Appalachian Children’s Home Trail Ride to the Sand Cave

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Yeary) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:46:00 +0000

Five members of the Appalachian Children’s Home staff recently mounted up on their horses to navigate the 9 mile roundtrip trek from the Ewing Virginia Civic Park to the Sand Cave, on the North side of the ridge trail. Mary Win King, Melissa Turner, Jessica Taylor, Shaunna Taylor and Steve Yeary started our ride at 10 a.m. with beautiful sunshine and temperatures around 45 degrees.

We completed this ride just 4 days earlier with snow and 35 degree temperatures and were surprised to find snow drifts and a beautiful frozen waterfall at our destination.

We ride primarily Tennessee Walking Horses due to their smooth gait and easy going manner with the kids and staff at the Children’s Home. Our horses were eager to begin the rocky trail up the side of the mountain complete with switchbacks and numerous small water crossings. The switchbacks made the steep ride tolerable for the horses and gave each of us a chance to look back down in the valley and appreciate the 2000-3000 foot climb we were making. The 4.5 mile trail up to the Sand Cave is well marked and although very rocky at times, has plenty of room for your horse to pick the best path. All of our horses rode on a loose rein, conserving energy for the steep inclines. We only passed one hiker on each ride. This is considered a strenuous hiking trail and Park Rangers suggest allowing the better part of a day if hiking.

Our first ride was more treacherous due to the snow and the slippery rocks. The 6 inches of snow on the North side of the mountain was beautiful but posed a safety hazard simply because of the chances of a fall, but our horses were very surefooted and carried us safely to and from our destination.

The hitching post at our destination was more than sufficient for our 5 horses and could probably accommodate at least 20 horses. After dismounting, the walk down to the cave was slick, with or without snow. We all agreed that the ride and walk down to the cave was worth the view. The cave supposedly had 21 colors of sand at one time, but now has 6 different colors due to visitor activity over the years. The opening is about 150-200 feet wide and the ceiling is about 40 to 80 feet high. The sand is boot deep and makes walking difficult when combined with the incline of the cave floor. The waterfall was breathtaking, especially on the first ride when it was completely frozen.

There were numerous picture opportunities in the cave and surrounding waterfall. The hike back up to the horses is a great workout and we were all glad to get back in the saddle.

The Sand Cave ride is a great confidence builder for the average rider and will most definitely produce “wet saddle blankets” and take the edge off spirited horses. I hope you enjoy the pictures and one day get the opportunity to ride the “Sand Cave Trail”. The beauty of this natural wonder is magnificent, as was the pleasure of riding our favorite horse, with good friends on one of nature’s best days.

For information on this article

or the Appalachian Children’s

Home, contact Executive Director, Steve Yeary at 606-546-3805.

You can find us on the web @ http://www.achky.org

Clinton Jones Visits ACH

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Yeary) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:32:00 +0000

The Appalachian Children’s Home was honored to host a Natural Horsemanship Seminar on September 12th, 2009 at our 158 acre campus in Barbourville, Kentucky. The trainer for the seminar was Clinton Jones, a certified trainer for the Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse Association. Clinton was assisted by his dad Charley, brother-in-law Travis, and Samantha, who is just learning natural horsemanship techniques.

As Director of the Children’s Home, I became interested in Clinton Jones after reading an article in the Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse publication. I was amazed with the progress he made using natural horsemanship methods on an untrained two year old colt.

We have 7 horses at the Children’s Home and have daily riding classes for the 44 residents who reside here. It must be noted the horses we ride are usually horses that have been unwanted or rejected by their previous owners because of some type of behavioral problem.

Generally our horses are trail ridden three to four days per week and provide countless hours of enjoyment for both staff and residents. Unfortunately, two of my favorite horses have never read the natural horsemanship manual and needed more advanced training than what I could provide.

Clinton and his crew arrived early on Saturday morning and were given a short tour of the Children’s Home and spent some personal time with the kids, resulting in a better understanding of our mission and both the rewards and challenges of working with 44 twelve to eighteen year old residents who have been placed under our care.

Kids lined the round pens as Clinton, Charley, Travis, and Samantha started working with the horses. A four year old Buckskin and a four year old Tennessee Walker and a just purchased black Tennessee Walker awaited Clinton in the round pens when the training began.

All the trainers went out of their way to include kids and staff in the training process when possible, which was excellent for our kids. Many of our kids have respect and authority issues, and have been rejected and abandoned as did our three challenging horses.

Honestly, when the training started with the Buckskin and the Tennessee Walker, I did not think I would see Clinton standing on the back of a horse as he did in his previous trainers challenge. I was tempted to sell the two horses Clinton and his crew worked with as they showed no progress in their earlier training, and posed a safety issue for our kids. Not only did Clinton stand on the back of the horse, he also cracked a stock whip continuously while standing on its back, and the horse never moved! I was glad the photographer snapped the picture as Clinton was standing on its back so everyone who knew the horse would believe me.

Charley and one of our residents, Cameron, worked on respect issues with the Buckskin in another round pen. In just a few hours, the Buckskin was a totally different horse. Travis and Samantha worked with specific kids on groundwork with the new Tennessee Walker and had an eager group of kids willing to jump in and test their new found skills. I really do not know who learned the most, horses or kids!

When the day was done, everyone left smiling. My Certified Horsemanship Association trainer, Mary Win King, and I learned much needed techniques on how to deal with difficult horses. Clinton and his group learned that horses and kids have many of the same issues: anger, fear, prior hurts, and a deep desire to please, if we only take the time to work with them. I am proud to say my horses learned a lot also. We now ride the horses trained by Clinton on trails with our other horses, and they are doing great.

Clinton Jones amazed us with his talent and his concern and kindness for our kids. He and the other trainers made lots of new friends and we hope to have them back in the near future. At the end of the day I thought of a quote I recently read: “There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” This was never more true than today!

A.C.H. Facts: The Appalachian Children’s Home is a 501 C3 Not for Profit organization established in 1949. A.C.H. is nationally and internationally accredited, state licensed residential facility with 60 employees and a budget of 2.8 million dollars. We are a No Debt facility. Want to know more? Check out our web site at www.achky.org

Appalachian Children's Home

Appalachian Children’s Home Trail Ride to the Sand Cave

Clinton Jones Visits ACH