Vacation

That’s such an appropriate name for my horse — Rebel. That’s the one I was put on yesterday when we went horseback riding. Duck had asked me several months ago if there’s anything I dreamed of doing — or anywhere I dreamed of going. To tell the truth, I don’t really have anything like that. I mean, I dream of riding to the mountains on my motorcycle, but that dream’s a reality now.

So I mentioned horseback riding. I love horses. I have always loved horses. I remember going to horse shows with Dad all the time when I was little. I loved watching the horses do their thing — trot, back up, jump…all their little tricks. I don’t ever remember going to a rodeo, but just horse shows. I thought maybe one day I could have a horse of my own and enter horse shows too.

We had a horse when I was little. Her name was Girlie. I used to be jealous of my older sister because she could just take off on Girlie in the field next to our house. I wanted to be like her someday. One day in second grade I convinced Dad to let me take Girlie around the field by myself — without him leading. He agreed, and I took off. Well, Girlie took off. I didn’t have a good hold on the reins and I fell off. I wasn’t hurt — at least not physically. I was totally embarassed, disappointed and broken hearted. I wanted back on Girlie, but Mom was really freaked out and wouldn’t let me back on — Dad either.

They sold Girlie while I was at school one day. I cried. They said it was for the best — that she was getting too old for kids to ride any more and needed to be on a nice farm somewhere where she could eat and run. I hated that I didn’t get to say good-bye to her, but it was probably for the best.

Back to yesterday, Duck took off work and found a farm nearby that had openings for a trail ride. Doodle has always wanted to ride ponies and such — I think she’s got the same love of horses that I do. When my older sister got married a few years ago, we went up for the wedding. She took Doodle riding on her horse — Patches. Doodle loved every minute of it! So yesterday when she found out she got to ride a horse all by herself, she was extremely excited. I was too, but somewhere in my old age, I developed a little bit of a fear — fear of falling off and breaking something, fear of the horse kicking me or just running me into a tree. But I was determined to show no fear.

They put me on a horse first, and then got everyone else situated. When they unhooked my horse from the post, he was ready to go. He didn’t really want to wait on anyone else. I kept pulling the reins back to tell him to stop moving, and he’d just buck his head. “Wonderful,” I thought, “I really hope I don’t get hurt or worse yet die.” Then they told me his name is Rebel. Ha. Figures. We all got set and Doodle’s horse, Tiffany, wanted to go. She got in line behind the guide — then Duck on his horse wanted to go faster than mine, so he past me too. Rebel just didn’t want to move. Then it hit — he had a bad case of diarrhea and gas. Yep, this was definitely the perfect horse for me!

After the initial rough start, things went pretty smooth. One of the guides told us we were doing really well, but I wondered just what not doing well would look like. Oh there was a scary moment there where Rebel decided to take the trail to the right next to the drop-off to the creek bed, instead of following the guide horse to the left. But we all survived and didn’t get hurt. I think my thighs are still sore though because I was clamping my knees into the horse to hold on

Doodle now wants to take lessons and go back for the camps they have there. Duck told her that meant she’d have to work the farm — feeding the chickens, the horses, taking care of the horses, etc. She thought about it for a minute and then said she didn’t care if she had to work — she wanted to go back. That’s huge ya’ll. Queen of video games wants to work on a farm.

Here are a couple of pictures. Duck had the camera and case on his belt, so I didn’t get any pictures of him on his horse, but here’s me on Rebel and Doodle on Tiffany:

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