There's nothing like saddling up and riding a horse on Mammoth
Cave National Park's 60 miles of trails saturated in autumn's
palette of orange, red, and russet.
"It is a beautiful place to ride," says Rocky Lombardi.
She and her husband, Dave, own the Double J Stables and Horseman's
Campground, served by Warren Rural Electric Co-op. "The
scenery in the park is always changing."
Kentucky has breathtaking vistas all over the state. There
are sweeping, forested views on the Nature Preserve at Shaker
Village of Pleasant Hill, along the lakeside trails at Land
Between The Lakes, and even in suburban parks—but for the
most colorful close-ups, you need to saddle up.
"What you see from the back of a horse in Kentucky is
breathtaking," says Emily Dennis, who owns Harrodsburg's
Big Red Stables with mom, Judy Burks, and husband, Drew Dennis. "There
is absolutely no better way to see the fall landscape."
Double J Stables and Horseman's Campground spreads over 55
acres, including pastures for 18 resident horses and undercover
stalls, turnout pens, and small pastures for guests' horses,
and it's bordered on two sides by the national park. From
its trailhead, riders simply mount up and trot onto the trail.
The Lombardis were equestrian neophytes when they moved from
Florida to Kentucky four years ago and bought the business.
"We were here for two weeks and it was time for the
season to start, so we got a crash course on horses," says
Rocky Lombardi, now a seasoned wrangler. "What a blast!"
Besides seeing the changing leaves in Mammoth Cave National
Park on small-group guided horseback rides (usually no more
than eight riders), visitors can attend Double J's annual
craft fair. This year, it's from 10 a.m. until
2 p.m. CT on Saturday, October 11. Artist-vendors will have
jewelry (including horse hair trinkets), handbags, and handmade
wooden signs, among other crafts. There will also be food
vendors, and the Edmonson County 4-H will sell food as a fund-raiser.
Double J Stables also holds an annual Halloween event. On
Friday, October 31, kids can trick-or-treat through the campground,
and there'll be hayrides, horse and carriage rides, and more.
A horseback poker run fund-raiser on Saturday also includes
pumpkin painting for kids, a chili cook-off, and a DJ/karaoke.
There is no cover charge for Double J events.
At Wrangler's Riding Stables at Land Between The Lakes, served
by Pennyrile Electric co-op, 150 miles of trails put riders
up close to not only vibrant fall color, but to forested hills,
wildlife, the ruins of Laura Furnace, old cemeteries, and
old home sites—including an outhouse.
"There's lots of hardwoods—oak, hickory, poplar—so just
about every color you can think of is here, from yellow to
dark reddish-purple," says James Upton, who runs the
guided trail ride business in the campground. "On any
trail you can ride along the lake, so you have the fall colors
and the beautiful lake view."
By-appointment-only guided trail rides are offered at Big
Red Stables on gentle, gaited Tennessee Walking horses on
the family farm and at Eagles Nest, a 1,000-acre privately
owned woodland with 30 miles of trails and a 26-acre lake.
Additionally, intermediate and advanced riders enjoy two-hour
guided trail rides in the 3,000-acre Nature Preserve at Shaker
Village of Pleasant Hill.
"This is a little piece of heaven on earth, with the
stone fences, wildflowers, birds, differing terrain, and the
changing leaves," says Emily Dennis, a Blue Grass Energy
member. "There's lots of open land where you get beautiful
vistas of Woodford and Mercer counties. In the forest, past
the old mill and Shawnee Run Creek, the exposed limestone
along the creek is just breathtaking."
Keeping Kentucky's horse trails open
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