We had a fabulous day on Sept. 22 for the first fall ride of the Altoona Trail Riders at Fechtel Ranch.  There were 18 riders who headed out on the trails on what was our “Cowboy Theme” ride.  It was appropriate to have such a theme on the property of a former cattle ranch.  While there are still a lot of cattle farming done in Florida, many of the big farms have given way to huge housing developments.  Fortunately for us, the state now owns this ranch and it should be available to us for riding for a good long time.  We had a leisurely two hour ride, most of it in the shade thanks to our great trail guides, Carol Spelzhausen and Judy Spires.  A lot of the riders had not ridden all summer and wanted to take it easy with their horses. So we did a nice, two hour walking ride.  The weather for the day cooperated and it stayed mainly overcast with no rain.  There was even a breeze now and again. 

     After the ride, we had a hot dog cookout and a pot luck lunch.  As usual, we ended up with a boat load of food.  There were salads of all sorts, beans, chips and desserts.  We cooked some great hot dogs called ‘belly busters’ that Pam Courtemanche recommended.  They were good!   Since the theme of this ride was “cowboy ride”, we kept our eyes open for the most authentic looking cowboy – someone who looked like they came straight out of the 1800’s and could sit in the saddle and work cows all day long.  It did not take long for the judges to select Jack Green as our authentic cowboy.  He was wearing his button shirt and pants, suspenders, floppy hat and boots and spurs.  What a terrific outfit.  Jack has participated in Cowboy Mounted Shooting where you wear authentic clothing for the events.  Jack found what he wanted at Hendrick’s Feed store.  They carry a line of pre-1900’s cowboy wear.  Jack won a gift certificate for his efforts. All in all it was a fun day.