Beautiful and Treacherous, the trail of the White Queen of Narnia

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Annual Trail Rides: 12/200

We had a wet dump of snow and mild weather which made for quite the enchanting forest. The boughs of the trees were bending over to create tunnels of mystery. Q has become quite the trooper about walking over fallen trees and he really proved his worth today! He even picked his way through deep snow and fallen tree trunks down a hill without batting an eye. His surefootedness is improving with age!
















The trails were littered with fallen branches and trees and the occasional wind gusts of 50 km/h were prompting more trees to fall. A big pine tree fell near us, with a KaBOOM and Q had quite the start (me too). I almost turned around but decided to go just a bit further. I tightened the reins, and no doubt communicated my nerves which had Q jigging and jogging most of the way. By that point I didnt mind because we were headed home and as far as I was concerned, the sooner the better.

Our volunteer patrollers were out in force cleaning up best they could. Lots of work ahead, with our volunteer groomers cracking out the chainsaws. One thing for sure is we wont be seeing any sleighs on the trail anytime soon. This is when the power of our trail club, with 1000 members, and almost 50 volunteers, pays in dividends.

The forest was absolutely gorgeous, and I was a bit sad to not fully enjoy it. As I returned to the barn, many asked for trail updates and I told everyone it was dangerous and you needed to be ready for a falling tree and bolting horse. Some felt I was exaggerating and being pessimistic. I explained that it was about risk and everybody should make their own choices armed with the facts.

They preferred to focus on the beauty of the sticky snow and beautiful scenery.

Sometimes beauty can be treacherous. Like the White Queen of Narnia.

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