I may have mentioned that in Florida we visited our niece and nephews, ages 5-15, plus we had a chance to spend some time with the 3 daughters of our cousin Karen, ages 8-13. So you might think from the title of this post that today I will talk about doing something crazy with people in that age bracket. 

However, if you thought that, you’d be wrong. My title is actually quite literal: we wound up tagging along on a trip to horse farm in New Jersey, that was a belated 91st birthday gift to my father.

My father has always enjoyed riding and visiting with horses, and years ago he and I would saddle up and hit the trails, seeing places like Cape Cod and Hawaii on horseback. The most exotic ride in the saddle we ever took was definitely the trip down the cliffs in Molokai to the visit the old leper colony on the Kalaupapa peninsula. But that was actually a ride on a mule, not on a horse. I recall my father telling me at the time that it was better to be taking a mule down the side of a cliff that has almost a 1700 foot drop, since a mule has a better sense of self-preservation than a horse. You definitely want to be on an animal who is smart enough not to want to go off the side of the cliff, particularly when you’re travelling down a steep path with 26 switchbacks. The views were spectacular on that ride, though – and the mule ride was far more comfortable that the old rickety 4-wheeled contraption we rode in when we reached the base of the cliff.

But I digress.

This time around my father visited with Dakota, one of the 3 horses my parents’ friend, D-, has on her horse farm in South Jersey. I took the opportunity to snap some photos. That is what I do these days, after all.

Because the part of South Jersey where I grew up is now seemingly overrun with new strip malls and shopping complexes, I tend to forget how rural much of South Jersey still is. We rode through relatively untouched forest areas to get back to where the horse farm was located. It was in or near the Pine Barrens area of New Jersey, I think (Mom, you can correct me on this if I’m mistaken  about how far south in the state we drove). Anyway, it was a beautiful, sunny, and unusually cool summer morning, perfect for a visit with the horses. Thanks to all who made the day possible —  thanks to Dakota and my father for so patiently posing for all these photos!