J.R. Alford Greenway Trail Ride – February 21, 2026

The weather report called for rain but it was important that we hold this ride because it was not going to be an ordinary one so we prayed for the rain to hold off. Surprise! The sun was shining and twelve riders showed up determined to have a good ride. They were: Sue Noyes and Jazz, Jill Stanton on My Michele, Patrick Falls on Whiskey, Sandy Larson on PO, Donna Bixler on Dandee, Sharon Haughton on General, Liz Rich on Majik, Becky Day on Smoke, Linda Vause on Blondie, Chris Littlefield on Ripple, Donna Ritter on Gator and Kelley Fisch on Stewart. As I pulled in and went to unload my horse, I was shocked to see Jazz had gotten her left front leg caught in the hay bag and it was all the way up to her elbow! She was beside herself and I needed help so I asked Patrick to give me a hand. We decided the best way to alleviate the problem was to cut the hay bag, so we did. Problem solved: Mental note to myself: Jazz is a pawer; if she is curious about something she paws at it. All my years with horses she is the first one I have owned with this habit.I won’t be using the cheap bags with her in the future! Everyone thought we would have a fast group and a slow group but learned we would be riding as one group because we needed to pick out potential sites for the “memorial” bench STA raised money to buy recently and place on the greenway. Sharon Haughton explained to everyone that the criteria for placement of a bench is that it can’t be located within sight of another bench and we need at least three sites to show the county officials to gain approval because other benches have been purchased and are not installed yet. We had a great ride and located three beautiful sites at intersections on the trail next to the lake. When we got started, two riders decided they wanted to do their own ride. We had some unusual excitement during the ride, though. One of our riders lost the bridle off her horse twice because there was no chin strap to hold it in place. After the second episode, she was able to rig one to prevent it from happening again. The good news is no one got hurt. We spooked three deer when we were riding in the field on the way to the trail near the railroad track. Then, after we got on the RR track trail, we spooked them again. We had lots of interactions with mountain bikers and walkers, all of which were very good. When we were nearly back to the trailhead, two bikers were entering the single track trail and were surprised to see us. One guy was right in front of Jazz and was staring at her. She loves people and I told him it was ok if he wanted to pet her. He was delighted and grinned broadly. I think she made a new friend!

All in all this was a two-hour ride with different experiences but everyone had a great time. I want to thank all who attended.