Ride Schedule

Mark your calendars.... enjoy the good weather while we have it.... First Coast Trail Blazer's upcoming ride dates are:

March 15 - 10:00 AM - JP Hall in Green Cove Springs

April 19 - 20 - St. John's Trail Head (near Rodeheaver) There are primitive camping facilities here, so if you want to spend the night, you probably will have company! Ride out time on Saturday to be determined!

Guana Ride

VIEW LOTS OF PHOTOS HERE

Five members and two guests enjoyed the trails at Guana River Preserve on Saturday. Jamie and her son Justin missed us at Princess Place, but were able to ride with us this trip. Pinky met us in the parking lot before we headed out, and walked (on foot) with us a little way before she sadly went back. Hang in there.... we are wishing Doc a speedy recovery so you can join us soon! The first 30 minutes of our ride was hardly worth the drive. We went through knee deep water for a long way and then trudged through heavy muck beside a fence next to a paved road. Thanks to our cellular trail boss, we found out that we had taken the wrong trail, so we turned around and went back to where the mistake happened. After we got on the right trail, things were much better. We rode near some open marsh areas and then went down some nice roads that had a huge oak canopy. We took a short rest/lunch break in a clearing in the pines. After that we were ready for more exploring. We found our way to the "official" picnic area at Diego Pond, complete with hitching posts, picnic tables, running water, AND a mounting block. After about 3 1/2 hours of exploring we made it back to the parking area. Everyone enjoyed a smorgasbord of Liz's famous cookies before we headed off to the next adventure.

Some decided to go home, while two trailer loads decided to go just up the road to Mickler's Landing for a quick ride along the ocean. We crossed A1A and made a U-turn into the parking lot and came to an abrupt halt. Since it was such a nice Saturday afternoon, most of the area population had the same idea as we did, and the parking lot was full (not horse people.) There is a designated horse trailer parking area, which was occupied by a film crew and all their trailers and trucks. Cathy, KD and Traci got out to walk around and survey the turn around situation (not too good!). We had one movie star sighting - a smart A#$ young guy named Cole Hauser. A security guard came and made the crew move some trucks to give us enough room to circle the parking lot and exit. There was nowhere for us to park and some other riders told us that it was high tide and there was not much beach to ride on anyway. That will have to be another trip... probably NOT on a weekend!

River Rise Clean Up

9 members and a guest braved the chilly morning to help clear a trail at River Rise Preserve. After camping Friday night, we joined many other locals Saturday morning to tackle cleaning up the newly created trail. Everyone had fun and used some muscles that had been on holiday for a while. Some of us took a nice little ride Friday and Saturday afternoon and everyone except the Huff's stayed over Saturday night as well. Here are some PHOTOS .

2008 Membership

Remember to send in your membership dues by Jan 31st in order to remain on our e-mail list. 2007 was a great year and 2008 should be even better ! Don't miss out on the fun ! Print an application from our files section and send in along with a check payable to KD Huff. See you on the trails !

Princess Place Ride

First Coast Trail Blazers started the year off great with a 5 hour ride at Princess Place. Ten members enjoyed rustling through the leaves and riding on the scenic trails. All horses and riders survived crossing the little bridges, and the land bridge was no obstacle for any of the brave riders who crossed it. A training opportunity arose when a horse-eating wooden wire spool lurked at the bottom of the land bridge. Everyone took a few minutes to let their mounts look over the "beast" and all survived. We had a nice lunch break at the lake and then headed to the Agriculture Museum, where we rode around and looked at the party shed and the mules and draft horses that live there. We headed back from there, and another training adventure came on the power lines, which offered the perfect place to air out the horses with a good long canter. No casualties here either.... Everyone made it back to the trail head safely, and we look forward to our next adventure. LOOKEE HERE for more pictures.

Updates

We have uploaded photos from the New Year's camp out at McCulley Farms along with some photos of today's ride at Princess Place. We will add more photos as they come in and provide a narrative of today's ride. Click on our PHOTO ALBUM link to the left.

We've also added a link for those riders who would like to find other local rides in addition to our FCTB rides. They call their Yahoo group - TROT-NE FL.

Upcoming Rides & Events

Our January ride will be at Princess Place - Sat., Jan 12th - ride out at 10:00 am.

We will be participating in a work day at River Rise Preserve on Sat Feb 2nd. This is the direct result of the equine community and the State of Florida working together. Bring your work gloves and loppers to work from 8am to noon - then ride later.

The February ride will be at - Guana River State Park - Sat, Feb 16th at 10:00am (additional info and map)

The Florida Horse Park is hosting a Versatility Challenge of the Breeds with show dates in Jan, Mar and May. Additional information is posted in our files section.