Today was a soul cleansing day with my therapist, Dr. Condi. We rode at Lake Anna State Park. We had not been there in a good while. When we got there there was only one other lady preparing to ride and she was waiting on her riding buddy to arrive, but while we were tacking up the parking lot began to fill up….and many were folks we knew…

But I had already decided that I wanted to ride the Power Line side. It has been a while since I have ridden at Lake Anna and it has been years since I have ridden the power line side….I told Dr. Condi that we were going somewhere she had never been…the last time I rode those trails was on dear old Paladin Perkins.

SO we departed alone. the folks I knew would have welcomed us but they like the lake side, so Condi and I headed out alone.

I had forgotten a lot of the trails and had forgotten how much I liked them….the part along the actual power line is steep in places but Condi soldiered on valiantly shouldering the load with enthusiasm. I was real pleased with how well Condi has adapted to riding out alone….a couple of years ago she was all nickering and hollering and wanting to join any equines that came along….

Yesterday we only saw two other horses on the trail and after visiting for a moment we calmly passed them and continued down the trail.

We did a total of 7.2 miles and erased a couple of years of depression and ill feelings. When I got back to the trail head my friends were back from their ride and I joined them for a sandwich and some conversation. It was a very enjoyable day….

I am thinking that if the weather is decent that a Thanksgiving ride might be in order. Need to get started on my retirement goal of riding at least twice a week hopefully more than five mile with every ride. Thinking about involving Dixie and Pete but I am having so much fun with Condi and neither of the others have shoes….I do have some Cavallo boots for Pete’s fronts, but Dixie is barefoot.
Even renewed my pass to the wildlife management areas and going to hit them after hunting season.

Below is a gps of the trails we rode….We had a grand time…the long straight line is along the big power line….it has several steep ups and downs the ride through the woods is beautiful and this time of year you can see everything in the open hardwood forest…there were two small stream crossings and Condi stopped to get a drink at both of them…

Below is a shot from Sunday morning. I grabbed the camera because when I came out of the house Dixie and Corona were rubbing noses….but by the time I got the camera out and turned on they had stopped. Dixie is the sorrel Mule…Corona is the tan goat on top of the wood pile. I had to sneak behind the car to even get a chance at a shot because if Dixie had seen me she would have come to the fence looking for a handout….the goats love to hang out with the horses and I think they feel safe with them…Condi is the most temperamental of my equines and she is the boss mare….but it is not uncommon to find four or five goats laying around her in her stall…just not at feeding time…

Jim Tate
Pipe Dream Farm
Beaverdam, Va