Welcome to Altoona Trail Riders

The Christmas season is upon us and it came by way too fast. There is not enough time between Thanksgiving and Christmas to get everything done, but here goes. We had a terrific week at Doe Lake and a pretty good turnout with about 12 rigs coming and going, more folks coming to day ride and about 40 for Thanksgiving dinner. The weather was terrific with the coldest night being Monday and it all warmed up after that. The sunsets on the lake were beautiful and one evening we had a mama bear and a cub walking along the lake, until Jake the dog chased them into the woods. The day rides were fun and one day we crossed over to Sunnyhill and rode to the Blue House. I really enjoy riding at Doe Lake. The unfortunate thing is that they raised the rates to $350 per night, so not sure if we will be able to rent it again.  

This Thursday will be out Dec. shopping meeting. We will socialize and shop for about an hour and then have our meeting. We have some neat things coming so be sure to bring your $$$$$. Kathy has her sewing, Skyler makes Christmas wreaths, Wende is sending some of her horseshoe art, Garret and Amanda have their honey. So come for the fun and the shopping. 

Sat., Dec. 14 will be our “day” ride which is the caroling on horseback. We will stage at Sawgrass Preserve starting at 430 and ride out when it gets dark. Your horses must have lights on them. If you don’t want to ride a horse, you can ride on the hay wagon. We ride down to Sun Lake Estates, sing, enjoy some refreshments and ride back. 

Our Christmas party will be Wed., Dec. 18 at Moss Gate, 6-9PM. Cost is $24 members, $30 non-members. We need to have your money by Dec. 14 so mail the checks in or bring to the meeting. We will collect animal food as we have in the past and will deliver to Lake County Animal Services. So be generous with the bags. The animals depend on us. If you want to participate in a gift exchange, bring a wrapped horsey or barn type gift of $15 or less. We will do an exchange and maybe a few other fun things. 

Lastly in Dec. will be our McCulley campout Dec. 27-29. Some of you will be staying through to their New Year’s ride. Let’s hope the weather is pleasant and not too cold. As you can see, a lot going on, so fill up your calendar. 

 I have the dates for Camp Boggy Creek family weekends and they are Jan. 18, Feb. 22, Mar. 28 and April 4.  I hope you can help out with some of these weekends.  It means so much to the kids to be able to ride a horse.   Danielle Doorneweerd, coordinator, sent me an email with this very nice message:  “Thanks again for your partnership.  I am very grateful to your leadership and help with ATR and Camp Boggy Creek.  It has been like night and day as far as the number of people helping and the quality of horses we are getting there at Camp.  Thanks so much”.  The credit goes to you, the membership and your dedication to the kids.  You all have some great horses.  Let’s make their spring a good one. 

Sunshine Committee: Thoughts and prayers go to Nancy Cloos whose husband went unexpectedly into the hospital in ICU recently.  We pray for healing.
Keep Linda Campagna in your thoughts as well as she has had some health concerns. We hope to see her back in the saddle soon.