Saddled up

Shawn and I had yet another "break" from school (poor us, right?) this past week. As a surprise, Shawn took me (us) to a place called Barnsley Gardens, which is about an hour north of the city in Adairsville, GA. Shawn knows how much I love horses and how I talk about having a horse one day. Of course that one day isn't tomorrow, but it's coming I know. I swear I feel like a natural, free, country-gal when I'm on a horse, so this surprise was totally breathtaking and liberating from all the stresses of school and work.


Sorry about the detour...back to the point.


The gardens were gorgeous, and fortunately it wasn't too busy so we felt like we had the resort all to ourselves! We rode our bikes around, played tennis on clay courts (which changed the game up quite a bit), played bocce ball and croquet on the grounds, and of course went horseback riding at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The greatest part was that our guide let them run in the woods! I've been on walking, trotting, and swimming horses before on other vacations, but I've never been on a horse in a full gallop. Wow! I'm sure many of you reading this have already experienced this many times, or were raised by horses, so the thrill is probably gone for you.


For me? I just know that I need to find me a horse and a lot of land!