Report 15969: Possible daylight sighting on horse trail in Beaver Creek State Park

My mother and I went riding that day. Weather was nice and clear, just the right temperature to take a leisure ride through the park. Even the wind was with us, blowing behind us and keeping the bugs off. Since we didn't have anything to do that day we thought we'd take a longer trail. It's a stand of white pines. Not the one that leads to a campground, but one adjacent to a field. I don't remember the color designation or the exact name, we call it the hangman's trail due to a tree, but it may be the whispering pines. I was deep in thought, not really paying attention to my surroundings. I turned to see if my mother was alright, seeing as she was quite a ways behind me. My gelding tensed, which instantly had me turning around to see what was wrong. My first impression was an object standing vertically. I figured a tree top had fallen down and was being propped up by a log. I waited for Goke to figure this out and settle. Boy was I wrong. It moved, we moved. Goke swirled around and went off at a dead run. He generally starts and stops, like running in place when he spooks. He stops, settles, and investigates. Even when a dog was attacking him he never ran so fast and so uncontrolled a gallop. He practically bulled over mom and her horse, and soon the mare was following and the two horses didn't stop until we were halfway back to camp. So whatever it was scared the shit out of him. While Goke was running I still had my head turned looking at the object. It ran off towards the field, whether it exited the forest or not I'm not quite sure, we entered the pines blocking my vision. A break in the forest directed sun in my face at the initial sighting, so more or less I got a blurred perception of the creature as we both changed position. But it was enough to tell me this was no deer or man. One, whatever it was ran upright. The proportions looked wrong for a man, bulk in the wrong place. Height was also an issue. We still use that trail and the landmarks are still there for comparison. Looking at the log it was standing behind I'd say it was 7-8 feet. It was dark, but the 'halo' around it made the edges appear a dark chocolate. Mom said I was white as a ghost and Goke was jittery for the rest of the ride. We must have been pretty shook up seeing as mom told a friend to explain what was wrong. It's just not in her nature to relate things such as this.