Faye Whittemore Farm Horse Camping Trip in Alabama!

May 24, 2013

3 min read

0

16

0

It was Sunday morning and we were excited about our next place to ride. We packed up the horses into their horse trailer and hitched up the 5th wheel RV and we were off! We headed southwest toward Alabama and our next destination. 4 hours of driving highways—with quite a few places where we lost cell service (and the ability to talk to one another) we were off the highway and traveling back roads. This is a family farm with a campground and paddocks for horses and we had a problem finding it. This was a bit of a challenge with Mike pulling a 5th wheel RV and me towing the horse trailer with our horses Nugget and Bandit. The driveway is well marked though with a large elegant sign. It is long a long driveway with a large dip—but the RV did just fine.

We followed the long driveway to the end and it opens out into a field with a pretty red barn. The sites are all under the trees in the far end of the field. The people are nice and friendly with thick southern accents—I can’t imagine what they thought of us Yankees. They told us just to ‘pick a spot’ and set up which we did. We unloaded Nugget and Bandit—put them in two of the many paddocks set up under the trees. There was only one other horse trailer with living quarters there and it turned out the lady was there full-time with her two horses. Her husband was working in another state—in so she was living there until he returned. It was a gorgeous 16’ short wall Bison trailer with a slide-out. Very nice! She was friendly and gave us some tips and ideas where to find things.

We always give the horses a break the day we travel—let them enjoy the new scenery and relax. They always seem to be excited to see where they are—looking around and nickering to any other horse around. They are very sociable. Nugget was a bit sore so we gave her some Bute to help her relax that arthritic stifle.

There are over 35 miles of trails of varying skill ranging from beginner to even the most adventurous rider. There is plenty of shade, waterfalls, bluffs and creeks, everything to keep it adventurous.

Monday morning, we decided to explore the area with a horseback ride. We tacked up Nugget and Bandit and they were happy to be exploring too. The trails were very pretty and easy to get to—we just walked to the other end of the field and found the marked trail. The weather was humid, sunny with clouds which helped keep down the heat. The trails were mostly in the woods, up and down hills and across some lovely streams. There were some gnats in the woods but that was it. We had a very relaxing ride though the horses were sweating by the time we got back. We hosed them off and let them dry some, put them in their paddocks where they promptly rolled!

That night we saw a storm coming across the field—so dramatic with the intense clouds. We set up the chairs to watch the storm approach and enjoy the evening. It was a wonderful stop. We agreed we would definitely come back here again.

Tuesday morning, we packed up and headed out for our next place southwest in Mississippi … 4 hours away.