Stewart and Dancehall Dixi and Palladin Perkins and I made a foray down to Pocahontas State Park on the day before Memorial Day 2012.

STEWART AND DANCEHALL DIXI

It was quite warm and the may flies have come out in numbers and the horse flies are beginning to be bothersome.  But we slathered on a good bit of bug dope for equines and rider alike and we pressed on.

I did find a small gathering of seed ticks settled in for dinner at the area where the top of my boot had been.  I put a little vicks on them, waited a couple of minutes and easily wiped them off.

Perkins is wearing a good coat of mineral oil with tea tree, cedar and peppermint essential oils mixed in.  Not a magic bullet but works as good as the twenty dollar stuff.

THERE IS A TWO TREAT FEE FOR MY IMAGE

This was our first trip to Pocahontas.  Since it was a place neither of us had been to and it is not too far away we figured we owed it to ourselves to visit.  Easy to get to once we get to an interstate.

We found nice broad trails that would be well suited to driving horses as well as riding.  Most were graveled or sandy or had crush and run on them.  Most of the ones we rode were thru the woods and so they were shady and cool.

Most streams were culverted and there were a couple of nice wide bridges.

We only saw two other horses but did see a few hikers, joggers, dog walkers and bicyclists.  All were handled with aplomb by both riders and mounts.

of course below was our usual view of Dixi,,,,

OUR NORMAL VIEW OF DIXI

That little mule walks like a big walking horse.  She does not take big steps but she takes a lot of small ones .  She just scoots right down the trail without being in any hurry at all.  Perkins and I were either trotting to keep up or Stewart and Dixi were waiting for us.

JUNIORS BUG HAT FITS OK

Perkins gave Dixi Juniors old bug bonnet.  Fits her okay.  Ears are a little long but they were long on Junior too.

We only rode the southern side of the park.  there are supposed to be a lot more trails on the other side of the road but by the time we had done the 7.83 miles and came around to the trailer we were all ready to cool off and go home.

We had our usual good time and all came home safe and sound.  Goodness knows the Va State Police were out there doing their part to keep us all safe.  And they all had plenty of customers.  blue light specials every couple of miles..