Day 5: Shasta Cove Stables

On our last full day before driving home, we went for a 2-hour trail ride near Mt. Shasta.  I had found a place called Shasta Cove Stables (click for info) on the web, and we did the trail ride with them.  It was a bit expensive, but the horses were good (they gave me a good horse for an experienced rider, and Isako a good beginner horse), and when I mentioned that I had a lot of english riding experience they even put me on an english saddle with an english bridle, which was nice.  (Though I was wearing tennis shoes that were too wide for the stirrup, so I could only get my toes into the stirrup and my ankles were quite sore by the end of the ride... oops.)  I don't have any pictures from the ride itself, but the scenery was beautiful, as you can imagine.  We walked the horses the whole time, but our guide (it was just the two of us and her) was very talkative and we chatted a lot about various local issues (development, local culture, etc.).

This is Gunner, the horse I rode:

And here are the barn's dogs, you can see what an exciting life they lead: