When I first spied Sammy, I thought he was a retired “pasture ornament” and not one of Ken’s riding horses. I was wrong. Sammy has been at the B and B for about 8 years. He’s thin, like most really old horses, but he was more than energetic enough to take to the trails. He led the group of three horses most of the time. Ken said the only problem with Sammy was that Sammy didn’t find Ken (and vice versa) sooner in Sammy’s life. Sammy has a scarred nose, probably from a halter being left on too long or being too small. Sammy reminded me of the hack horses in the book Black Beauty that I read over and over as a kid. Sold from owner to owner, used up and abused, the hack horses struggled to survive. Just like so many of our kids struggled to survive their years before coming to our homes.


Now Sammy has Ken, and Sammy rarely took his eyes off his master. It is clear that Sammy trusts Ken and willingly works for him. The two “senior citizens” (Sammy and Mom) did beautifully. My mom had a wonderful time, as did I. We haven’t ridden together in probably twenty years. I was so afraid this was a bad idea… what if my mom fell off or fractured something?


But my worries were unnecessary. We had beautiful weather, well-behaved mounts, gorgeous trails, and an entertaining and knowledgeable trail guide. The neatest part was that this was really more about riding someone’s private horses, not a typical livery operation. It wasn’t nose-to-tail, walk only… we trotted and cantered just enough to give Mom the memories but not so much that something would happen.


After we rode, I took more pictures. Mom liked this series so much she thinks I should submit it to Animal Planet!