Horseback Riding Adventure

Following Valentine's Day every year is my wife Kara's birthday. I get a couple of days between the two very important dates but they feel very much like one big celebration to me. I'm always looking for a little something different to do and this year, I decided to take her horseback riding. Considering her love for horses from years spent growing up on a farm in Texas, the first mention of my birthday idea received rave reviews from Kara (sigh of relief for me-hah).

We went to Latta Plantation on Mountain Island Lake this past Saturday for the two hour sunset ride followed by a BBQ dinner next to a bonfire. To say the very least, it was an extremely successful day as we both had an absolute blast along with a few stories afterwards. Here are a few pictures from the adventure...

Here's Kara posing with Benny in his corral before the ride... who proved to be a huge challenge for her! Despite her years of experience with horses, Benny took a little while for Kara to adjust too... how many times did I look back only to see Benny and Kara wondering off the trail somewhere?! LOL... I tell you what, if I was on Benny he would have taken me to Salisbury. So it was definitely wise she was riding him rather than me-hah! Note his tongue sticking out, perhaps this was a clue as to what he thought about the idea:)

This was my horse, Little Charley. His funny quirk was chewing his tongue which you see on the upper left. That was pretty hilarious to watch. Little Charley was an outstanding horse to ride! Probably helped that I buttered him up with bisquit treats before our ride which you see in the upper right:)

On the left side you'll see a picture Kara took from on top of Benny showing one of the trails we were on. I'm some distance ahead of the two of them. The picture next to it on the right is Clint Eastwood... excuse me, I mean that's me on Little Charley next to the shore of Mountain Island Lake.

I just want to thank the entire staff at Latta Plantation's equestrian center for the great ride followed by the steak and chicken dinner afterwards!! That meal was simply awesome! Our only complaint after the ride, extreme soreness in the lower back and 'backseat' if you will. Wow... it was tough to sit down the next day-hah! But it was all worth it as I had a blast and Kara was very pleased with her birthday weekend:) Success...