The Black Stallion… er… I mean, The Gray Gelding

Did you ever read the series of books that started with “The Black Stallion” written by Walter Farley? If you haven’t, I highly recommend them. They revolve around a deep bond between a stallion called the “Black” and a boy named Alec. These books were some of my absolute favorites growing up. I always dreamed…



What’s in a name?

My horse’s name is Tupelo Honey. People of a certain age and those who listen to classic folk-rock music understand the reference. Others, when I say his name, tilt their heads to one side with that “huh?” look that dogs get when they hear an unfamiliar sound. “Tupelo Honey” is a love song by Van…



Saturday – The Mappiest Day of the Week

So, if you have read any of my previous blog posts or know me at all, you know that while I really love trail riding, I pretty much just love horses and riding. I also do dressage, jumping, and eventing. This past weekend I had the good fortune to be able to ride my friend’s…



Foxless Foxhunting

When my trainer suggested that I try fox hunting, I was skeptical. First of all, having to wear a very specific set of clothing (which I did not own) and riding in a huge group at a pace dictated by someone else did not actually sound like that much fun. I did not know if…



Getting hit in the face by branches (my 17 hand trail horse)

So you want to ride a 17 hand trail horse… Hope you enjoy eating leaves and poking your eyes on sticks! Just kidding.. mostly. My horse, Prophet, is a pretty big dude. He’s often mistaken for some sort of warmblood and someone at an event even asked if he was a draft cross. He’s 17…



Supermoon Ride

It was shortly after lunch one November day and I was at work when my phone lit up. It was a text from my friend, Elizabeth, to me and a couple of other friends asking “Does anyone want to go to Nancy’s tonight for a supermoon ride? We can stay overnight and come back on…



A motley crew of atypical trail riders

Maybe I’m wrong, but to me the stereotypical trail rider rides a ~15 hand Quarter Horse in western tack. Google is on my side. I searched “horse trail riding” in the Google image search and came up with photo after photo of folks riding in western tack on these nice beefy Quarter Horses. Now, don’t…



Kids’ stuff

My parents separated when I was five-years old and during my childhood my siblings and I spent the school year with our mother in a Boston suburb and summers with our father on Cape Cod. Dad owned a big company so he wasn’t home much. In the early years he would hire one of my…



Coping with Directional Insanity

I have a bit of a confession to make. Here goes – My name is Kerrie, and I have absolutely no sense of direction. Seriously. People always think that I am exaggerating when I say this, but I once got so lost going to a friend’s house roughly 10 minutes from where I grew up…



Why do we trail ride?

Monica’s answer: To answer the question “why do I trail ride?” I need to tell you a few things about myself. First of all, I am a nature girl. Since I was very young I preferred the outdoors over the indoors and the country over the city. If I have a choice, I will always…