Oh, how riding horses does my heart good! Lake Cumberland Chapter Leader, Kelly Crow, held a trail ride at Logan Hubble Park in Stanford, KY. If you missed this ride, no worries, because there will be another one this fall, in Big South Fork National Park. The fall ride will be larger and include camping.
When putting this ride together I had several people asking about the “type” of ride it was. For those of you “non-riders”, it does not mean what you think it means. When you go on a trail ride, one of the main and first questions you should ask is what type of horses are going to be there – “Gaited or Non-Gaited (Quarter Type)”. And, the main reason is a gaited horse moves faster at a walk (or any speed) than a non-gaited horse. If you are riding a non-gaited horse, you will be left behind, quickly, and that is the most rude and annoying thing that could happen, if you are attempting to ride with a group. It is hard on a non-gaited horse to be ridden at a faster pace and pushed to keep up with the group. It is not in their breeding and they are not meant to be ridden like that, continually. Likewise, if you ride a gaited horse, you do not like having to stop the ride in order to let the slower horses catch up. Most gaited riders like to keep moving and enjoy the pace.
I ride the non-gaited “quarter type” horses, Appaloosas. Luckily, I had prepared for both types of riders. I had a gaited horse rider that was there to take the faster paced horses on ahead on the trail without having to stop for slow horses. Kentucky has an equal mix of these different types of horse riders and most avid riders will check to see which organization is putting the event on. If it is a known Gaited Riding Club, many of your non gaited riders will not show up because they don’t want to be left behind and have their horses ran to death. As Chapter Leader of the Lake Cumberland Wildlife Women, I will always try to put on a ride that is friendly to both types of horses. Since I ride non-gaited, I will have another person to lead the gaited horses on the trail. If this is not possible, it will be noted in the event bio.
We had a good turn out! Met a lot of people that were camping with their families and dogs. Come join me on our next trail ride. If you are unsure if it is one that you would want to come to, let me know. I’ll answer any of the more in depth questions that riders may have, via email (kellywildlifewomenky1@gmail.com), Facebook (Kelly Crow – (or) Wildlife Women, Messenger ( Kelly Crow), etc.
Happy Trails,
Kelly Crow, Lake Cumberland Chapter Leader