Caiden's first long trail ride on his pony.

[Jenni]

We didn't go camping because the weather was supposed to be nasty but we did go to Zumbro Bottoms horse trails near Kellogg, MN. I had never been there before. The day started out cloudy and damp but by the time we got out on the trail the sun was out and it was gorgeous. Colors were a little past peak but still pretty. Ended up being a fairly large group. 11 horses total with another little boy the same age as Caiden being ponied by his mom too. It was the longest ride Caiden has done on his own, about an hour and a half. I think his little legs were getting pretty tired. He complained a little bit but made it through. Then we stopped and had lunch and went back out for another hour and a half. He decided he wanted to ride with me that time though so we left Smokey in the trailer. We got back and loaded up and headed back to my friend Michelle's for a campfire. Caiden fell asleep a few minutes after we got in the truck and when he woke up back at Michelle's the first thing he said was "my legs hurt". I bet they were stiff. He's never ridden that much in one day.

Caiden is sometimes very stubborn about getting his picture taken so this is the best I could do to get a shot of him on his pony.



He insisted that his chin strap was supposed to go this way. At least he had the helmet on his head. I was worried that because the other little boy wasn't wearing a helmet he would refuse to wear his too. The other little boy ended up falling off when his pony tripped and Caiden piped up "that's why you should wear a helmet", lol.


Smokey and Izzie enjoying the view. That is the horse campground down below us. There was an endurance race going on so it was really busy.


Kelsey and Sofia crossing the bridge.


The three of us


Next weekend we go camping for the 6th and final time of the season. Not sure if I will take Caiden or just make it a girl's weekend. Looks like mid to upper 60s and sun for both days so I'm happy we changed the date.

[Trailpal]

That looks like a lot of fun! you are going to have some great trail companions in a few years

[colorless]

Awesome pictures.. We have talked about doing Zumbro for 20 years and have not made it yet.. I think they have a frost bite ride end of Oct ..

Wonderful seeing another generation grow up horseback.. Look forward to many more years..

[Jenni]

Trailpal - I think I might lose Caiden as a riding partner when he gets old enough to do more tractor stuff with his dad.

colorless - I wondered if you had been there. How far is it from you? It's about a 2 hour haul for me but we went halfway and stayed over at my friend's place Fri night so we wouldn't have to leave so early on Saturday morning. It's an hour from her place. We barely scratched the surface of the trails there. I think they have 40+ miles mapped out. The trails we took were fairly easy and wide since we had the kids with.

[dl]

omg... tears of cuteness overload!

Maybe he needs a football helmet!

[colorless]

We are kinda on the other end of MN... 90 miles East of Fargo so have not done any riding in Southern Mn.. Always talking about it tho.. Have you been to the Dodge Ride??? We met a couple that helped put it on years ago in Fort Rob at the APHA ride. Went to that a few years before he died and really enjoyed it. Gorgeous country but not a very good ride for kids.. Lots of adult content LOL... But what a pretty ride if you could overlook some of the other stuff.. Miss the good ole days some times..

[Idaho Linda]

I like wearing the strap on my helmet that way too.

[Marci]

Aww hes cute. Sounds like great riding. If your husband lures him over to the tractor side (not necessarily a bad thing really-someone has to fix cars and such)Remind him when he discovers he likes girls, that girls love horses...

[Jenni]

colorless - I was thinking you were further south. I try to stay away from the large organized rides with lots of adult content. A ride of 10-15 is plenty for me. Even that is sometimes too much.

This weekend we are going to another MN state park - WIld River right across the border north of Taylors Falls. Probably just be Kelsey and myself but we are also going to work in a visit with my cousins that live up that way.