The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread THREE!

[HairOfTheDog]

Free Republic has a lot of horse people that have found each other on other threads…. And since we all like to talk horses, how about a thread where it is not off-topic, but is THE topic?

This is a horse chat thread where we share ideas, ask for input from other horsemen, and talk about our riding and horse-keeping. We have a lot of different kinds of riders and horses, and a lot to share. In the previous threads we have had a great time talking through lessons, training, horse lamenesses, illnesses and pregnancies... and always sharing pictures and stories.

I always have a link to this thread on my profile page, so if you have something to say and can't find the thread in latest posts… look for it there and wake the thread up!

I also have a ping list for horse threads that are of interest, and Becky pings everyone most mornings. Let Becky (Paynoattentionmanbehindthecurtain) and/or me know if you would like to be on the ping list. As FreeRepublic is a political site, our politics and other issues will probably blend in…. There are many issues for horsemen that touch politics… land use, animal rights/abuse cases that make the news…. Legislation that might affect horse owners.

So... like the previous threads, this is intended as fun place to come and share stories, pictures, questions and chit-chat, unguided and unmoderated and that we come together here as friends. There are lots of ways of doing things and we all have our quirks, tricks and specialties that are neat to learn about.

[HairOfTheDog]

You have some gorgeous country down there. I never would have guessed you had great rocks and waterfalls in the south. Up here in the NW, I think we assume everything east of the mountains is all lowland. I pictured all of Alabama to look like Cav's property pics. Green fields and bushy trees at the edge of it. It's neat to see all the different places to ride in this country.

[Duchess47]

Beautiful pictures. Those steps look awful - how wide are they?

[FrogInABlender]

Another waterfall, taken from way up at the top of the cove...

The same waterfall from about half way down the left hand side of the cove...

Another view from a little closer...

Another view from under the rock overhang right next to the upper pool...

This cove actually was a dual falls. Here's the secondary fall that was off to the right of the main falls...

We really had a great time exploring this cove. It was right alongside the trail and you could hear the waterfall roaring but couldn't actually see it unless you went off the trail. We've passed it countless times and never investigated until Saturday. We bushwhacked around some to find a place to go down that wasn't a sheer cliff, tied the horses at the top and slid down on our backsides. Boy was it worth it. These falls were probably 60 to 100 feet high.

[Duchess47]

Standing by, waiting for news

[FrogInABlender]

5 or 6 hours on Saturday. But we broke for lunch for 30 minutes of so and took an hour or so exploring these coves.
Shirley is my only riding buddy that I get to do this with. He likes to poke around in coves and cliffs as much as I do. He's in his late 50's (I think) and I always tell him he'd better not have a heart attack on me out in the middle of nowhere. I'm only kidding him, but I'm half serious too. I'd hate to have to haul his 200+ pound butt out of one of these places! ;o)

[MissTargets]

Beautiful pictures, thanks for sharing. Smart move putting those steps in. Well traveled trails on hilly areas, can get eroded in time. Was this a State Park?

I whole hardly agree on the "nice horse/pretty trail". I got so burned out on horse shows. I will attend, to watch my daughter and granddaughter, but sure do not miss participating.

[FrogInABlender]

They're almost a horse-body-length wide. It gets kinds tricky sometimes, but they're better than trying to scramble up an eroded sandy bank.

[Rose of Sharn]

She is up and munching right now, guess we really disturbed her : ( We were as quiet as could be, bu the wind blew straight to her when James arrived and hey presto she was up and looking at us. She has some space now. I'm going to watch from the balcony and go into the workshop where she cant see me if she looks like somehting is happening.
Nervous and exciting. Glad FrogInA Blender is posting those great pics.........helps to calm me a bit! I love waterfally and have many pics taken over the years.

[FrogInABlender]

These were taken at William B. Bankhead National Forest in NW Alabama.

[Duchess47]

They are wider than they look in the picture then - not quite so bad I guess. You could go down at an angle. You're right though, better than deeply eroded trail.

[Duchess47]

Got my fingers crossed for you :)

[FrogInABlender]

Pinging the Cavster to the pictures...

[FrogInABlender]

We've got the tail end of the Smoky Mtn range cutting diagonally across the upper part of the state. Otherwise, it's pretty well rolling hills to flat like you say.

[CindyDawg]

What a beautiful place :')

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Great pictures.

Becky

[cowboyway]

Where did you take these great pics? Looks like home.

[MissTargets]

William B. Bankhead National Forest in NW Alabama.

Our tax dollars at work. :) Does the State do all the maintenance work? Here in Ohio, horse clubs lobby for more trails, and do a lot of the up keep, once built.

The forests are so beautiful, even at this time of year. It was in the high 20's, yesterday, with a few inches of snow. I had to get out with the dogs for a walk in the woods. Never thought to take some pictures. Dogs were sure glad to go for a run.

[ecurbh]

Wow, great pics. That is a beautiful location.

[FrogInABlender]

No, it's managed by the US Forest Service. I'd like to say nice things about them, but I can't, at least not the ones down here. They are very anti-horse. Come to think of it, they are anti-everything except for clear cut logging and replacing everything with pines, which is why we've had such a pine beetle epidemic around here. Too little biodiversity. They go from one extreme to the other. In the "wilderness" areas, you can't even bring in a chain saw to help them clear a trail and they won't let you ride a horse except on "designated horse trails" because your horse might damage the environment. But in other areas they'll bring in a log skidder and clear cut everything in sight. They won't let you off the trail in those areas either. I guess they figure your horse is going to erode the ground more than a log skidder. Go figure!

We went to the wilderness area on Sunday to ride the trails over there but couldn't because there were at least 100 trees down on every trail out there, courtesy of pine beetles and Hurricane Ivan back in September. One trail had 800! There's no way those trails will ever open back up if they won't let volunteer trail groups bring some chainsaws in there to clear it. That's just too much work to expect people to do with hand saws.

Sorry about the tirade. It's just such a beautiful place and they won't let people enjoy it like it could be. They just make me crazy!

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

bump

Becky