A Horseback Ride to Bedford Post
Last Sunday, my friend, Muffin, arranged a really fun horseback ride for a group of nine of us. We started at Muffin’s house and headed into the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, which is practically in her backyard. It’s really wonderful riding through this large and beautiful park, especially when the trail leads to brunch at Bedford Post! Bedford Post, owned by Richard Gere and his wife, Carey Lowell, features an eight-room luxury inn, a yoga studio, and two distinct restaurants. The Farmhouse offers fine dining and The Barn, as its name suggests, serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner during the week, and brunch on weekends.
1 We riders met at Muffin's stable. Peter (very dapper in his outback coat) and Dan standing on Muffin's vibrant lawn
2 This was also a play date for dogs! Sharkey and Francesca were very happy to see Muffin's dogs, Kaya and Coco Channel.
3 Coco Channel is a corgi that came from Palm Beach and is a great herding dog. Kaya is a wonderful mix of a German Mountain Dog and a Swedish Mountain Dog.
4 Muffin's driveway circles around this very clever walk-up mounting wall.
5 After mounting our horses, we started off for Ward Pound Ridge Reservation.
6 Ward Pound Ridge Reservation is a 4,315-acre park, with varied terrain and landscapes and miles of wooded trails.
7 We stopped on the trail for some equipment adjustment.
8 The name Pound Ridge is traced back to the Native Americans who used the area as a pound, where game was kept on hoof until it was needed for food.
9 Muffin shared a good laugh with her guest, who was riding her horse, Bisquit.
10 Bisquit is a large, 17-year-old palomino pony - Muffin's perfect treasure. He makes things all safe while touring in the countryside.
11 Ward Pound Ridge Reservation is the largest park in the Westchester County Parks system and is a very popular destination for bird watchers.
12 It was nice to see so many young saplings. In addition to many species of birds, the park is one of the best places for butterflies in the New York area.
13 We rode to higher elevation.
14 This is a beautiful spot to sit and enjoy the view of the Cross River Reservoir.
15 In another couple of weeks, the trees will have their leaves and the view will be quite different.
16 Smile, Betsy!
17 Muffin was riding Brian, a Welsh pony that actually came from Wales!
18 Headed towards Leatherman's Cave, so named for the leather-clad French vagabond, who traveled a circuit between Connecticut and the Hudson River between 1856 and 1889, sleeping in caves.
19 We met this rather shy dog on the trail, who proved to be not shy at all once his owners caught up. That's when he began barking ferociously at us.
20 This granite formation is reminiscent of New Hampshire's Old Man of the Mountain in Franconia Notch. To the sadness of many, the Old Man actually fell from the mountain in May of 2003.
21 Leatherman's Cave is somewhere up there. You have to walk by foot to see it.
22 Emerging from Ward Pound Ridge Reservation
23 Getting close to Bedford Post
24 At this point, we were all thinking about brunch.
25 Muffin dismounted Brian and....
26 Took a group shot of us behind the Bedford Post
27 A mystery rider with a horse named Dr. Phil
28 After dismounting, some of the horses were led down to the parking area.
29 Once again, Barbara Kovach generously loaned some of her horses for this ride. They were loaded onto the horse trailer and transported back to her farm.
30 Brunch in the Barn of the Bedford Post - Yum!!! What a great way to end a great ride!
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
This great account had a fantastic happy end!
Posted by: Offside | March 28th, 2012 at 4:02 am
Riding with friends is the best way to spend time. A lovely meal afterwards is the icing on the cake!
Posted by: Holly | March 28th, 2012 at 5:21 am
Mystery draws many in and loved these photos of Bedford Post activities. Sunday was a day for a simple supper at my sisters on Dakota Prairie and we glimpsed her husband out riding while he 'checked' for new calves in this mildest of all winters.
Posted by: ann | March 28th, 2012 at 8:32 am
Beautiful horses. Be a bit unnerving to run into another "Leatherman" on the ride alone.
I named my dog Coco Chanel too! She's a Wheaten but she does not like the name Coco. When she was a puppy she would not come if you used "Coco". So I just end up calling her Chanel or "shell". She would also not walk on cement as a puppy.
Lovely to see dogs play. Chanel has a Chow cross boyfriend that comes to see her nearly everyday. He lives two houses down and they love to play. They alos go to the neighbours house in the middle and get their dogs to come out and play. So cute, how he also comes and gets Chanel first.
Look how green that lawn is!
Posted by: RT Scott | March 28th, 2012 at 8:34 am
Looks like everyone had an enjoyable time riding through the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation park. What lovely views and interesting history on it's name. Thanks for the pictures and commentary Martha and I love Muffin's bright scarf!
Loved your live show from the Pillsbury bake off in Orlando yesterday. It's was fun watching you and the winners of each category.
Posted by: Cindy F | March 28th, 2012 at 8:40 am
Hi Martha, How nice to have such wonderful trails so close to where you live at your Bedford farm! What a great lady Muffin is and all 9 of you must have had a delightful time! What a fun thing to do before you went to Orlando on Sunday! F&S must have had a fun time playing with those cute dogs, also! What a terrific trail this one was and I love all of your delightful photos along the trail! How fun to see Sweet Betsy again-she looked so cute! All of this information about these trails is fascinating and the historical info is great! Bisquit sure is a beautiful palomino and 17 years old-WOW! The birds and butterflies sure have a great place to live along the trails! Photo #20 is fascinating and the left side of the granite formation looks like the head of a camel! How nice that Muffin took a photo of the rest of you, #26! That Brunch in the Barn of the Bedford Post does look very YUMMY! Thanks for sharing this delightful tour! Have another great day! Did you get your 2 new kitties yet?!! Off to see GK's latest blog on The Daily Wag! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | March 28th, 2012 at 9:22 am
A great ride to get out to enjoy Spring! A really great idea for a mounting wall. I've never seen anything like it.
Posted by: Andrea | March 28th, 2012 at 9:36 am
Hi Martha,
There’s nothing like a romp through the woods on horseback and then brunch at Richard Gere’s Bedford Post! In my dreams but then, I usually have nice dreams! What a great area for a ride though. It reminds me of the woods in northern Michigan that I was always traipsing through looking for deer when I was a kid. I wanted to see if they actually licked the flavored salt blocks that were left for them.
~
The Pillsbury Bake-Off was a very entertaining show yesterday live from Orlando! You need to do that more often. I was really happy for the grand prize winner and have already pinned her pumpkin ravioli recipe which I must make. Anduin Havens did a beautiful job with the set and I hope you do make wallpaper just like it. I can see it above my stove already! Trish
Posted by: Trish | March 28th, 2012 at 9:55 am
I'm getting married at the Bedford Post on May 11th. Ms. Stewart, the moment I walked into the venue, I felt your energy. Every room looks as if it should be in your magazine.
Wouldn't it be lovely to have my guests arrive by horse?
Cheers
Jasmine Hunter
Posted by: Jasmine | March 28th, 2012 at 11:30 am
Martha,
Thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | March 28th, 2012 at 12:16 pm
Another fabulous day for you and your friends Martha! Riding, friends, and a great brunch. What could be better? Thanks once again!!!!
Posted by: Frances | March 28th, 2012 at 3:16 pm
Looks like fun, did everyone take off their spurs when they went inside for breakfast. That is a real code of the west. Only wantabees wear their spurs inside.
Posted by: margie | March 28th, 2012 at 4:21 pm
Martha - Is that Ryan Reynolds!!!!! Naughty!!
Posted by: TERESA MCCARTHY | March 28th, 2012 at 5:18 pm
It is Ryan... he's wearing that cap and runners in NY yesterday!! NICE ONE
Dont worry I wont tell anyone.. i'm on the other side of the big pond.. I Love all things Martha and all things mr. reynolds... cheers Teresa ...
Posted by: TERESA MCARTHY (IRELAND!!) | March 28th, 2012 at 5:27 pm
so lovely and inspiring
Posted by: Sera Tn | March 28th, 2012 at 8:33 pm
Hi Martha,
They say a person is known by the company she keeps, and with Muffin Dowdle for a friend you are in good company. She is a treasure. I "met" Muffin on your blog and then followed her open house presentations. She is so full of energy, and her home tours are fabulous. I love watching her show the various aspects of a property by dressing in the appropriate attire such as a tennis outfit, riding outfit, and best of all was the swimsuit saunter! It takes guts and a good figure to pull that off! Sure wish I could afford one of those estates she represents.
Anyway, I'm glad you had such a nice ride with your friends, plus a great brunch to look forward to afterward. Thanks for sharing this with us
Posted by: Lee | March 28th, 2012 at 9:55 pm
Hey, I love this post! Great inspiration as always.
Posted by: foothillsranch | December 25th, 2012 at 11:00 pm