The Ocean!

Yep, we finally did it! What a blast!
The Maine ocean ride must be on my adult Ten Year To-Do List. Even though I am old (according to my teenage children) I have only ridden the beach twice, but the ride I took this year was truly memorable enough to last me until the next decade. We left at the crack of dawn to hit the low tide schedule. This was actually a huge advantage, because not only was there very little traffic on the turnpike, but the beach was very un-populated at that time of day. That being said, I bet we had our picture taken at least 200 times during our ride down the beach and back. 99.9 percent of the beach walkers were thrilled to see the horses and at least half of them had either their camera or their cell phone ready. We even had people volunteer to take a picture of us all together! By the way, that is a mini on the far left, not a dog. The children on the beach absolutely adored the horses. This picture was taken by a woman walking along the beach. She didn’t know how to use my camera, and my friends ended up being WAY ahead. AhD was very antsy to get back to his friends. Everything was new to him, this was NOT woods, not road, not a lake, and on the way back there were tons of people walking the beach. AhD did an excellent job of listening to me as we trotted to catch up to my friends. What a good boy!
This picture is of Ulla and her Morgan galloping through the surf. AhD watched, and then he was able to do it himself. What a thrill!
The sun sparkled on the water and the day was absolutely beautiful. There were several fishing boats in the harbor and many fishermen and women on the beach itself. We had to be sure to circle up on to the beach to avoid getting tangled in the fishing lines!
AhD had never been to the ocean before. Wow, he sure knew the difference between fresh water and the ocean! He never once tried to drink it, and he did NOT like that white line that edges each wave as it arrives on the beach. His eyeballs just about popped out of his head as he eyed the waves, and he did a super side pass to avoid. Waves would be an excellent training tool for dressage! After watching my friends’ horses walk in, he did get the idea. With his eye on the "white line" of course. :)
Old Orchard Beach/Pine Point is NOT typical craggy, rocky Maine coast, but seven miles of sand. It is a tourist trap and is lined with pricey cottages, hotels and motels.
In the background, see the famous Old Orchard Beach pier. AhD was a bit nervous passing through the pilings each way. This pier burned down once and was completely rebuilt.
We went all the way to these rocks which mark the end of Pine Point. Ooops, we went further than we were supposed to…but who could stop??? Apparently, the horse poop police were not out.
To leave the beach, we had to trot through Ocean Park, a suburbia of cottages. Guess what Zoe and Betsy! We “trotted sidewalks” just like you two! AhD was SUPER! I hope you all enjoyed this trip to the Maine coast as much as I enjoyed following the Vermont River Ride.