In this informal family vlog, a parent (Speaker A) spends a day in North Carolina's DuPont State Forest with their daughter Lily and younger sibling Gideon. Although the parent admits a dislike for horses, they use the outing—riding ponies, visiting the Covered Bridge, Triple Falls, and Bridal Veil Falls—to connect with Lily, who is passionate about horses. The vlog captures Lily’s preferences for jumping and trail riding, her brief explanations of dressage, and playful banter about horse behavior. The parent also frames the day as a filmmaking project for Lily’s YouTube channel, documenting the ride, the horses, and the natural scenery. Along the way, they discuss snack preparation, the excitement of being late, and moments of bonding with Gideon, who also gets a pony ride. The narrative concludes with reflections on the shared experience, the beauty of the forest, and the successful creation of a family video that strengthens their relationship.
Chapters
I don't like horses. But I found myself gonna spend all day in the woods with horses today. Lily, how'd we get into this?
Um, I like horses.
She, on the other hand, is crazy about horses. It's all you think and talk about and do.
Except for chicken chores and swimming. Turn right onto Hooper's Hole Road. Chicken chores, swimming, and horses. That's all I do. I think you eat too little Coke though. It's not that fun.
I see. Get your snacks packed. But I love this girl, so the name of the game today is to connect with this little one. Lily is a little bit nervous.
You nervous about being late?
She gets so excited, doesn't want to be late, but this is a very laid-back hiking trip. We're going We're gonna ask you questions, Lily. What is your favorite type of riding?
Just riding. I like jumping. I think I like jumping definitely the most. Jumping and trail riding.
What am I? Jumping and trail riding.
Flat work and ground— I mean, ground work is fun, but flat work is just boring.
You think you're gonna do—
Unless I did dressage. Dressage is boring.
What is dressage?
Um, it's like— it's hard to say. It's like doing really dainty little steps. And doing really slow canners and fast canners and fast trots and truly, um, an extended trot and then a lefty canter.
And yeah, horses can walk, jog, run, and sprint.
No, no, walk, trot, canter, gallop. We were supposed to be there 17 minutes ago. We're really late, really, really late. Can you, can you pass Can you pass this person? Papa, can you pass this person?
I will when I get to him.
Can you pass this person? There's a chance right now.
I can't see.
Papa, yes you can. Papa, can you pass this person? Papa, papa, papa, papa, papa, papa. Look, there's a— Papa, papa.
I can't pass. You can't see over the hill.
The guy isn't even pedaling.
Leslie was behind us and Lily was freaking out the whole time. Now she can lead us in. Lily, you worried about nothing.
I am.
I want to be here early. Lily, we made it.
We did.
You happy now? Yeah, she's— she's in heaven now. I may not like horses, but I like making movies, so that's one way we can connect. We're going to make a video on this day for Lily's channel. We'll connect that way. How do you do in the ride?
Good. He pooped 3 times.
Oh boy, scared the poop out of me. Look at this barn.
Haylofts.
Wow, we are in DuPont State Forest, which is absolutely beautiful North Carolina forest. Who knew they had horse stables? Isn't that cute?
I love how they did all this. I just love how spacious and organized it is.
Who's this little guy?
Onyx. We need one.
Yeah, who's this?
It's Amo.
Gideon, you ever rode a pony before?
Yeah, plays and, uh, once.
Beats walking, huh?
Yeah.
We just got really lucky. They were like, hey, does Gideon want to ride this extra pony?
Should we cross the diagonal?
Look at you, you're riding a pony. Dan's getting big. Looks huge on that pony. And we're off, the goal being Covered Bridge at the top of the Triple Falls. This guy's much slower than everybody. They're leaving us behind. Well, I set out to connect with Lily, but maybe I'm connecting with you, bud. There you are! Where you been?
Um, riding.
She's just so excited. I don't know if Blaze has ever been on a bridge before. Listen to that noise. That's neat. Listen to that. How you doing? Good. You enjoying yourself? We just came to the bridge. We're turning around. How you holding up, Lily? Good. You having a good time? Yeah. We're connecting. Hey, is that better than walking?
Yes.
You're a good sport, you know that? Huh?
Yeah. Wow.
I'm going to trot up this hill. Give him a boot. Give him a boot. Come on, Lily! Where are you at? Where are you at with Blaze? Come on, Lily, smoke me! Oh, here's a little fast trot. How's Blaze doing?
Very lazy.
Uh-oh.
Which is good because he's never been around this many people or horses.
Yeah. How's Junebug doing? Good. Clear view. I think I was just connecting with myself there at the end. I didn't keep up. Did good, my man. How long you been back?
A few minutes. I'm feeding him a little bit of grain now for a little treat. I did give him a carrot, but he likes grain more, so I packed him like a handful.
Why are you sweaty? You rode.
It's hard work.
Blaze is sweaty.
Yeah, I just, I just dumped some water on him.
He's hungry too. How was lunch, guys? Lunch behind us. There's supposedly a nice swimming hole down this path. Heck yes! We found the base of Bridal Veil Falls. Wild blueberries right by the river. That feel good after being on the cold water? They want to see the little waterfall behind, up above. I can't blame them. It's one of those waterfalls you can get behind. Is this where Last of the Mohicans was filmed? It feels like it. It feels Last of the Mohicans-ish. The backside of water. They definitely filmed the waterfall scene in The Last of the Mohicans here. I will find you. No matter how long it takes, no matter how far. I will find you.
All right.
Ew, that's stale. That's stagnant. That only moves in a big rain event. It's probably warm, huh?
Yeah, it is.
I think those two are connecting. They don't get a whole lot of alone time together. You came prepared.
I did.
We talked horses, we made a film together, and we connected in the wilderness. And we got a little bonus of connecting with Gideon. We got a bonus of the waterfall. Happy day, y'all.
