Senior editor Brendan Alexander, up high on his horse, as usual. |
I know horses from small horses, because I've seen them in the past just about everywhere I looked. They're on the television, in my books, on my coloring pages and at the fair. I don't know much more than that about them, though, except that they range in size from small to quite big. A brother asked about this matter explained that the little ones are called ponies, and as of now, I've had the chance to take one for a stroll.
We got a chance to take a pony ride when we went out to Remlinger Farms, and I know you may be thinking we've over-promoted them this Halloween season, but it's only because they're really that good. What's more fun than going to the zoo may be paying extra to take a pony around an oval corral, but if that's your idea of fun, consider the delight in going to Remlinger Farms and taking a pony around a ziggy-zaggity maze at no extra cost.
If you're looking to take the pony out for a leisurely afternoon stroll, you'll do no better than this. Your admission fee to Remlinger Farms covers everything you could want to do at that great place short of eating lunch, and the pony rides are likewise included in the cost. And it's not just an afterthought, they have twenty mini-horses they keep in rotation, so the line is pretty short and it moves awfully fast, even by my estimation, and I'm horribly impatient.
The best part of the pony rides, though, is that it isn't just a big circle you walk the edges of, always looking across at all the other kids riding all the other ponies. Nope, it's an actual path through a hedge maze, so the horses go straight, turn left, turn right, go straight some more, take a couple more turns, and bring you back to where you started.
And they're nice ponies too. They don’t mind you petting their manes or screaming "bye-bye pony!" when you're done. In fact, I'd bet they appreciate it. A pat to a pony is like a tip to a cabbie.
Above - The fun of the pony is one thing, but the bigger thing we hadn't bargained for was the joy of riding around in a non-circular path through what effectively amounted to a hedge-maze. Sure, it wasn't a maze in the traditional, inescapable sense, but I couldn't have found my way out through the mess of shrubs and horse apples.
But if you're out there already, you should see what else you can drive, because they've got dots along the spectrum, and if you like fun, prepare to be worn out by it.
One of the many amusement park style rides (likewise included in your admission charge) is the canoe ride. It's great because you hop in boats and wander downstream until the river terminates oddly back at the beginning. We got there early in the morning, so us and the other kiddo-folk were afforded the luxury of a second ride without having to hop back out. I'd never driven a boat before, so this was especially fun for me.
Above - We ended up taking the boat around fully three times, and all the times it was the same; start at the top of the river, wind through a course of full-fledged fun, wind up back at the mouth of the river, which was oddly also to the top of it. Kind of an MC Esher thing going on there, but with all my squealing and giggling I forgot to try to figure it out.
Right after you enter the park (or right before you leave), there's a firefighters area with a couple of cool old trucks of fire-fightery you're allowed to climb in and try your hand at driving. Those were fun for my boss Brendan, who had never driven a fire truck before, but I had far more interest in the school bus, since I've never even been on one.
I've seen my senior journalism counterparts climb on them just about every day, so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, and the fuss was fun indeed. It was tricky to understand the controls, but worth working on for sure.
Above - Part of the park afforded us the fun luxury of driving our own buses or trucks of fire, and we had a blast, though I don't think we managed to get them into gear. Pretty sure we just made truck noises while sitting still. Can't be sure though since none of our journalists could actually see over the dashboards.
So whether you're looking to ride fun and furry ponies or ply your best efforts at commanding a heavy commercial vehicle, this adventure had all our bases covered with golden glove professionalism.
The pony and other rides are open seasonally at Remlinger Farms. Check their website at www.remlingerfarms.com for hours of operation, current rates as well as information about their Strawberry Festival and Country Fair (also seasonal).
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