A sight one doesn’t often see on Bayside Road in Machipongo are horses on the loose, happily cantering down the center line. So imagine my surprise, when driving to the office last Friday morning, keeping an eye out for any early bird trail riders, I had to come to an abrupt halt as I saw 2 horses, gaily unencumbered by riders, come racing across a farm field. They jumped the ditch just in front of me and continued on down the middle of the road, traveling at a pretty good clip. Fortunately, the driver of a pickup going north jumped out, and with some energetic clapping, yelling and arm waving, got the 2 runaways turned back into the field. As I turned towards the Trail Ride campsite to alert folks, an ATV came racing down Cedar Grove Farm Road, apparently a 2 person posse on the move, ready to round up the renegades. The chase was on, Round 1 of “The People vs. The Horses” and the horses were winning ! Those bad girls were tasting sweet freedom and being captured was not part of their action plan. The posse jumped off the ATV, lead ropes in hand, but every time they got within a 100 feet of the horses, off they galloped ! Stop start, stop start, until herding them with the ATV was obviously the only viable solution to move head ‘em up and move ‘em in ! After 15 minutes of this motorized round- up, the horses got bored with the game and headed back into camp where a very relived owner led them away, scolding softly.
With that, the Spring 2019 Trail Ride got off to a pretty exciting start ! The rest seemed like a pretty normal Station 16 Northampton Fire and Rescue Company 
sponsored Trail Ride, headquartered at the Smith Farm in Machipongo. Arriving attendees were busily unpacking, lighting fire pits, feeding, grooming and just generally making their horses comfortable after what had been, for many, a long trip to the Eastern Shore. Lots of folks were chatting with friends, getting ready to cook, walking dogs or saddling up for a relaxing ride. So many beautiful horses there, of every color and stripe, even a huge Shropshire draft horse, Devon, who was hanging close to his little buddy Isaac. We also met Callie, a sweet Australian sheep dog, whose grateful owner said that he had rescued her but then she turned around and rescued him right back, staying by his side for months during recuperation after he fell from a ladder and broke his pelvis in 4 places !
The big draw for attendees is the opportunity to soak up the Shore’s relaxing coastal ambiance, exploring winding trails through farm fields, riding along woodlands bordering large waterfront farms, past little freshwater ponds, across cross dams and over roads and out onto sandy Chesapeake Bay beaches, horses splashing enthusiastically through saltwater shallows. Saturday is always the biggest day, offering a long ride followed by a BBQ dinner and Silent Auction put on by the Fire & Rescue Company. And nobody lets some evening rain dampen their spirits, it’s just water going pitter patter on a horse trailer roof. So…. the beat goes on until the next Trail Ride, coming Fall 2019.
