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The Infamous Trail Ride
By Laurie | August 19, 2008
The girls had been after me all summer to take them on a horse trail ride. DD1 takes lessons and is very comfortable on a horse. I haven’t been on a horse - unless you can count one trail ride 6+ years ago. But I am clearly a novice with no understanding of the animal or of commands. DD2, my little one, had some experience for the first time this summer, but hardly enough for someone her age to comprehend or master.
We brought our own bike helmets - the guide and the other two trailers - an 8 yo and a 20 something girl did not wear head gear. So the line up .. Guide, girl, woman, DD1, DD2 and me in the rear - the only one who’d not ridden before was the farthest away from the guide. I was given no instructions on what to do or what to look for.
My horse started bucking me off and I had no clue what to do. I yelped/screamed which made matters worse. Turns out Mystic had a horsefly on his ass. Course I didn’t know that; I didn’t know to look for that and since I was riding caboose, there was no one behind me to tell me that. So finally we get that under control but I’m still not liking the ride much because now I’m trying to spend half the ride looking behind me to ensure he doesn’t get another horsefly and start spazzing out again.
My knees and ass were killing me after about 45 minutes and I was not having the least bit of fun. Then in the middle of the woods with trees and mud everywhere, single file line, my horse started bucking and getting very agitated again. I freaked out. I know you’re supposed to remain calm, and the animal can tell if you’re tense, and don’t jerk and all that, but sorry I panicked. I was screaming and crying, horse is going crazy and from out in the back I see a FLASH of white and it’s DD2 on her horse that’s out of control and now cantering at what appeared 100 mph. I was still trying to get off my horse that was flailing all over. Meanwhile DD2 was going out of control about to be thrown airborne and hit a tree at any second. It’s safe to say I was in full blown panic at that point - mostly I’m sure due to my inability to help my young cub and fearful I was about to witness something horrific.
The guide climbed down and tried to tie off her horse and get DD2’s horse under control which was still going farther and farther into the woods away from us. I was still screaming, guide kept telling me to get my horse under control because she needed to get “the little girl.” I’m yelling “HOW? What do I do?” It was a blur.
Finally we both were able to get off and no one was hurt. My knees buckled under me and I was shaking like I was having a dang epileptic seizure. DD2 and I finally reunited into a huge embrace, the guide called back to the stable and they recommended we “get back on the horse and ride.” Our guide was wise enough to know that at that moment that would have been a horrible idea. My horse was still flailing while being tied up, there was no way I was about to get back on that big thing.
Another employee came out to where we were in the woods and fetched the two horses while DD2 and I walked back and were mostly fine by the time we reached the stables. The staff of the ranch were all very nice about it and felt badly. But we also knew going into it that the animals can be very unpredictable and that’s why I had to sign a waiver that acknowledged death was a possibility. Yikes, I should have taken that as a sign.
They figured that my horse was bothered by the flies and me spazzing just agitated him more, and DD2’s was likely stung by a bee and took off like a bat out of hell.
Funny, when we arrived up to the barn, one of the resident dogs, a black lab, came up from behind me and popped his head through my legs. I said “Now THIS is more my speed. Giddyup!”
On the way back home we stopped at a gas station to get some beverages. The total was $6.66. I looked at the clerk kinda funny and she said, “oh oh, this isn’t going to be a good day for you!” … Ya think?
Wowee. I think I have had my fill of horses. If I ever do that again, I think I’ll do it at the circus or a petting zoo where they’re hooked up like a merry go round
Topics: Ayers |
August 19th, 2008 at 18:02
Oh Laurie, you’re a brave one LOL! I haven’t been on horse since I was a teen and I loved them then but I went through a similar experience where my horse went skittish on me and I was so freaked!