We leave for the Shawnee National Forest on Thursday morning. We will be there for 8 days (minus 2 days for driving) and riding for 6 days. This will be our second big camping/trail riding trip and the first one by ourselves. Our friends that we have gone with before just couldn't make it work this year and we could so here we go! I'm a little nervous because we are going by ourselves but I'm also excited! I love my husband and spending time with him so this will be a great chance to really reconnect doing something we both like doing. I'm a little nervous because its a 730 mile trip by ourselves and we have no one to borrow this or that or to ask for help if you need it! It will be good though!
I found our campground in Trail Rider magazine so we'll see how it is! It seems good and we have a spot, 2 covered stalls, water and electric at the site, I'm not sure what else we really need! Direct route into the trail system and away we go!! We horse camp in our state park system quite a bit so we have everything we should need for the horses and ourselves for the trip...we always like to travel around the campgrounds and check out other things people have, you never know what kind of great ideas you'll pick up!
I signed us up for US Rider road side assistance a few weeks ago. We've been AAA members for 15 years or so but they don't touch trailers with horses in them...figured I'd better figure out something that would!! Seems like a good plan, that is something that its great to have and I just hope we never have to use it!
We travel in a 2500 GMC pick-up and a truck camper (pop up slide in bed type), we have a 3 horse Featherlite slant load with a modified tack room (lots of hangers and shelves!). Trucks oil has been changed and brakes fixed...another whole story right there....trailer is pretty much packed, I just need to run through and check everything off! I'm packing the camper tomorrow with all the stuff that can be stowed away. We stopped and picked up some groceries today, more on Tuesday! A trip to Fleet Farm to pick-up the last minute essentials and fill the feed room at the barn so we don't have to do it when we get back.
I have pressure washed our saddle pads, oiled the saddles, modified saddle bags, cleaned the head stalls and reins. The vet was out this morning to get the health certificates and a couple tubes of bute (its a long trailer ride!). Right after that shoes all the way around and pads in the front got put on. The horses can tell something is going on, they never get rear shoes! I'm a little disappointed in our riding schedule this year, the horses don't have as many miles on them as I would like but it will have to do, its only us going so we don't have to push it which will be nice.
My bag has been packed since last Thursday...I'm only a little excited! I'll have to wash a couple things and repair my favorite pair of riding jeans. Why is it that they are your favorite and then they start falling apart??
I'm excited to put another trip under our belt, I hope my horse behaves, and I hope that we stay safe the whole time! We northerners aren't used to black widow spiders and rattle snakes!!
Happy Trails everyone!!
