Trail Ride

So its not technically on the list but it should be since a trail ride through the hills practically screams American. Plus there was no way I was going to pass up the chance to ride a horse (its been too long!!).

After an awesome night at the rodeo, Lindsey and I woke up bright and (relatively for me) early and headed out to Isabella Farms for a trail ride. We both had a Groupon for the '5- hour trail ride experience'. It was a ton of fun but geared towards beginners (only walked on the trails). We found out they have an advanced ride so we'd definitely go back...totally wanted to canter up some of those hills.  If anyone is looking for a trail ride in the bay area you should absolutely go here- the barn is really nice (and clean!); the horses are well-kept, friendly and adorable; and you can't beat the views! And as an added bonus they also have a really cute barn kitten named Two Socks- who was all up in Lindesy's sandwich but she managed to keep him from eating her lunch. 

Trying to work a new angle to the sub

Accepting his defeat with pride with head and tail held high

Lindsey got to ride Chance who was hands down the most well behaved horse on the ride and I rode Trillian who was so cute (and sassy). We brushed them and got all tacked up - Trillian had a 70lb saddle on her back PLUS the rest of her tack and me...she was a trooper. 

Trillian! Such a pretty dappled pony 

Chance is such a good boy!

Forgetting her manners and asking for treats...I'm a sucker and if I had anything would have totally given in 

Love her! Wish I could take her home

All 70lb tacked up and ready to go

We headed out along the road (stopping for tons of bikes and cars) for the ride which lasted about 3 hours..sooooo sore the next day. We ended up at the top of a hill that overlooked Mount Diablo (gorgeous) and hung out there for a bit while the horses grazed and we took a bunch of pictures. Trillian was happy to get to eat- she was hungry mid-ride but I wasn't letting her snack so she tried to decide if my boots were edible...she wasn't impressed. 

Happy (and sweaty) horse snacking...one track mind about food 

Yay trail rides!

Stretching my legs and giving my bad ankle a break

Pensive while checking out the view

The ride was beautiful and the only negative (which has nothing to do with the barn) is somehow we got stuck on a trail ride with the worlds most annoying man EVER. Seriously E.V.E.R. He didn't stop talking the entire time, he loved to repeat everything, he would run his horse into everyone else's horse, he whistled (ugh! hate whistlers)...but the very worst thing would be hearing an almost constant stream of 'whoa whoa WHOA! easy EASy! easy WHOA! whoa whoa' ...he apparently did NOT pay attention when the trail guides clearly stated that you say 'whoa' once (and mean it) and used your body to back it up. They also mentioned that the more often you use the word the less effective it is. Poor horse had to listen to all that while the guy would flail around kicking the horse's side and yanking at the horse's face...got to hand it to the horse for not dumping him and taking off as I would have. Lindsey and I could barely hold it together enough to get to the car before going off on how annoying he was. Thankfully he sucked so there is no way he'll be back for the advanced ride. I'm getting worked up just thinking about how obnoxious he was...so to take my mind off of it, here is one last pic of Trillian snuggling up to her boyfriend. She was in heat and was loooving all the male horses on the ride...this would be right before he bit her face...love can be so cruel.