Welcome to the Horse Trail Chicks blog. We are two friends who live in Vermont, love to trail ride, and – like many horse people – when we are not riding we are thinking about riding or planning to go riding or talking about riding. So, we decided to write about riding – trail riding in particular. We blog regularly, and we are gradually creating web pages with detailed information on places to ride as well as product reviews and helpful advice.
Kerrie Garvey
I have been that stereotypical crazy horse-obsessed girl since I can remember. My adventures with actual flesh and blood horses (as opposed to the imaginary horses that I saw in my dreams, both waking and sleeping, and the toy horses that I would go on grand adventures with… on my bedroom floor) began when I was 11 years old and my mom asked my sister and me what one new thing we wanted to try over the summer. My sister asked to take art lessons and I, in my ever so smooth, calm, and collected and not at all socially awkward way, blurted out in a jumble “I want to ride a horse! Just once!” Ha! Anyone who has the horse obsession/ disease/ ailment knows that once you get a taste of the good stuff, there is no going back.
Growing up, my family was not what one would call wealthy. My parents couldn’t afford to pay for all of the riding time that my 11-year old self wanted (you know, every free minute), and definitely couldn’t afford a horse of my own. As such, I began doing chores in exchange for riding time like any good barn rat. My formative years were spent at a lovely barn in Massachusetts with some great trail riding opportunities. So, I can almost say when someone comments on my oh-so-excellent housekeeping or door closing skills that yes, I was indeed raised in a barn.
My studies took me from Massachusetts to New Hampshire where I focused on dressage and was one of the founding members of my school’s intercollegiate dressage team. A while after graduation, a new job, relocating to NH more permanently, and many overtime hours at said job later, I fulfilled 50% of my dream of owning my own horse after many years of lessons and leases. My friend and I co-owned a wonderful appendix quarter horse mare named Kiss (Kissyface, Kissymonster, Treat Monster…you get the idea). A couple years later I decided to pursue graduate school and so I continued my northwestern trajectory and landed in Vermont. Unfortunately, Kiss suffered a fairly nasty suspensory tear during my grad school days, and after about a year and a half of rehab, she found a wonderful home with a less demanding job.
I finally graduated grad school approximately 100 years later (okay, it was 2, but it felt a lot longer) and in walks Mr. Tall, Gray, and Handsome. Swoon! I found my heart horse in a 17-hand off-the-track thoroughbred named Clear Profit (Prophet or Mr. P). He had a bit of a rough life after the track and I ended up buying him from a friend for a whopping $1 (although she never did cash that check). Prophet taught me to love trail riding as much as he did. Sadly Prophet passed away in 2019 after nearly 7 wonderful years as my partner. After his death, I spent quite a while riding other people’s horses and just trying to enjoy riding. I was then lucky enough to enjoy my next horse, a Cheval Canadien, Zydin. I had so much fun working with him and he reminded me of Prophet is so many ways. Sadly, he semi-retired due to an old injury in early 2022 with a wonderful friend.
Now I have the great fortune to own a lovely Friesian x Percheron, Star! He became mine in January 2023 and I am looking forward to all of our adventures to come!
As you may be able to tell, for me brevity and horses do not mix. Here are our quick stats for anyone playing along at home:
Kerrie: 30-something year old environmental scientist
Strengths: Intellect, resolve
Weaknesses: Charisma, dexterity
Star: 4 year old 16.1 hand Percheron x Friesian gelding
Strengths: Bravery, charisma, gregariousness
Weaknesses: Speed
Monica Raymond
I grew up in New England and although my parents were not able to fulfill my dream of having my own horse, between lessons and leasing and friends with horses, I managed to get a lot of riding in. I was a scrappy barefoot kid who would climb on any horse, usually bareback, and ride anywhere. As an adult I have lived from Maine to Alaska and several states in between, and sometimes was fortunate enough to have friends with horses I could ride, from an 18-hand Dutch Warmblood to a 12-hand Icelandic (and many sizes in between!). Because of this, I am fortunate to not be afraid to get on any horse that I am given the opportunity to ride.
After moving to Vermont I decided to get more serious about riding and found an awesome trainer who taught me that there are more subtle ways to get a horse to go rather than by kicking, to stop rather than by pulling on the reins, and to turn rather than by pulling his/her head right or left. Under her tutelage and riding her well-trained horse I realized that dressage was not just some elite sport but a great foundational discipline.
I was learning so much and wanted to ride more often so I part-leased a 25-year old 17.2-hand Bavarian Warmblood, Gold Fox. I learned so much from him and was riding more than I had at any time in my life. Tragically, he died after less than a year and I was totally bereft. When an animal dies we always ask ourselves “do I really want to put myself through this again?” I felt as if I were at a crossroads and knew that I would either give up riding altogether, or get my own horse. I allowed myself several months to decide. After a trip to Alberta to ride in the Canadian Rockies, the answer was clear. A few months later I had my first horse of my very own, Tupelo Honey.
Monica: 60-something nurse epidemiologist
Strengths: determined, organized
Weaknesses: over-thinker, perfectionist
Tupelo Honey: 2004 15.3-hand Shire/Paint/Dales gelding
Strengths: calm disposition, energetic and willing under saddle, drop-dead gorgeous
Weaknesses: easily distracted by mares
Horse Trail Chicks logo © Elizabeth Bundock
About the photographs on our site: the photos are of rides that one or both of us were on. All are copyrighted and may not be reproduced without permission.
