MOUNTING UP — ( left ) Ready to " head for the hills " . . . J . W . HAMPTON on Blondie , JACK HAMPTON on Maybe and author FRED LESH on Major Walker Boy make a last-minute check of their mounts before storting on their trip through the snow-covered Ozarks .
MISSOURI HILLS PROVIDE EXCELLENT SETTING FOR MID WINTER WALKING HORSE ACTIVITY
The following account of a mid-winter trail ride in the beautiful hill country of the Ozarks in southeast Missouri accurately describes the enjoyment of riding for pleasure with a Tennessee Walking Horse . We wish to thank Mr . FRED LESH of Doe Run , Missouri , for this contribution to the VOICE .
‘' After being cooped up for three weeks with subfreezing weather and eight inches of snow on the ground , my riding companions — J . W . HAMPTON and his younger brother JACK — and I were getting anxious for a chance to do some trail riding . “ The weather report on Saturday morning , February 5 , gave promise of what we had been waiting for all winter . The predicted high for Sunday was in the upper fifties , which is ideal for riding . J . W . and I decided we would check Sunday morning and , if the weatherman was correct , we would make our fifteenmile horseback ride through the beautiful snow-covered Ozark Hills of Missouri . A ride over these winding snow-covered trails is something much desired by nature lovers and , once taken , is long remembered .
“ Here in the southeast Missouri hills we are lucky if we get one good snow at the right time and under the proper conditions for horseback riding . Many times the weather is too cold or the snow comes during the workdays and melts before the weekend , when most
54 VOICE of the Tennesse e Walking Horse