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| The Chariot |
Round em up, Move em out.. Rawhide!
Yuppers, you heard me right, Cindy is going on a TRAIL RIDE! Isn't that a little soon Cindy? You've only been on a real horse a couple of times. I KNOW! But apparently I'm ready for the big show...
"Be here at 8!" And by gosh, I WAS! Not that I had a clue as to what I was doing, but I was there. Turns out what I was doing was cleaning stalls. Who knew a trail ride starts with poop scooping? But I am a champion poop-scooper, (remind me to tell you a story about poop-scooping NOT horse related.. but for now, back to horses) so I was ON IT! I think it is important to show enthusiasm in everything.
Our group of 5 required 2 rigs... the trailer in the pic hauls three beasties... For a few moments, I thought 'that's all?' and then realized I'm an idiot, because that is MORE than enough. Seems SOME horses get a bit nervous at loading up into a tuna can (even a very fine tuna can such as the one in the picture), so you want to limit the nervous poundage-on-the-hoof... The stanchions? (is that a word?) are snug to say the least. But I spose if a horse is nervous, giving them lots of room to kick it up while mobile isn't the best approach to equine hauling. So... 3 horses it is!
Our stars for the day included Cowboy, Jewels, Patrone, Whisper and LilMan. Handlers included Mike. Those needing handled included Tammie, Lisa, Rabea and Me.
Heft that ghetto booty up on that thar horse!
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| Not Patrone, but plays him on the Internet |
Actually before said hefting can began, I was tasked with saddling my magnificant ride for the day, Patrone!
Patrone is a Palomino.
I've provided a picture of a Palomino for your viewing pleasure. This is NOT Patrone, but a pretty reasonable facsimile. And like this guy, Patrone is BIG. I felt a bit of apprehension about mounting up... primarily because we'd just met, and I thought that was kinda forward... but I digress.
Palominos are known by their coloring... a gorgeous rich chestnut topped with the beautiful cream colored mane and tail you see in the pics. I'm sure they are also know for many other characteristics, but remember I know nothing. Oh look! Pretty horse.. pretty pretty!
Yeah, that's about it for Cindy. Patrone is simply stunning.
and big.. did I mention big?
Mike handed me all the equipment I was going to need... a bridle, a blanket, a saddle... a saddle that had more buckles and bands and random straps than I've EVER seen. However, since I'm not an idiot, I actually managed to convince Patrone to take the bit in his mouth, so bridle went on without too much embarrassment for either of us.
The saddle was slightly more idiot inducing, what with the chest strap, front AND back understraps. Then for sheer torment, they handed me saddle bags to tie on.. that was fun because I was tying them on above eye-level, but made it work.
Okay Cindy, NOW SADDLE UP!
So I did :)
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| My view |
I've posted yet another lovely picture of the view I had as we left the rigs.. This is Cowboy's ass. And no, I'm not talking about Mike's - although kudos for that view too - I'm talking about the horse's.
Patrone and Cowboy are buds... as close as Patrone WANTED to follow, I think someone should probably TALK to Patrone about bad touching, but he's not my baby, so I'll have to refrain from the all-out lecture and instead simply state that I was probably keeping him on a shorter rein than he wanted. Cowboy remained stoic so I have no idea whether my efforts were appreciated, or I was simply harshin on his gig.
Ultimately I suppose it mattered not.
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| He went thataway! |
Where'd ya head Cindy?
Mike hauled us East, to a gravel road up out of Troy. He'd indicated we were going to be traversing some blow-downs and meandering off-trail, because the lessons were continuing. So essentially we started out across a field. I felt confident... primarily because Patrone was following Cowboy I believe I mentioned that, so this was the view that made me dig out the camera and keep it around my neck for the duration of the ride.
Either we had fabulous horses, or trail rides consist of one dude deciding where we are going, and every other horse just says 'oh.. got it' and follows. Whatever the case, our mosey across the fields had a few moments of excitement.
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| You want us to do what? |
Mike wanted to cross a little wash-out. It was maybe 2-3 ft drop and 4-5 ft across. To be gracious (OR because he had Idiot Cindy along) he back-tracked about 15-20 and found an easier crossing. That said, Patrone got all bent about being separated from Cowboy, so Cindy and Patrone crossed a bit prematurely at a less idiot-proof approach.
However, Cindy stayed in the saddle and those amazing words I've come to love were uttered "Good Cindy, Good Girl!" ... yeah... it helps!
Ultimately we crossed some large clear-cut areas... Mike wanted us to practice walking the horses through lots of hazards, over stumps and brush and generally learn to trust the horse.
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| Smiles all around |
There WAS that horse-eating stump that rolled at Patrone.. I learned a 1200lb beast CAN hop sideways, but better yet, I learned I can 'hang' when it happens. I also learned that Patrone has issue with Lil'Man, so poor Lisa had to bring up the tail-end of the line... because every time she moved up closer, Patrone would bust into a trot.
I learned Patrone likes to run up hills, versus plod slowly. Patrone learned running up hills only works until you run into the ass of the horse directly in front of you in the trail. However, Patrone doesn't seem to retain those lessons, because I think we goosed Whisper any number of times.
What did you learn Cindy?
How amazing it is to be in the saddle, in the sunshine, listening to the groan of leather, and echos of laughter coming from the people you are sharing this experience with.
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| just a moseying |
I also learned that barbed wire can hide REALLY well in the brush... I learned that a horse can trust someone to get them safely out of it.. Thanks to Tammie for spotting the wire, and helping Patrone free up his front hoof. I learned that rocking forward in the saddle when trying to encourage a 1200lb beastie to cross a creek, actually has ZERO impact on the beastie. But it seems that tenacity and force of will DID work... we went across the creek afterall. Personally I think he just got sick of my flailing around on his back, and went across to visit with Cowboy, but we won't talk about that right now.
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| Just one of the gorgeous views |
I learned that the scenery we have in our neck of the woods (something I've always considered beautiful) takes on a whole different level of Wow from the back of a horse..
I saw some territory I've not enjoyed before, and very much loved sharing it with people I didn't even know 2 months ago...
I learned you have to bring a bottle of hootch along for the ride...
And I learned I actually like the cinnamon flavored liquor called FireBall, and I learned that FireBall is a cure for just about everything.. but again, I digress.
I learned Lisa needs reminded to bring her sunscreen, and Tammie has a cool hat which reminded ME to go find my beater green cowboy hat before the next ride. I learned Rabea looks elegant no matter how hot it is, and I learned I want more of this kinda happiness.
What else did you learn Cindy?
I learned just exactly where in the hell Nunya is.. Not that I could find it again, but I can say I've BEEN there now! |
| Mike overseeing the watering of the beasties |
We were told it's a fabulous place to swim. Nobody SAID there would be SWIMMING!! I didn't bring a suit.
Normally that wouldn't have stopped me - especially on such a gorgeously HOT day.. However, I noted nobody bailing in, so I remained in-saddle.
If truth be told, I remained in-saddle because I forgot underwear that day, and there would be TOO much of Cindy exposed to these poor folks if I bailed as I wanted to :)
And if deeper truth be told.. I didn't FORGET underwear.. I just was too lazy to go downstairs to the laundryroom.. so I bypassed em for no other reason than sheer sloth.
Cindy -- that was inappropriate sharing!
Not really.. inappropriate sharing would've been 1) to strip off the jeans and go in anyway... or 2) completely inappropriate would have been if someone captured THAT on my camera, and I posted pics...So ya'll chill. Nothing inappropriate here.. just move on and go about yer bizness...
Hobble yerself Cindy..
Alrighty then... since the horrors of Inappropriate Cindy were dodged... we all clambered down from our glorious mounts, dug out our lunches and sat in the shade while the beasties grazed.I learned how to hobble Patrone (how handy, there is a hobble strap attached to the saddle)... I learned Rabea thought hanging out with us women was like chilling with her brothers (bodily function humor DID come up in conversation) and I learned once again, there is nothing comparable to sitting in the sunshine, listening to laughter while inundated with the smells of warm leather and warmer horses.
Mostly I learned I want to do this again! SOON!
What a fabulous experience... Thanks much to Mike and the ladies for giving me such an incredible day.
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| simply lovely |
