The Trail Ride. . .

The much anticipated trail ride took place early Friday morning. In the rain. I wasn't nervous, at first. We arrived in plenty of time to casually bring in the horses and begin the grooming process. There were about 15 people going with our group on the trail ride which meant, of course, that there were 15 horses. As people were leading their horses from the fields to the barn area to saddle them up, I started to feel a little bit nervous. There were horses and people everywhere! I don't think I was the only one who felt unsure of the whole thing but, lucky for me, there were enough experienced people around that I had the help I needed when it came to putting the bridle on Diamond. Gloria was completely on her own. It was all I could do to take care of myself and Diamond so she tended to Butterscotch by herself and did a great job. . .

As soon as each rider finished getting their horse ready, they would head into the arena, adjust their stirrups and mount up. Keep in mind I've only been on a horse once in about the last 25 years and that was last Tuesday for one hour. Also keep in mind that I've been in this arena several dozen times but there have only been 4 riders and 4 horses at a time. 4 SMALL riders and 4 SMALL horses at a time. The arena seems plenty big under those circumstances but when you get 15 people -big and small- and 15 horses - big and small- inside the confines of the fences in the arena, it becomes a little claustrophobic. So, here is what I was dealing with: freezing rain (it was literally dripping off of the rim of my helmet into my face in huge droplets), a big horse that seemed a little nervous about having a novice on his back, a packed arena with riders of all levels of experience, horses walking nose to tail with each other and seemingly no way to escape if the situation arose. Not really a good feeling for someone who has a touch of claustrophobia. I was having second thoughts about the whole thing but it was WAY too late to change my mind. . .


As we walked around and around inside the arena, Kim reminded us about safety rules out on the trail. She told us that if anyone was in trouble, whoever was nearest to them needed to pass the word on to the rest of the riders. Kim would lead and Sarah would be towards the back of the pack so one of them would be available to help, just in case. Kim also told the more experienced riders to watch for signs of trouble with any of the less experienced riders. That would be me.



While I was glad to be outside of the confines of the fence, I faced a whole new set of challenges out on the trail. There are so many things to think about when you're on the back of a horse and I could feel the difference in Diamond as I tensed and relaxed. I was right behind Kim so she kept giving me tips and reminders as we rode along. Diamond wasn't real sure he believed me when I asked him to stop so I would be the only one in the whole ride whose horse had to circle around a few times when Kim would stop the ride so she could open a gate. About 5 minutes into the ride, while I was still trying to get my bearings, Kim shouts out, "Whole ride, prepare to trot"!! I didn't think I was quite ready to trot but as Kim's horse picked up speed, Diamond just followed along and we were trotting whether I was ready or not!! Gloria was behind me so there was no possibility of checking on her and, anyway, it was all I could do to hang on and count, one- two- one- two- one- two, as I stood up and kept my feet in the stirrups. When I had a chance to look back, Gloria was having a great time!

For most of the ride I was behind Kim and Gloria was behind me but every once in awhile Gloria and I rode side by side or she pulled in front. She obviously has way more experience than me!

It was impossible to take a picture of the whole ride in one shot, but every once in awhile I would pull out my phone and quickly take a picture before gathering my reins back up and waiting for the next instruction. . .

During the course of the ride, I finally learned how to "talk" to Diamond in a way that he understood. I had to force myself to relax and keep my heels back and my knees in (but not too much!). I had to tighten the reigns while holding them loosely. I had to anticipate what he might do before he did it and prepare myself for just about anything! He never came close to throwing me off although he did reach down to the fresh grass a few times for a snack which almost sent me sliding down his neck! We walked along a few canal banks and had a couple of birds fly up and frighten the lead horse but Diamond always kept his cool. All things considered it was a good ride but I was never so happy to see the arena in my life!!

I did what I set out to do and, chances are, I'll do it again.

I just wonder if I will always have a little residual fear around horses or if I will eventually overcome it and feel completely confident. It's hard to tell but somehow I think a little fear can be a good thing. . .