horses, and the equines (and mule and donkey) hover nearby when she is around, keeping an eye on their humans. Her two dogs, Lil Bit, a dumpster dog, and Blossom, a German shepherd, are never far away. “If you are having a bad day,” she says, “it’s nice to go downstairs … the horses aren’t saying anything, and I can just sit here and feel good.” These days, Janell focuses on riding with friends, traveling to parks and farms in Alabama and Georgia to camp and ride miles of trails. “Ronny supports my trail riding/ camping habit and will camp with us when he can,” she says. “He got out of riding when his Quarter horse, Fast Poco Guard, died shortly after we moved to the farm in 1995.’” A horse lover since a young age, Jones had parents who supported her horse habit. “My dad always loved horses and helped out in barns as a kid, and my mom put me on my first horse when I was 2 years old,” she says. “Both of my parents did their best to support the habit with riding lessons and camps when we lived in Ft. Lauderdale.” Jones estimates that she has had about 15 horses over the years. She has progressed from Quarter horses to gaited horses with their easy paces for covering miles of trails. Her favorite horse, Jack, is getting on in age so she has been searching for a replacement, a walking horse or a gaited horse who can take her safely up and down hills, across creeks and through the woods, a horse she hopes someday to be riding at Chattahoochee Bend State Park.
Photo by JEFFREY LEO
For more information about the park or to volunteer, visit the Friends of Chattahoochee Bend State Park or on Facebook at Friends of Chattahoochee Bend ~ Equestrian Group. 58 Newnan-Coweta Magazine