Brian had planned a weekend get away to Knott County for their HUGE spring trail ride. I was super excited and the fact that he planned this for our anniversary was even more special!! Ever since we have gotten this set of horses, he has been talking about wanting to go trail riding, we have trails around the farm and the Lake is just a hop, skip and jump away but he wanted to go away and someplace new. This was the right one to go to if you wanted to go big or go home, this is the way he rolls in everything.
We finished loading the trailer and headed out as soon as we put the kids on the bus. Hayley was pretty bummed that she couldn't go but didn't seem to get to upset after we told her about all the fun she was going to have with Aunt Amy and Keegan!!
Ginger and Copper ready to leave
It was a nice 3-3 1/2 hour drive to Leburn, KY (in Eastern, Ky about 1/2 way between Hazard and Pikeville) We had a good time talking and catching up, hard to do these past weeks with all the storms, crazy work and school schedules!
As we pulled in, this was the first thing I saw:
I had a mixture of anxiety( that the little girl would fall off) and sadness (reminded me of Hayley). Brian was quick to remind and ground me that these people are used to riding like that and there would be lots of kids (smaller then this little girl) who would be riding by themselves and much bigger horses.
A good storm had blown in on Thursday night and it very muddy and deep mud/water/sludge in most places. There was no way that you could of made it without the 4 wheel drive. I am thankful that we had this and also thankful we only have a stock trailer and not some fancy camper because I would of stroked out with the mess it would have been stuck in!!
As far as you could see were campers, trailers and horses in every price range and class. It was a definitely a sight to see.
We finally found a place that was not in standing water or mud and that we knew we could get out without getting stuck. I couldn't wait to unpack camp and hit the trails--the weather was picture perfect to ride!!
Right behind out tent was a hill that lead to one of the many trails, we started there:
I was anxious to see how the horses would do and how far/much we could push them. They did wonderful and everything we asked of them!! We rode for 3 1/2-4 hours straight--oh, the scenery---BEAUTIFUL and BREATH TAKING!!
Proof that I was there with Ginger
This is all an old reclaimed mine area so you can go for miles and miles and up valleys and down to the bottom--it was breath taking and so peaceful!! Its said that you can hear and see Elk but with the storms that came in the night before we didn't see any. We headed back to camp for lunch and to let the horses rest. Brian opted for a little nap and I got to read some.....a rarity these days!!
We headed back out after lunch for a while and did lots of "cruising"on our horses in the camp ground and on the main strip. There was literally every type of horse, mules, donkey's, carts, wagons, etc--wish I had taken more pictures
They had a little vendor section with people selling horse tack and then a handful of food vendors. We decided to wonder that way and check it out, this was also where there was live music in the evening. The storm on Thursday night had ripped the top of the stage off---YIKES!!! Kentucky Hedgehunter's were scheduled to play on Saturday night!!!!
We got a blooming onion that was HUGE but not as good as Outback
So upset that this is the only picture that I took of the two us together the whole weekend
Our evening ended with relaxing with a campfire
It was a perfect day celebrating 10 years with my hubby!!!
