LWSC Equines and Vines Prize Ride

Cortney had mentioned wanting to ride on Saturday and I knew there was an event at Lake Washington Saddle Club today for a prize ride.

For those not in the know, a prize ride (sometimes called a poker ride depending on how it's run) is a trail ride of a set distance where you have stations you hit and draw numbers. You pay for more draw opportunities. Prizes are then distributed for highest, lowest, second highest, second lowest, etc. First rider out was at noon and last rider was out at 2. We planned to meet at Bridle Trails at noon and leave around 1pm. That's not quite what happened, but it was still fun despite the change of plans!

 There's not a lot of parking at Bridle Trails for day use if it's a big event. It is decent size parking though and they have stabling for horse shows. We got parked super close to every rig and someone was there directing parking, especially since the park is also open to pedestrians.

 It's super odd because it's this giant state park in the middle of the city, about half the size of Central Park in NYC. There's about 25 miles of trails total, several riding rings and is just generally a really nice public facility that requires either a day use fee or a Discover Pass. I purchased a discover pass last minute.

Lake Washington Saddle Club hosts several shows here and now that I know where it is, I'm going to be coming here a LOT I think. It's about the same drive time as going to Lord Hill (20 min to Lord Hill, 25-30 min to Bridle Trails, which is ridiculous that I thought it was an hour) if there's no traffic and there's nice arenas for use. I still need to revisit Hollywood Hill Saddle Club arena to evaluate drive time because that arena is also free to use.

 The original plan was   that we would be riding with Cortney, Cortney's mom, and Jim. Cortney was bringing a horse for Jim to ride. Trudy couldn't make it so it was just me, Cortney and Jim. Jim was teaching lessons from 12-1 so we were going to get the horse ready and head out at 1. He ended up teaching late and going until 1:50 so we were one of the last groups out on trail, much to the organizer's dismay. That is, until we told her that if it was less than 10 miles, we'd be back under 2 hours. They really wanted to get prizes distributed.

I didn't need the boots on these trails (so NICE!) but I did want to continue stress testing before planned endurance rides in September and October....

Warmup ring and show ring to the back left

 I did run my go-pro but it didn't last even the whole ride womp womp so I switched to phone pictures. It was just so pretty in this park. I will be returning, especially in the winter since the drive won't be as harrowing getting there compared to the hill at Lord Hill.

 Since Jim hadn't ridden in a while, we weren't making endurance time on the ride, but it was still a good ride. Cortney was on her 5 year old, who still needs more exposure to events like this, Jim was on her been there done that arabian mare, Splendid, and I had Gwyn, who benefits from the distance.

Green green green: This picture will likely be unchanged in winter

 We did hit a patch of ground bees at the end, which induced a minor panic.

Coming back to the finish

 I ended up getting lowest draw of numbers and like third highest. I came out of this with a $50 gift card to the Gift Horse, the local tack shop, and a new purple helmet bag. I am thrilled! Now I can justify a pair of Roeckl gloves.... Totally worth the entry fee.