Gettysburg

On Tuesday we had some unseasonably warm temperatures here in PA (65 degrees in November?!) so Jan and I decided spur of the moment that we would take the day off and drive to Gettysburg for a ride.

A very TB look

Charlie did pretty well overall. Although antsy and looking at everything, didn't really do anything about it. As long as we kept moving he was fine. I couldn't blame him for being "up"; I had only ridden him twice in the past week, and even then it wasn't that big of a workout since I was doing the No Stirrups November thing and had worn myself out after ten minutes (note I did not participate in NSN for this trip).

Me and Jan

Per park rules we could only walk (which was to my disadvantage since Charlie could really have used a chance to burn off some steam), but Charlie took everything in stride. Right in the beginning a huge stag leapt out from behind some brush where he had apparently been napping, literally 15 feet from us, and Charlie didn't flinch. In fact he he only picked up his pace as the deer ran off, as if he wanted to go play tag.

These were some scary fences to walk between

I really wanted to jump this

As the ride continued we had to go over a small bridge, through a creek and past some hikers, many monuments, scary pointed fences, and even some cattle (that blew Charlie's mind). Jan's horse, Randy, is an old steady-Eddie, though, and the perfect trail companion. He let Charlie lead until we came to a scary part, and then calmly showed him the way.

Scary bridge is not so scary the second time

Omg cows!

Jan, as a war buff, was my personal tour guide and stopped periodically to tell me all about Little Round Top, Devil's Den, and Pickett's Charge. At one point we passed a horseback tour group and the woman leading the pack immediately pinned Charlie as an OTTB...not sure if that's a compliment or not....

Jan looking like a true cowboy

The whole ride took about three hours, and then we spent a leisurely lunch at a local tavern. Although I generally prefer a more "get-up-n-go" type of ride, this was really nice and a great getaway for the day. It was a gorgeous day and a perfect way to see the historic battlefields. Plus, any experience away from the farm is a good one for Charlie. :)

Selfie time