One Horse Gap

I didn't have any real plans for today. The weather report called for some rain. I did have to take Lily up to the vet this morning to get a coggins test at 8:30 am. So, I had to hook up the trailer and load up Lily so figured if the rain ended, I might ride somewhere. So, when Sally contacted me to see if I wanted to ride, I asked if she wanted to go with me to the vet. From there we could ride somewhere away from home for a change. She was happy to do that. I got over to the barn early as I had to feed the mules. I loaded my tack while they ate and then got Lily and gave her a quick grooming. It had rained during the night and she was FILTHY! UGH! She loaded right into the trailer like a good girl. I then went over and picked up Sally and ChiChi. I unloaded Lily and we put ChiChi in the front slot so that I could get Lily out at the vet.

The vet was running behind on his appointments so we didn't leave there until after 9:00. Poor Lily got jabbed nearly 10 times before the vet was able to get a vein. Thankfully Lily tolerated it with no fuss. We left the vet and made the decision to ride One Horse Gap. I've hiked to the Gap but never ridden that area so that would be a treat for me. We parked at One Horse Gap lake and started out by riding around the lake. The fall colors are just starting to come on nicely. The weather was already improving by the time we got there so it was really beautiful riding around the lake.

 It didn't take us long to get to the Gap. And it sure is a ONE horse gap! And I wouldn't want to ride a very fat horse through! I was at a slight advantage on the taller equine going through as the walls of the gap widen the higher they go. But, I still had to pull my legs up as much as I could to avoid getting them mashed on the rocks. And my saddle bags scraped on both sides at one point. Thankfully the sound of that didn't bother Lily.

 From the Gap, we rode up to Rocky Top. We stopped there and tied up at the rails so we could take our time and enjoy the view which was spectacular! We rode along the top of a bluff for quite a ways. We hit the River to River trail and rode that for a while and finally looped back and rode along the bottom of the bluff that we'd ridden the top of and finally made our way back to One Horse Gap and rode through it a 2nd time. At the top of the Gap, we got off and high lined Lily and ChiChi and stopped to have our lunch. We met Loretta Wheeler there. After lunch we rode back to the lake on a different trail than we came in on and finished the loop around the lake back to my trailer. ChiChi and Lily were both wonderful today. It turned out nice and sunny and was just a fabulous day!