Monday, May 21, 2012

Treasure In My Backyard

The treasure I'm referring to isn't real treasure and it's not really in my backyard. I'm referring to Lake Mineral Wells State Park that is about 6 miles from me. This is a great place to do all sorts of outdoor activities. My favorite being riding horses! The State Park has about 8 miles of equestrian trails! I absolutely LOVE IT! For people like me who don't own their own land or don't own much, the State Park is a nice change of pace. Even with the $5 entry fee (which is for all day) is well worth what you get! There is about 30 acres where I keep my horse that I ride very regularly but it gets old after a while riding the same place all the time. The State Park adds a lot of variety. I've even taken the dogs on occasion and walked the hiking/biking/equestrian trails. There is rock climbing, fishing, camping, paddle boats. There are even special events for kids teaching them about nature.

My rig with the horses. Yes, I know there are two horses and only one of me! I have a system when I don't have anyone to ride with me. I ride one and lead the other then switch. I am looking forward to when my Lil' Peanut is big enough to ride along unassisted! The big bay is my horse Clyde and the other horse belongs to the people who own the property where I keep my horse. At the end of the parking lot is the where the trail begins.

The State Park is just beautiful this time of year! Wildflowers are everywhere, its green and foliage covers the trails several places making for a nice canopy of shade. I took time out from my ride every so often to take pictures. I want to go back with my big camera. I was using my compact digital on the ride (less expensive to replace if it gets damaged!)
A picture of some of the trail. These yellow flowers are EVERYWHERE!






Isn't this a beauty?







Last week, my son-in-law came with me. He's enjoying the scenery. It was his first time to ride out here.







And Clyde is very pokey. He walks very slowly and wants to trot to catch up when all he would have to do is walk faster! Silly horse!


Here we are going through the low water crossing.





I just love these trails! I could stay out here for days....but alas....I must go home. Until next time...Happy Trails to you!


4 comments:

  1. Love this! Such a pretty place to ride. I'm assuming you take the extra horse so it can be exercised? However, I also wonder if it's so he won't be left out. :) My favorite pic besides the flowers is the last one of the horse's ears on the trail. Are you moving your blog this one? Or doing both? If both, I'll be following you on this one cause it shows up in my reader and I know when you've posted. I love "riding" along with you on your blog. Have a great day!

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  2. Thanks Sandy! I always am encouraged by your wonderful comments. I am planning to blog here from now on. I haven't shut the other blog down but may in the future. Yes, I take the other horse for the exercise. I ride the people's horse for boarding mine. My deal is to work theirs 3x a week. Doesn't leave much time to just ride him so I work him the same time.

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  3. I'm not sure about the blog you had before but I have actually moved an entire blog...posts and photos from Wordpress to Blogspot. I searched how to do it and did it. It worked thank goodness. It was for my Clawson Clan blog. So all the old posts are now on the new site and even have the correct dates. I was a bit amazed that I was able to do it. Ha, ha.

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  4. that is pretty impressive! I may talk to you about it sometime.

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