Lily, The Lovely Bright Molly: Mt. Pisgah with Cierra

Cierra on Tinkerbell

Cierra and I were finally able to get out riding together today. We both worked at Upper Pond Stable this morning and made plans to meet back at the stable at noon time when I would pick her and her horse, Tinkerbell up. I had to do some hard thinking on where to take Cierra to ride as I wanted to take her somewhere she hadn't been before. I decided to take her to Mt. Pisgah in Winthrop. I had not ridden there this year so it would be fun for me also.

I got to Upper Pond right on time. Cierra was almost ready to go. She just needed a little help to get all of Tinkerbell's boots on. I decided to have Cierra load her in the back spot on my trailer. Tinkerbell has been doing so well with loading and trailering that I felt she was ready to self load. She did wonderful. Today I was riding my horse Marie. I have to get the old girl out myself now and again. I parked at the usual spot at the old fire station. We quickly tacked up and were on our way. We rode the short distance up Mt. Pisgah Rd. to the gravel pit, through there and out to the trails that go around Nancy's bog. The first part of the trails were wetter than usual. It was no problem but had me worried as the 2nd half of the ride has some muddy spots even when it's been dry. We trotted where we could along the Soper Rd. trail out to Turkey lane. Turkey Lane is a quiet paved road with a shoulder along most of it and trotted the length of this road to Dorothy Egg Farm where the trail goes back into the woods. I was much relieved that this part of the trail, that is usually wet, was dryer than usual. There were still some muddy spots but none of it was bad. And most of it was very nice. Just after coming through one muddy spot, I turned to see if Tinkerbell had all her boots on. She did but one was all undone and about to come off! I'm sure glad I looked when I did. We tried to fasten it back on but there was so much mud in the velcro that it would not stick. We finally found a mud hole with just enough water in it to rinse out the velcro. Once Cierra had as much of the mud cleaned off as she could, I put the boot back on Tinkerbell and it fastened up just fine and we were good to go. When we came to the turn in the trail that goes to the top of Mt. Pisgah, I got off Marie and led her up the steepest part. After all, she is getting older and I'm no light weight. Once up in the meadow, we stopped so I could catch my breath, then I mounted back up and we rode the rest of the way to the top. When we got out on the tower road, we did a nice canter. When we stopped, Cierra looked back, and with a startled look told me there was something seriously wrong with one of Marie's feet! I jumped off to look and she was fine. But one of her boots had popped off her foot but was still attached to her pastern so the boot was sitting on top of her hoof and it looked very strange indeed. I put her boot back on and we continued to the top of Mt. Pisgah. There is no view to be seen from the top from the ground. But there is a fire tower there and the view from the tower is spectacular. I held the horses while Cierra climbed to the top of the tower with my camera to get some photos. Then she climbed it a second time so I could take a photo of her on the tower. We hung out and relaxed there for a bit letting the horses graze. When we mounted back up, I noticed a new trail going in the direction we wanted to go so I decided to try it and see if it was passable for the horses. It turned out to be a lovely trail but most likely meant for hikers on foot. The footing was very good but some of the trail led between trees that were close together. Good old knee knockers. We both managed to keep our knees intact and undamaged thanks to our two trusty mounts. We had to clamor over a few stone walls but all were pretty easy. At one point I missed the trail and Cierra spotted it and got in front of me. She stayed in the front for a little bit and we came to a creek crossing that was a little ditchy. Tinkerbell stopped to look it over, then looked back at Marie as if to ask if it was safe to cross. Apparently Marie told her it was ok as Tinkerbell faced it again, then gathered up and very neatly jumped it. Of course both of the horses had to poop on this trail so I got off and kicked the poop off the trail as I was not sure we were allowed to be on this trail. The trail eventually came out just above the meadow at the top of the steep part of the climb up the mountain. Tinkerbell handled the steep descent extremely well and our ride back to the trailer was uneventful and pleasant. It was such a lovely day and the flies weren't bad at all. Tinkerbell had taken a drink out on trail but drank again back at the trailer as did Marie. We sponged them off and loaded them up putting Tinkerbell in the back spot again. I was happy to find I had some snack bars in the trailer as we'd been riding for 3 1/2 hrs. and we were both hungry! On the drive home we munched snack bars, gabbed and sang with the radio. It was a good day!