Adding Adventure to your Holiday Visits: Miner Hickory Farm

We visited our daughter in western Maryland at Thanksgiving. God bless her, she knows how I enjoy adventure. She scheduled a horseback riding tour through the woods at Miner Hickory Farm in Grantsville.

I love horses! My daughter had already introduced me to the horses across the road by her house. Clyde and I became fast friends when I offered him the long grasses just outside his pasture. There was a little Shetland pony named Jingles in the pasture as well, but she was playing hard to get. Both horses answered to their names, but Jingles didn’t think I was worth the trot over for the long grasses I offered.

The day of our horseback riding adventure dawned crisp and clear. Not a cloud in the sky. No wind. No frigid temperatures. I was fidgeting around the house and asking my daughter constantly when we could leave to get to the farm. My daughter laughed at the sudden reversal of roles.

Once we got to the farm, the horses were lined up along the hitching posts. Don’t worry. I listened to my daughter and refrained from jumping up and down and asking if I could pet the horses. They were beautiful. I wanted the chestnut mare with the white star on her forehead. But she belonged to one of the trail guides.

As the wranglers helped our small party mount their horses, I watched all the tethered horses leave the post.

Where was my horse? Did the wranglers miscount?

My husband rode on Thunder, and our daughter rode on Trigger. The other lady in our party rode on Brown Sugar.

Suddenly, a ranch hand walked out of the barn with Tom. Tom is old. Tom is fat. Tom doesn’t like people pulling on his reins. He doesn’t like to be tied to a post. He nips at the other horses if he gets close to them. And the ranch hand brought him out of the barn just for me.

I started to get a complex. I had been looking forward to this ride. Did the ranch hands think I was too old to ride? Did I look that inexperienced? We had taken our five children horseback riding several times in national parks. My husband and I rode mules and horses into the canyons out west.

“You’ll be alright with ol’ Tom,” the ranch hand assured me.

How did he know? After telling me all Tom’s issues, I was afraid to inadvertently tug on his reins or gently kick his sides to get him to hurry and catch up with the others. I was afraid Tom would nip the other horse’s butt, and I’d be the one kicked in the face when Tom swerved to avoid hooves.  

The farm was expansive. Meadows. Deep woods. Hills and ruts. Rocky cross trails. I was glad to be guided on this adventure. But to keep control of my thousand-pound persnickety horse?

After a while, Tom and I got along fine. I told him about my knees and how I wanted to keep them as they are. I gently encouraged him, with the reins, to take the center of the trail through the forest. And not drag my legs against the trees taking the shortcut on the winding path. Only once did he get testy when I was listening to the guide instead of him, and he nipped the horse my daughter was on in front of us. After that, I kept him at least three feet away from the horse in front and the horse in back. My husband’s horse.

It’s about trust. We must trust the animal we are riding. And they must trust us. To guide them safely. To watch for triggers that frustrate the animal. If you approach the horse with confidence, the animal can sense this. It wasn’t that the ranch hand thought I was inexperienced. Perhaps he thought I could calm Tom and help him understand that we could work together on the trail.

Family is important in today’s world. We have tried to instill this in our children. My husband and I truly enjoyed our visit with our daughter in her new home.

May you have a blessed Christmas filled with family and friends. Enjoy your special holiday. And don’t forget to try an adventure while visiting!