by Jessica Knorr

Created on: July 29, 2008   Last Updated: June 25, 2009

Over the course of many years spanning from when I was a child I have been on several memorable horseback rides but one in particular really stands out as my favorite. It was the summer of 1996. I had just gotten married and was on my honeymoon. We were enjoying a week long stay on Mackinaw Island in a lovely bed and breakfast. We had spent the first couple of days biking all over the island and walked miles along the shores of Lake Michigan and thought we had seen all the island had to offer until a local had mentioned that the best way to see the island was on horseback. My new husband had never been horse back riding before and it really sounded like a wonderful romantic idea so we set off to the stables to rent out some horses for the day.

When we arrived at the stables we could hardly contain our excitement. Our first big adventure as a married couple was going to be on horseback. This was going to be great. The stable hand brought us out two of the most gorgeous horses we had ever seen and saddled them up for us. Our adventure was about to begin. I would be riding a beautiful brown and black horse named Dallas and my husband would be riding a gorgeous black horse named Shadow. We mounted up and started to head out for the trail. As we began to enter into the woods we looked back over our shoulders at the bustling view of Mackinaw Island and slowly time seemed to fade away.

Our first stop on our journey took us to a gorgeous look out that over looked a good portion of the island and of the Mackinaw Bridge. The view was spectacular and the day was perfect. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun was glistening off of the water and gleaming like jewels. We spent quite a bit of time at the lookout point just taking it all in, not wanting to miss a thing. We both agreed that we would have missed this amazing view had we not been on horse back and that would have been a terrible thing.

As our adventure continued each new turn in the trail gave way to more spectacular views and amazing sites. We scoped out beautiful rock formations and cliffs, deep woods trails and more gorgeous views of the lake. Each new spot we found made us feel like we were the first ones to explore it. It was so peaceful and tranquil. The horses kept a nice steady pace and needed very little direction. They knew the trails well and knew all of the best spots. It was like having our very own four legged tour guide. It was amazing. We had spent three days on the island and thought we

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