North Shore Horseback Riding

For any of you that knew me growing up, you know how big of a horse nut I was.  I started horseback riding with one of my oldest, best friends Lindsey when we were little (I think I was 5 or 6?) and kept on for many years.  We had weekly lessons during the school year and not a summer went by we didn't have horse camp.  As I got older, things got busier and I had too much time invested in softball to own a horse, so I made the tough decision to move away from horseback riding.  That being said, I miss it all the time.  It was always such a relaxing and peaceful activity for me and I truly miss it.  So while Kathryn was here, she brought up doing horseback riding and I jumped at the idea.

Kathryn did most of the leg work for this activity and after reviewing many places, she settled on this place called Happy Trails in Wailua in the North Shore.  We wound our way up a road with tight switchbacks and made it to the gate of the property.  After a little wait for the rest of the group to arrive, we were matched with our horses.  The owner buys primarily retired polo horses, which are usually well trained and follow commands well.  Kathryn and I ended up in the back of the group, but in the long run it didn't matter too much where we were.  We had a guide in the front of the group and then the owner caught up to us about half way through our ride.  The ride was all trails, up and down, and very muddy.  Unfortunately that meant nothing so much as a trot speed-wise.  It was still beautiful, though.  I spent a good portion of the ride talking to the owner about how he got into the horse ranch business (he was a polo player himself) and then ended up talking shop (I ended up leaving him with a home exercise program for a nagging injury he had...PTs are never off the clock haha...)

The end of the ride brought us out to a paddock overlooking the North Shore, which made for a perfect photo-op.  Kathryn and I both thoroughly enjoyed the ride, though we would have had a little more fun with a little cantering here or there.  Being back in the saddle brought back a lot of great memories, I guess one of these days I'll need to get back to horseback riding :-)