Nearly 60 riders participated in the 4th annual Poker Ride at the Jacksonville Equestrian Center! WOW! Members and friends showed up in droves on the cold breezy Saturday morning to ride the 6.5 mile trail and try their luck to win the $100 prize. Much of the trail wound through the piney woods and there were some ditches and creek crossings to navigate. The adventuresome riders opted for the "Danger Trail" which included some steep hills and a narrow winding path. All in all the route was fun and different from the normal "EC Trails."
When the last of the riders were coming back from the ride, the bad weather rolled in. Winds whipped to 30 mph and the temperatures dropped. While the wind was blowing our lunch plates away and the raffle prized were going everywhere, a light rain began to fall to add icing to the cake! Despite ALL this, most everyone stuck around to find out who won the poker hand and who would go home with the many great raffle prizes. Denise Umphress was the big winner and walked away with $100 cash. The beautiful baskets donated by a generous member werre won by Claire Kenyon and Traci Woodard. Other prizes included gift certificates, candles, tack, books, T-shirts and so many other goodies that it is hard to name them all!!! Thank you SO much to the business sponsors and to the members who donated services, time and good will to make this ride a memorable event.
Our next BIG event will be the fall obstacle challenge... between now and then there will be many more fun weekends with LARA! Stay in touch to find out what we have on the agenda!
