Feb 14 - Ride Out!

It's Valentines Day and our first day on the officially designated Florida Cracker Trail! For those who want to read about the real Cracker Trail, "A Land Remembered", by Patrick D. Smith, is the quintessential historical novel on Florida's cattle drives and the people who made it happen! One summer, I made this book required reading for my kids as it is no longer a school requirement. They actually liked it, too, and finished it before I did!

It was not exactly a peaceful night as we awoke several times to the sounds of horse hooves pounding the cold ground outside the trailer and snuck a peak out of our sleeping bags to view flashlights dancing across the field! Several horses got loose from all the various contraptions used to secure them (fences, both solid and electric, high-lines, and ground ties). Luckily, Sombra and Blondie were safely tied to the trailer and we could hear our horses calling out to the renegades who were galloping through camp! I doubt we will have the same trouble tonight as all the horses are tired!

Sunrise this morning was beautiful with a cold orange glow through a thick white fog as frost had settled in during the night! It covered the camp, but luckily Cindy brought and put on blankets for the horses the night before. While Cindy got the horses fed, I fired up the coffee pot, just in time for our neighbor, Carl, to stop by with a fresh pot of brew! There's nothing better than hot drinks on a cold morning, followed by hot oatmeal!

We had our morning ride briefing at 9am and we rode out promptly at 10, headed eastbound on SR 64, through and out of Manatee County then into Hardee County with Sherriff escort front and back for traffic control! We occasionally saw families and groups along the side of the road watching the parade of 100+ horses and riders, led by two wagons, go by! One generous group even passed out water bottles to us and put out piles of hay out for the horses to nibble on as we went by! It was pure "Cracker Trail Magic"!

We heard plenty of tales around the camp fire last night of injuries and illnesses and learned that not everyone who starts the Cracker Trail actually finishes! Some even drop out along the way because it gets tough. We heard tales of broken bones and punctured lungs on past ride from riders being thrown! By the time we got through the first hour on the trail of our ride this year, we had heard of three injuries/accidents at the start, and at lunch saw as many as 4 horses on the trailer used to haul gear, people, and horses in trouble. One lady was reported thrown this morning and her horses stepped on her ankle! Hope she is alright!

Our only episode was nylon pannier (saddle bag) that was torn completely off on a mailbox (no damage to the mailbox), but we have the gear to fix the bag! Our lunch stop (bring your own today) was extremely brief, so we inhaled an apple and some cheese and hit the trail again.

Today we rode for 5 hours, over a course if 14 miles. Where CR 665 comes into SR 64, we turned north and on to "Duck" Smith's property where we saw lots of different cattle and "Duck" himself with his family and friends on a big swamp buggy watching our river crossing. All that training we did with the horses in water during the last few months has certainly paid off today!

As "Crazy Carol" (she says she goes by that; she is the "Conch" from yesterday's entry), said she loves seeing so many people out here for the first time. She said that this ride should not be considered a "bucket list" event, as it is really "experiencing our heritage". I liked that! Seeing the logo on an official road sign today made me realize that this is not just a neat event, it really does honor those who lived and worked the land here in the late 1800's. It's special; we have lots of people out here, young and old, and horses of all shapes and sizes.