“A family trip to Acadia.” Jason rubbed his hands together, grinning at Mandi. “But who is going to ride Magic? Maybe one of Sofia’s friends can come along, too.”
Sofia nearly jumped from her chair. “That would be great!”
But which friend?
Sofia’s Choice, chapter 4
While the characters and most of the settings in my middle grade novel, Sofia’s Choice, live only in the pages of my book and the imagination of my readers, Acadia National Park is real. My grandparents lived in a small town about twenty miles from Acadia. I visited the park many times as a child and have returned frequently as an adult. I have fond memories of climbing the Beehive and Mount Door, wandering around the grounds of Jordan Pond House, walking and biking along the carriage trails, and visiting Thunder Hole.
As a child, I dreamed of riding horses along the trails, but didn’t get the opportunity until I was in my twenties. A friend invited me to accompany her and her Morgan gelding, High Note (a horse I had owned as a teenager), and I brought Cheval, an Arabian/Quarter Horse mare. We stabled the horses at Wildwood Stables and spent the next three days exploring the park on horseback.
High Note (pictured on the left) and Cheval (pictured on the right) were fast and full of energy. On our first ride, we completed the 8.5-mile Bubble Pond Loop (the same route Sofia took on her second ride) in about an hour, a pace Allison and Thor would have appreciated. On the last day of our trip, we took a more leisurely ride up Day Mountain.
Twenty-seven years later (in 2021), I rode up Day Mountain a second time, on a 26-year-old Standardbred mare named Soprano. It was a warm October day, with lots of sun, beautiful foliage, and breathtaking views of the ocean. We did some trotting, but certainly didn’t set the trails on fire with our speed.
My riding partner was my instructor, fellow horse-book author, and friend, Robyn Cuffey. In addition to rescuing and retraining Standardbred racehorses, Robyn loved to ride and drive her horses along Acadia’s carriage trails. She organized several trips each year. These trips filled up quickly, and most participants brought their own horses, so I was thrilled when a spot opened up for me to join her and borrow Soprano for the day.
Despite a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in 2023, Robyn continued to show her rescued Arabian gelding at the third level in dressage and made several trips with her horses to Acadia, the last only a few weeks before her death. She was an amazing horsewoman and an inspiration to all who were blessed to have known her.
If you’d like to visit Acadia National Park on horseback, I recommend Robyn Cuffey’s book, Equestrians’ Guide to Acadia, which you can purchase from her sister, Carol, at robyncuffeybooks@gmail.com.