, as much of the trails are now lost to a fire!

Last May we went on a Competitive Trail ride, I didn't blog about it as I got so busy. But now I feel compelled to share, as there has been a big forest fire that has destroyed a big chunk of the provincial forest. It was started by a quader, during a quad poker derby two weekends later. Here are some pictures of the fire that was in the news...

But I prefer to remember our ride. It was amazing! We weren't sure about going on this ride, as it was a 2 hour drive south east of us. I decided to just do a 10 mile ride, as I didn't want to get up and out of the farm by 6:30am to make it to a longer ride! Ick, early riser I am NOT! So we all packed up, except for Michele's horse Cici (Michele injured herself) and made the trip out to Sandilands Provincial Forest.

It was a very brisk day, staying below 10 degrees C, and having a cool wind. But it was sunny and had great scenery! The four of us set out; me on Willow, Jill on Sage, Debbie on Meg and Ilonka on Mayberry. The trails were very interesting, with lots of hills (many with danger signs - eek!)

There were lots of hill and thick, gnarly roots sticking up in the trails, with tall pines waving softly overhead. We spent much of the 10 miles in the Gotland’s comfortable, ground-covering trot. I can still close my eyes now, almost a year later and remember the feel of the ride. It just seemed to flow.

We had so much fun on this ride, and it was I think my favourite trail of the year. There is a ride tentatively scheduled for October 2009 (if the trails get marked after the fire). It is definitely worth the 1 ½ drive to go again!