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Equestrian
(A fancy word for horses.)
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Our interests began in about 1976 when we purchased our oldest daughter, Susan, a Welch pony. She rode that pony in many activities most of which were sponsored by 4-H. Being slow to learn things, the hook was in and the costs started to mount. Fencing, a new barn, tack, trailers, and on and on. We have never regretted it.
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Donna was next with a Quarter horse. Now it was time to get serious about showing. We were living in Minnesota and began to really enjoy the partnership you can have with a horse.
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After moving to Iowa in 1978 it was time for George to have a horse. Showing wasn’t, and isn’t, in his blood. After trying it a few times, trail riding was more for him. We all rode together around the Center Point, Iowa area but the seeds were planted for shows and trails. We tried a little of the have your own babies. That wasn’t any cheaper than just buying them as 3-5 year olds.
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Donna and Susan “upgraded” to Arabians and bigger shows. Susan was lucky and won hers in an essay contest. A beautiful gelding that Susan and Donna showed. We had a tragic storm come through the farm that caused much damage and killed Susan’s pony and our foal. This lead to a new barn and of course new trailers along with more tack.
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Donna stopped for a water break at Big Piney on JC Love Charm.
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Not to be left out, our youngest daughter, Patti, was more sensible and showed dogs and cats. They have their expenses too, but not even close to horses. She showed them in 4H shows and brought home her share of trophies and ribbons. She still can get along with any cat or dog she has a little time with.
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After the girls moved on to their own lives, we started doing more trail riding. Donna’s Class A Arabian learned how to be really a good trail horse as well as a show horse. I upgraded to a “Paint” that was really just a Quarter horse, but she could find trails where they couldn’t be seen.
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In late 1999 we made a decision to get two young horses that we could ride trails for the rest of our riding career. We selected two three-year-old Missouri Fox Trotters.
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In January 2000 we decided to upgrade trailer and now are equipped for some serious trail riding, but in comfort. In February a decision was made to not wait until 2003 to retire, so on 24 March 2000 at 4:30PM our retirement began. And it is great! In September we upgraded our truck to support the style of travel we were doing. Our travels have been in the upper Midwest so far. There are so many interesting places to go and explore that we probably will never see all of what we want. In the fall of 2002 one of our horses became very sick. In January 2003 we bought Stormy Windbreaker, a 17 year old Tennessee Walker. Stormy is an outstanding horse. He is really great with kids. In February, Smudge lost his battle with cancer. So, if you are interested in where we have traveled, continue on to Big Creek, Golden Hills, Yellow River, Elk Rock, Volga, Stephens Forest, Brushy Creek, Big Piney, Prairie du Chien, and Bay Creek.
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Trail Riding
We have ridden some very interesting trails we’d like to share. We enjoy some “organized” rides as well as riding on our own. Currently our standard equipment is two great horses, and Don West saddles. We also carry a lot of other things with us that includes a compass, maps, first aid items, mirror, cable saw, knives, pliers, a GPS or two, etc. Briefly, here is where we’ve gone. We have used the data from the GPS receivers to create trail maps. These maps are now available for sale. The maps are available in two sizes. We have four styles. These are basic, topographic, fine topographic, and photographic.
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For the past few years we have been writing about our riding for a regional magazine called Apples 'n Oats. You can find some of the articals at http://www.applesnoats.com/.
In late 2005 George was appointed to the newly created Iowa Equine Development Commission. Check their WEB site at http://www. agriculture.state.ia.us/EquineCommission.
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So, if you are interested in where we have traveled, continue on to these Equestrian, pages: Big Creek, Golden Hills, Yellow River, Elk Rock, Stephens Forest, Brushy Creek, Big Piney, Prairie Du Chien. Bay Creek, and Volga. Thanks for visiting.
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This page was last updated on Sunday, 5 March 2006. Thanks for visiting.
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visits since 2 February 2004.
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