Well, James and I hit the trail again today. We met our Lea at Catoosa Ridge Stables where she was also meeting another horse friend. Turns out there was a good-size ride by the group "Women On The Edge". So, we joined right in, and yes, there were some men besides James riding along.
The Catoosa Stables turned out to be a really nice place. I'd recommend it to anybody from what we could tell with just a day ride. The place is immaculate, barns all looked very nice, restrooms with showers were nice and clean, huge meeting hall, pavilions, etc. The trails are all very well marked with a nicely color-coded map to check out where you are. We rode along the main trail, which goes down and follows the "creek", which is just beautiful and goes along forever. The trail has some up and down to it, but is very wide and not scary. The area had had a down pour the night before, so some of the trail was muddy, with only a few spots that were "mucky"--and that was just a few steps worth. So, if you go to ride there, and there has been rain and you don't want to deal with mud of any sort---just stick to the inner trails which meander through pine forests, etc.
Our MFTs, Bear and Rowdy, took the trails like champs, as usual. Lea was on one of her youngsters, a TWH mare, but we still rode next to her on some of the trail---truthfully, all of Lea's horses, TWH and MFT are terrific trail horses.
We did notice a few horses being not-so-sure-footed. Ahhh, just sit back and let your MFT do the walking!
Oh, at least along the creek trail, there are three or four places with picket lines, picnic table, etc. There are 50 miles of their own private trails, and then the Catoosa Wildlife Management Area is adjacent and offers some 90,000 acres of riding, but the trails are not marked very well (or at all), and the CWMA won't allow Catoosa Stables to mark them. So--if you want to ride in there---better have a good GPS (or a horse that can find its way back to the trailer), by the sound of it.
When driving there, make sure you use "Potato Farm Road" entrance. We've heard the other entrance is one that will destroy your brakes going down the hills, and tear-up your transmission going back up again.
It's only an hour drive from our home in Sparta, and I'm sure Lea could tell anybody how long it took her to get there from Knoxville area.
Another fun day in the saddle---I'm ready to go back and explore some more of the trails!
Moira
Posts
Hello Moira!
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you remember me, my daughter and I were at the first meeting back in Feb. We've been scarce due to a very busy schedule amongst other things...
But I check up on everyone from time to time on this wonderful site!
The next time you come to Catoosa, would you please let me know? That place is about 15-20 minutes from our house! I also heard that it is really a precarious road to get there from that location you mentioned.
Well, have a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely,
Denise Rogers (and daughter Eliza)