A Wagon Train

There is a lot of work involved in going on a wagon train for a weekend. We have to pack everything but the kitchen sink. We pack the tents, air mattresses, bedding, grills, ice chests, food, drinks, clothes,tack and feed for our horses.Then we have to hitch up the horse trailer and we spend a good part of Friday hauling everything over to the camp ground and setting everything up. Then we care for our horses comfort.


While we are grilling our own meal which my husband usually does. The rest of us usually sit and talk and the kids mostly join the other kids in games of softball, football, tag,hide and seek and anything else they might think of. Some of the other riders walk around the sites selling tickets for the raffles and give aways for the next night after the ride. This all happens before it gets really dark.

Now it's later in the night and the sky is black with silvery, glittering stars and a bright shiny moon in the middle of it all. We are sharing our grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, chips and drinks most of the adults are drinking coffee or soft drinks.There are still sparks flying up in the air like fireflies flitting about. They are floating from the grills and the small campfires that some of the campers have going.

There are usually four or five families together gathered around a circle. We usually gather inside the circle of tents to talk and just enjoy each other. The children are almost always gathered together to play games and to talk to kids their own age. In this place they don't try to be better or to hurt each other, their just a bunch of kids who can be friends because they share a common interest.

There is a concession stand up behind the campers, where the riders who didn't bring their food or grills from home can buy a sandwich and a drink. The country music is small time bands who come to play their country music to the riders and to enjoy being a part of the fun and excitement.You always run into some people you know and almost every time you get to meet some new ones and usually you all become friends before it's over.

The first day- everyone is up bright and early. They feed their horses, brush them and tack up, saddles,bridles and blankets. The horses are ready to show their stuff they are dancing and prancing to beat the band. Everyone fixes and eats their breakfasts. Then it's about 8:00 and everyone mounts up and gets ready to ride even the horses pulling the wagons are edgy wanting to get started the kids are all dancing around to and some of the adults also.Finally the wagon Master calls out'"Let's go!" The riders and wagons line up and head out almost like the wagon trains of the old west only there are more horses than wagons on these trains.The riders must let the horses get the excitement out of their systems. They have to let them run a little or just walk at a very fast clip for a while.

The first part of the ride is the coolest, this is the part where everyone is talking and teasing each other,because the air is cool and comfortable. The rides usually last from 8 till 2 or 3 and it is almost always really hot by noon. We stop for lunch and everyone is looking for some down time. They stop near a creek or stream so they can water the horses. They have a picnic lunch of sandwiches and cold drinks and feed their horses I always try to carry an apple for my horse, Ace. I guess he is a little spoiled but I love him. and he is just perfect for me.

By the time we are ready to climb back on our horses everyone is dragging. It's so hot that sweat is causing everyones shirts to stick to their backs and most of the guys are shedding their shirts and the girls are stripping down to their tank tops for coolness sake. The steam curling up into the hot dusty air is swirling around the riders in thick clouds. Back to the campgrounds we go every one sitting a little easier in the saddles Few riders come back to camp with the same shirts they left in unless they are new riders. When we get back to the camp grounds we feed and take off the saddle, blanket, and bridles and feed and brush our horses and be sure their watered. then we search for some comfort of our own.

My husband gets the grill going and grills hot dogs and hamburgers while the rest of us get the sleeping beds together and get plates and utensils for our meal. We all eat and then usually walk up to the concession stand for the drawings and give aways. We sit and listen to the music and talk to people we know and meet some new people . This is the fun part of the wagon trains. Later we all get together and go back to our campsites. We sit and talk while the children get together with their friends and play games of tag under the stars and catch fireflies in jars like we older people did when we were kids. It brings back great memories to all of us.Grown ups can be children again and enjoy the agelessness as they play with the children.

Everyone crawls tiredly into beds and sleeps as well as you can on the ground or on an air mattress.We look up through the screens in the sides of the tents to watch the stars and the moon float around over our heads in the deep blue, black of the sky. Hopefully no-one has had a water fight before going to bed because the kids will play pay backs by throwing water through the screens to wake the sleepers to a cold wet terror.

Early the next morning,It's Sunday and fewer people will ride today. Most of the riders are almost to stove up and tired to ride another long ride. But today will be shorter any way because everyone has to get back to pack up and get home to their common everyday lives, jobs and school and families.

They start out at about 10 in the morning the horses and riders are more calm today.These Sunday rides usually go pretty smoothly since there are fewer riders and everyone is more calm and ready to ride today.I really enjoy riding especially if some of our family and friends are there with us. Its always more fun with people you know.Everybody enjoys wagon trains, it's a place you can take you kids and not be afraid to let them enjoy being kids. You have to watch over you children but you can trust them not to go to far. Trail rides are about the same every where. The rides are so picturesque so that you can enjoy the nature on the rides and the feel of family in the riders.

So for all you horse people out there who have never been on a trail ride try it. A wagon train is the,"Summer Time Thrills." for all the horses and horse people around. So come on and try it and have some fun we will be watching for you.



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