February 15, 2018

Trail: 302 Grove Hollow at Blue Hole in Bergton, Virginia. Drive all the way back, over four cattle guards.

Parking: Not a very big area. Small turn around. Space for two or possibly three small rigs. There is a second spot to park just past the main spot but it is often flooded or extremely muddy.

Todays Ride: I got a very late start and didn’t reach the trail head until nearly 3pm so I decided to do the quick loop with the big down hill finish. It has amazing views, lots of room to move out and the big down hill adds another level to the work out. It does slow down the over all pace quite a bit but it’s a fun challenge. Certainly not for every ride.

The ride starts out through the closed fire road gate, and on we go. Past lots of logged areas, up and up, on a slow incline for about the first two miles or so. This makes this area a bit of an annoyance for me to do a ride in and back out since the last two miles is a down hill ride. I dislike that level of down hill on Simon. He is so slow and not as surefooted as I would like and let’s his laziness peak. It takes some constant work to keep him moving at a decent pace. Which is not how I like to spend the last two miles of any ride.

After a bit there is a road that beaches to the left, 302b Grove Hollow – with a closed fire gate, or proceed ahead onto 302 Rocky Spur.

I really had no idea what I was going to do at this point. But I was working with limited daylight. I debated for a bit too long then opted to head left on 302b grove hollow.

It’s a nice hack along until you come to a an opening with three split offs in front of you. Choosing left makes for this loop. None of these have road markers or any designations displayed.

So off to the left, which is a quick down, around and up and then this trail shows its beauty. Since they logged this area a few years ago, there are absolutely amazing views. And this section of the trail is all amazing. The trail rolls up, down and around, and it’s perfect for a nice rolling canter, popping up on each new crest with a “king of the world” feel!

As expected photo and video just does not show these views.

Alas the views end and the main trail runs out and becomes a much narrower trail. And on we go.

Here is where the real challenge comes. The downhill. The trail sort of narrows down and becomes less clear. There are pink marker tags here to assist with the hill, I recommend following them. It starts off not bad, going straight ahead and then curving to the left and beginning to slope down. It’s gradual but quickly gets steep. I have gone all the way down mounted, but I usually dismount once it gets super steep. Although I have mentioned previously I really am uncomfortable going steeply downhill on Simon so I am not sure how much of that plays into it, but I assure you, it is steep. The trail is visible, although the markers make it easier to follow, especially once on the ground.

Today I was climbing down on foot with Simon and I slipped and rolled a little ways. I popped up from the roll and I swear Simon was was laughing at me *oh come on human, really?* It was comical. Once to the bottom, it’s an easy slip to the right into a more dominant trail, and just a few yards ahead across a creek and turn right. This trail has some downed trees, but nothing impassable. It dumps you out at a rocky creek type of bed, bare a bit right and across a creek, there is a clear crossing (this area is a bit messy since it floods on occasion and not so clear. After the rocky bed area bare right to the running creek, closer to the fence). After crossing the creek there is a path, sort of tough to see, it is parallel to the creek, forcing you to make a hard left to enter it. It takes up along the creek, then bares up and dumps you into the road, just a short shot left to the parking.

Video clips of the ride.

oh did I mention it was in the 70s!!!

January 14, 2018

Track: left hand track -8 miles total in and out.

Parking – turn around is tight. I comment in the end of the video clip about it. I pull in then back into the first turn on the right (1117b Elizabeth ridge) to turn around. There is parking on the right as you go to pull back out. Room for two smaller rigs, maybe three small rigs squeezed in.

Today’s ride: It’s been a while since I have been back here and I forgot how much I like this trail. It’s a nice 8 mile out and back, fire road to trail, nice views, various footing, some hills but no rough climbs or tough footing. Note, the sign at the road is gone.

I headed up 1117 Old Man Run, through the open gate, along the creek, and heading straight/left at the main split.

It is such a pretty ride. At the first “top” of the road it sort of opens into a camp area and there is a trail to the left that goes off to the power lines for a pretty view.

Then continue on ahead on the road to the closed fire gate and around it. To this point there were some rather fresh tire tracks and a few boot prints.

I absolutely love this trail after the closed gate. It stays clear and passable, rolling, it’s easy to keep moving at a decent pace, lots of room to trot and canter. There are also plenty of nice views.

I tried something out during the ride. I started taking these little video clips along the ride. At first I was trying to give you an idea of the views but then I though I could show some of the trail. It’s such a nice trail and varys as you go. So let’s see how this works out.

Well, to my dismay, after lots of effort, I am not able to put the little clips throughout the blog successfully. So I compiled them into one video and loaded it into YouTube and included it above this paragraph.

The trail ends under the power lines, it’s the second time you actually go under them.

May 12,  2017 

This past weekend was the Shenandoah Trail Riders and Horsemans Association (STRHA) Judged Trail Ride – part of the Crystal Crown series.  I am a member of this club and was happy to support the JTR. But sadly, my usual JPR, JTR crew were all busy so I signed up and headed out alone.  

This turned out to be better than ok as the pair in front of me asked if I wanted to join their drafty duo.  I feel like the three of us got along really well and I had a blast with them.  They were also kind enough to share their video/photos and agreed to become super famous on this blog! I would love to do a JPR with them again in the future.  And now we are also Facebook friends, which we all know makes things *real! 

Below is pictured my new JPR BFFs Lacy and Andrea.  

It was a rainy gross morning, but the rain did start to let off after the first part of the ride.  

Lacy rode Gunner, her gorgeous Friesian cross (Tb I think).  She beasted obstacles.  

In this obstacle you needed to collect the umbrella from the trash bin, open it and hold it over your head, close it back up and return it to the bin. Simon was a little silly for this one and although we were successful it was not smooth.  

*beep beep* back up the hill trough the wig wag.  I think we got a 7 or an 8.  We defiantly tapped some poles and crushed a cone. 

This is one of the obstacles Simon kicked ass at, gaining a solid 10.  The goal was to push the bar around 360 degrees.  

Simon was a little unsure of this obstacle.  You had to walk back and forth over it three times without touching it.  We were successful with some caution. 

You will have to check out the video below. It shows a few obstacles.  

Ring jousting.  Using a wiggly driving whip, collect 4 rings, getting smaller in size, without hesitating or stepping back.  Games skills came into play and we got a 10.  We were told it was the second 10 on that obstacle of the day.  

Andrea backs her big ol beast, Quin, up the hill through the wig wavy poles.   

Andrea doing the umbrella challenge. 

Andrea riding through the water obstacle.  It had a blow up whale and also a kayak, complete with Elli’s dog Doc sitting in the kayak.  That part made me so smiley.  
 

May 10, 2017 

Two weekends ago was the Mid-Atlantic #1 competition and Poe was getting a little tired towards the end of day two.  So I am digging in a bit more on his conditioning.  

We have been doing some farm hacks and a little hill work at home.  Which is pretty usual for us.  And yesterday I descided to take him for some mountain work. Mind you, light mountain work, but I knew adding the uneven footing and the constant up and down would step up the work out.  I also needed a change of scenery.   

Poe is not the loveliest trail pony, and after having Simon for trails, I am totally over riding anything jiggy or spooky.  Poe is not usually jiggy, at least for the first hour in a group but not so much on his own.  But he is aware.  He constantly scans his surroundings, keeping an eye out for any pony-eating obstacles.   So as a rider I need to be engaged.  

So my goal was to keep the ride between 1 and 1 1/2 hours and to finish on a positive – unannoyed – note for both of us. I also selected Slat Lick since it is a much more frequented area than most I go.  Just in case.  

We arrived and started off on the shortest loop.  We did a lot of waking (Poe needed his eyes to be scanning his surroundings and not looking at his footing) but we got in some elivation and Poe enjoyed marching through the water and different surroundings.   1 hour and 15 minutes later we were done and loading up to head back home.  Success!   Every spring I seem to hit a few conditioning rides on Poe and I am always surprised at how good he is.  Maybe I need to reevaluate Poe and trails.  

April 17, 2017 
The Shenandoah Trail Riders and Horsemans Association had a ride on Sunday and I wanted to take part.  But Simon was off on his own adventures so Poe needed to step up.  And he did. Mostly. 

We rode out from Uncle Tom’s Park in Jerome, VA and did a lovely 2.5 hour loop.  Poe was really good for the first hour. He walked and did his smooth little western jog to keep up.  After an hour he started getting a little snarky.  He made a few more faces at the other horses that he was already making.  At one point he really wanted to kick Ellie’s mare.  No idea why. He has never been a kicker.  And he really disliked the mule.  Again, no idea why.  His smooth western jog and working wak started to turn into a jig and the last fifteen minutes of the ride reached a point of suck-dom.  Most of my games pony riding friends probably wouldn’t think twice about his behavior.  But having ridden Simon on trails for so long I am totally over the pony jig.  

Today my upper side abs are worn out and sore and I am so happy with Poe.  This was not his normal job and he did his best and really it was not bad.  Just not as relaxing as I have become accustomed to.  

After the ride we had a potluck which was amazing.  And then an Easter egg hunt!  I had forgotten how much fun egg hunting is!   I even found the egg with the subway gift card! Score! 

STRHA is a fun group.  This is my second year with them and I am looking forward to some fun rides.  Sadly a lot of them conflict with my mounted games competition schedule, but I’ll make what I can.  Oh and Uncle Toms Camp is so neat.  I in life’s a photo of the old pool.