This is going back a few years, but when I had my first Berner, Zookie, I also had a Quarterhorse mare, Flicka :-) I got her from the 99 + year old man who lived next door and had ridden in the cavalry in WW I - yes, World War ONE. Flicka came with an old cavalry saddle, the most comfortable thing I ever sat on. Flicka, Zookie, and I did a week-long Maine adventure one autumn, leaving home in South Thomaston, and heading inland through Warren, Union, Appleton, Hope, all the way to Liberty. Then east through Lincolnville Center and home again. It was one of those glorious Maine falls, with the air crisp and frosty in the mornings, and the sun warm in the afternoons. We carried only a sleeping bag for me, and a saddlebag of dog food for Zookie, having plotted out the stay-overs along the way with different friends every night, so pasture, grain and horse accommodations pre-planned. Days of wonderful riding, evenings of wild greetings in a different front yard full of friends and kids and barking dogs, banquets, and late night chats. Then in the morning, as friends headed off for work and school, we'd saddle up and hit the road. Not exactly back-country riding, but dirt roads, and woods roads, and quiet country lanes. And a lot of people coming out to wave, or slowing the occasional pickup truck to share a smile and a "wish I could join you!" We made it home at dusk, on the night before start of hunting season. Whew!
That was a wonderful memory. Thank you, to whoever started this thread. Libby Kesner and the Berner girls of Maine horseless, in Voorheesville NY USA
