Re: Riding Vacation

[Mathew Pelletier <mathew@redhorsetech.com>]

On Sun, 7 Jun 1998 00:31:39 EDT, Debbyly@aol.com wrote:

> 
> I would recommend Montana de Oro State Park.  It has a very nice horse camp.
> 
> Debby

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Let me elaborate on this wonderful suggestion from Debbyly@aol.com.  For
those unfamiliar with the Central Coast of California, this state park
sits right between the beach and hills near Morro Bay and San Luis
Obispo.  I used to manage a boarding stable right next to the park a few
years ago, and would ride Lee along the miles and miles of beach, or
head through the hills.  Never did explore "every" single trail. The
trails are a combination of gravel, silty-dirt, or sand, depending where
you're at during that particular moment.  Not really challenging, but
will certainly keep you happily riding for hours.  The hills are kind of
scrubby with manzanita and some eucalyptus trees, and really no water
along the trail (maybe that's changed this year with El Nino ;-)).

The main campsite (horse camp) sits in a valley of sorts filled with
eucalyptus trees, and a short ride to the beach on good trails.  During
the time I was there, pipe corrals were available on a first come, first
serve basis.  May want to consider bringing water for both humans and
horses, as the water at that time was deemed unfit for human use.  My
feeling has always been that if you can't drink it yourself, why subject
the horse to it.  I'll admit to a very tolerant stomach, as horse water
troughs looked pretty good on a real hot day.

There is a park use fee, but it was very small at the time and under a
self-register arrangement.  There are no vehicles permitted on the beach
(unlike Pismo Beach), and the human population during non-holiday times
is rather small, which is nice for long gallops.  The closest town is
Los Osos (approx. 2 miles), and has a supermarket, gas, post office,
small businesses, restaurants, etc. but no lodging that I know of.  If
you would rather not camp out, there are a couple of stables (one which
I worked at) that will happily overnight board your horse for a daily
fee, and people motels in Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo.  Now I wonder
why I moved to Davis (school maybe???).

Kim (and Lee... why *did* we move to Davis, CA ma'???)