Arriving at Kennewick was such a relief. We got a private farm house on the property where Carol keeps most of her horses. The land was incredible, and abundant. Carol hosts 3 day eventing, to those that do not know what that is it is a 3 day horse back riding competition that consists of dressage, cross-country and show jumping. The farm was well kept, and those who love cross-country would have loved this location.
This was the main barn on the Tulip Springs property. We went up on the hay loft to explore. There are holes cut out in the top, which is mostly plywood, in order to drop hay directly into the stalls. The stalls were pretty big. Different from the schooly barns in MD.
The place was very rustic. The farm house we stayed in was very quaint and substantial to our needs. I know people that stay there are very comfortable as we were. Here, we did our first set of laundry on the trip.
Carol let me drive the 4-wheeler around the property so that we could get a better look at the place. That was really fun. We were able to see parts of the property not easily seen when standing in the drive way.
Carol's horses were very much loved. You could tell as they liked people. When we would approach the pastures the horses would run over to us, thinking we had treats. But they stayed to hang out and be pet after realizing we lacked treats.
The evening we went out on the ATV again so Sean could get pictures.
As he was setting up his tripod, the horse Coco came over to him to investigate the contraption scaring Sean. It was quite the site.
The following day we got to ride. We rode a 19 year old Bay named Woody (Norwegian Wood) my cousin Alia would appreciate that name. Woody was worn our by the time we rode so that he could be easier to handle. Sean on the horse was quite funny. It was his first time being on a horse.
I mounted and immediately relaxed. Before I had been anxious and nervous as I haven't ridden since age 15. It was like riding a bike....but not really. There's quite a difference between weight at 15 and at 22. My ankles were burning shortly into the first couple of trotting loops. Woody was such a comfortable ride that I was eager to canter. Following Carol's clear directions, I easily got Woody into a canter. The ring we rode in had a lot of jumps and standards. Also, there was a woman lunging some of the other horses, so space was limited. I couldn't be very clean with my riding. I think Woody was exhausted so I didn't bother to ask to jump him, though I would have "jumped" at the opportunity. I got to see some of his old show jumping pictures. They were amazing, and I really wish I could've jumped him.
After riding, we went over to another part of Carol's property to meet a couple of mares. One was pregnant and due the day before. We hoped she would deliver, but were happy to meet another foul who was 5 weeks. Nameless foul was a miracle baby. It was one of those situations where the vets said Georgia, his mommy, couldn't get preggers but did conceive. Georgie and Nameless shared a pasture with a mare named Rosette, Rosie. Georgia was such a bully to Rosie, though it didn't always go unprovoked.(White mare is Georgia)
After visiting the mares and the foul, we headed back to the farm house, packed up, and left.
The time spent in Kennewick had been so much fun. I hope to go back some day because Carol was super gracious to us. She was also really fun to be around. She took us to a great place for dinner and the conversation just rolled right along, paused only by our choking laughter. We had a great time in Kennewick, and I certainly will miss it. I would love to have a horse farm one day.
Mees
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