The DNR website lists Versailles as having 20 miles of horse trails. We found the trails to be average, a few hilly technical spots in a few spots but mostly level and wide. We had a very very slow ride as most of the trails were extremely muddy. When I did some post ride research (ooops) I found many people saying that the park is very boggy and it was muddy unless it hadn't rained for at least a month. In the future we will avoid this park until summer. Other than that it was easy to get to, and parking was plentiful despite it being very crowded.
Stella improved on this second ride. She didn't start out as snorty and was relaxed much sooner into the ride. She still got stuck in a few places, such as when we had to go off trail to avoided downed trees (I also saw reports of the trails not being maintained well). She balked and needed a lead through our first water crossing but the next dozen she didn't even hesitate through.
I can see now that she also needs to spend a great deal of time learning to be patient, she was very very fussy being tied to the trailer. It didn't seem to matter that her trail buddy was tied next to her, or that she was surrounded by horses. She did better when she had something to eat, but I'd like to be able to tie a horse to the trailer for 30 minutes without hay and not have to worry about them leaving town. She didn't pull back but she did test the rope a few times. Patience my child. Chill.
The rest of the week we are going to focus on dressage, with maybe one day of "jumping" to prepare for our show this coming Saturday. I want to squeeze her in the wash rack a few times, clip her, and work on making her presentable. There is also tack to find and clean, show things to assemble...... !!!!!!!!
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