Another review from Brenda....
Last weekend (July 19) Beth and I met our friends Carla and Tom for a ride on the new trail at Pleasant Hill Lake that connects to Malabar Farms. It is about a 1 1/2 hour drive from Powell. When you get to the park, you have to pay a $3 per person day riding fee (I think the overnight camp fee is $16) at the front entrance. They then direct you to park at the end of the beach parking instead of at the horseman's camp (which is only for overnighters). There is a big grassy area by the beach parking, so we just backed the trailer onto that.
After you tack up you walk down the drive and across a stone bridge to the horseman's camp and catch the trail head there. We rode for about 3 hours (roundtrip) at a walk and trot and still didn't quite make it to Malabar. I think you would have to commit a whole day to do both.
The trail we were on was hilly, but not steep. There was one ~ 5 foot wide creek crossing that had very deep mud on both sides, but was fine at a walk. Most of the trail is in the woods. There is a section after about an hour of riding that goes right next to the fence of a campground (spooky), then you have to ride on a road for about 10 minutes to get to the next part of the trail (we found out that empty boat trailers rattling behind trucks are also spooky). Most of the trail is very well marked. We turned back after the big soy bean field trail which is a loop.
There is no gravel, but there are remainders of big tree stumps in the trail here and there that stick up just enough for your horse to trip over if they are tailgating the horse in front of them. I would say this would be an intermediate trail. It's a beautiful area with a lot of new things for the horses to experience (people playing volleyball, boats and fisherman right by the parking lot, etc).
Added by Beth...
The trails go through a variety of terrain although it is mostly woods. If you have a horse that is not used to cars, this may be a bit challenging as part of the trail is on or near a road. The bean fields were quite an easy ride. We did see deer a couple of times so watch for those if your horse tends to spook at them.
To date, there is no map for this trail so you have to keep your eye out for markers, ribbons and marked trees. All in all, I would highly recommend this trail to riders looking for a bit more of a challenge but one with few major obstacles and intermediate level trails.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Trail Review--Shawnee State Forest/Ben's Happy Trails
The following is a trail review created by Brenda....
Ben's is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Powell mostly down SR 23. There are no real scary roads (everyone who pulls a horse trailer knows what I mean by that). A few hills, narrow bridges, tight turns right before you get there, but not too bad. There is plenty of parking across the street from the main office by the cabins. However, the barn for the horses is behind the office. The best thing to do is park by the cabins (if that is where you are staying) and walk your horse over to the barn. We just left our tack in the trailer and brought the horses to it.
The cabins were nice (but had a layer of dirt/cobwebs). They are very small though. The bathroom is actually outside the front door on the porch with it's own door. There is a small bedroom and a futon in the kitchen - no real living room area. I wouldn't put more than 2 people in one.
Ben has about a half hour worth of trails on his property right behind the cabins. These are fairly steep/rocky loop trails. The Shawnee Forest trails are about 15 minutes away by horseback on rural roads. Those trails were also very steep and rocky, and most seemed to incorporate gravel roads as part of the trail. Our horses feet were pretty sore after the second day.
This would be a good place to ride if your horse has shoes on all four feet - otherwise, they will be sore. Even Liz's spotted saddle horse (who has been barefoot his whole life) got sore, and that was a first for him. Ben was a great guy and very helpful. He lives on the property and takes good care of it.
I would recommend this for an intermediate to advanced rider with a road safe horse. Keep in mind that the trails in the park are long, so don't start out on one you are not familiar with after about noon. We made the mistake of heading out for a second ride one afternoon around 4pm and didn't make it back until almost 9pm. The trail wasn't well marked, the last 1-2 hours were gravel road, and at times we were just hoping that we were going in the right direction. I'm sure you could hire one of the guides from Ben's - it might be worth it if you don't have a good sense of direction! Also, Ben will let someone in your group rent one of his horses for the day (if they pass a riding test) and take it out on their own.
All in all it was a great trip. We had perfect weather, awesome food, and a LOT of riding. Our horses were happy to see their home pastures at the end of the weekend!
Ben's is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Powell mostly down SR 23. There are no real scary roads (everyone who pulls a horse trailer knows what I mean by that). A few hills, narrow bridges, tight turns right before you get there, but not too bad. There is plenty of parking across the street from the main office by the cabins. However, the barn for the horses is behind the office. The best thing to do is park by the cabins (if that is where you are staying) and walk your horse over to the barn. We just left our tack in the trailer and brought the horses to it.
The cabins were nice (but had a layer of dirt/cobwebs). They are very small though. The bathroom is actually outside the front door on the porch with it's own door. There is a small bedroom and a futon in the kitchen - no real living room area. I wouldn't put more than 2 people in one.
Ben has about a half hour worth of trails on his property right behind the cabins. These are fairly steep/rocky loop trails. The Shawnee Forest trails are about 15 minutes away by horseback on rural roads. Those trails were also very steep and rocky, and most seemed to incorporate gravel roads as part of the trail. Our horses feet were pretty sore after the second day.
This would be a good place to ride if your horse has shoes on all four feet - otherwise, they will be sore. Even Liz's spotted saddle horse (who has been barefoot his whole life) got sore, and that was a first for him. Ben was a great guy and very helpful. He lives on the property and takes good care of it.
I would recommend this for an intermediate to advanced rider with a road safe horse. Keep in mind that the trails in the park are long, so don't start out on one you are not familiar with after about noon. We made the mistake of heading out for a second ride one afternoon around 4pm and didn't make it back until almost 9pm. The trail wasn't well marked, the last 1-2 hours were gravel road, and at times we were just hoping that we were going in the right direction. I'm sure you could hire one of the guides from Ben's - it might be worth it if you don't have a good sense of direction! Also, Ben will let someone in your group rent one of his horses for the day (if they pass a riding test) and take it out on their own.
All in all it was a great trip. We had perfect weather, awesome food, and a LOT of riding. Our horses were happy to see their home pastures at the end of the weekend!
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