Happy Trails

I sit very gingerly on by black and blue bum as I type this.

As I am sure you are dying to know why my butt is purple, I suppose I shall have to tell you.

I went trail riding today, which was so much fun!! Not only did I ride Gracie for four hours through all different terrain, I also cantered and, dare I say, galloped. It was fantastic. Oh, and I also came off twice. Twice.

The first time was when we had stopped to rest. There was a group of other riders across the clearing from us, up on another trail, cantering along happily as can be. All of a sudden, Gracie is whinnying at the top of her lungs. She is a very herd-oriented horse, and wants to be with the biggest group she can. I tried telling her that those weren't her horses, but she wasn't overly inclined to listen. I stopped her from hauling off after them several times, but finally she lost her cool a little bit and reared up on her hind legs. I knew what to do, and did it instantly and without thinking about it. I adjusted my center of gravity, dropped my feet from the stirrups, and bailed when I felt her teetering on the edge of going over. I landed on my feet with the reins still in my hand. It was pretty cool. She looked at me all wide-eyed as if to say, "Hey, how did you get down there?!?!" I rubbed her nose and neck until she calmed down and got back on.

It's amazing what stays with you, and what your body remembers, even after 8-9 years. That's how long it has been since I've ridden seriously. But everything I needed to know came back.

And it was a good thing. But before that...

About an hour later, we crossed a wide, deep stream. Gracie likes to stick her nose in the water and splash it back and forth. It's terribly cute. Anyway, Traveler, the lead horse, decided mid-cross that he wanted to lay down and cool off, so down he went, rider, bareback pad and all. Mark was laughing with water sloshing out of his boots and pants. So we decided it would be fun to go swimming with the horses.

That was probably one of the coolest things I have ever done. We took the saddles off, along with our boots and socks, and waded in. Gracie had a good roll in the streambed, once even putting her whole head underwater for a second. They splashed water at each other and snorted and blew, and their tails caught the current and floated out behind them like multicolored seaweed.

We finished the ride with sand in our pants, but it was worth it.

We were on the way back to the truck when I lost my seat the second time. We were galloping down the wide red dirt road. At some point recently, it had rained there, probably yesterday afternoon. At any rate, there were mud puddles in places, and we'd done a good job of avoiding them. But at a gallop, it's hard to gauge sometimes. Anyway, Grace was catching up to the others, really stretching out, and I was loving life. Then her right front hoof hit a mud puddle. I think she tried to put herself in reverse, but then decided to hop over it. Being unprepared for the sudden change in direction, I lost my balance and somersaulted over her left shoulder. The only thing I could think to do was hurl myself forward and hope that I didn't land on my head, because I had no time to do anything else. I flipped completely head over heels and came down on my tailbone and bounced. And Gracie put on the brakes, looking for all the world like a cutting horse at a rodeo.

Not a single hoof came near me. She could have run me over.

I tried to bounce right to my feet, but that wasn't happening. Neither was I able to get back on the horse right away. We walked for a while, once I was able to get up, but my right leg is stiff and sore now, and my ass is black and blue.

I did ride the rest of the way back, though, and Gracie is still the best horse in the world. And I will still jump at the next chance I get to take her out there. It may hurt like hell, but it's worth it. :)