I love the horse riding stories! I had a pony when I was a kid that I just loved. It was a Shetland but it was a temperamental thing, just not with me. It's name was Trinket. Trinket loved me, probably because I took really good care of him and supplied him with plenty of treats, but I'd also had riding lessons so I was pretty confident. My older brother and I did NOT get along well, read, fought constantly. Part of my love for this pony was his dislike of my brother and a cousin who was best friends with him. I was a really rotten kid who was secretly thrilled when the equally rotten pony bit my brother and bucked my cousin off. I thought it was the best pony ever! Now, my brother is such a great guy I wish Trinket and I had been nicer.
As a young adult I went riding with a couple of my cousins. Todd is a couple years younger than me but his family owned horses most of his life and they rode in parades and did lots of trail rides, etc. Todd is a very mischievous individual who decided it would be amusing to take his city cousins on a little ride. Lynette is only 6 months older than me and was less experienced with horses but seems to breeze through anything that comes her way, unlike me, who manages to be a one woman walking disaster most of the time. We took off at a very casual pace but as soon as we hit the woods Todd decided it was time for a full out canter and away we went through the trees and brush at a breakneck pace. He took us up and down creek banks and down trails with steep drop offs that he was completely familiar with at a dead run. He only checked occasionally to see if we were still with him! He is so rotten! The grand finale was riding up and over an elevated railroad track that was very steeply banked and heavily covered with gravel to keep the erosion down. Going up was terrifying with the horses slipping on the gravel but down was even worse! We slid all the way down and it felt as though we were completely out of control. No way was I going to come off that horse for Todd's amusement and I managed to stay on and not die of fright the whole way out and back. When we returned to the house his equally rotten dad was waiting, took one look at us and said "Karen, what happened to you"? As if he didn't know. Ha! I had leaves and twigs in my hair, my jeans were ripped on one thigh and my leg was bleeding and I had fresh scratches on my arms. I looked at Lynette and she looked calm and completely collected. How on earth did she manage that? Anyway, I said "Oh we've just been for a leisurely ride with Todd" he laughed and said "I can see that, did you stay on"? I replied "Absolutely"! No matter what Todd tried, I wasn't about to come off" He said "Good job". In spite of all the terror, I enjoyed that crazy ride immensely.
As a teen, Trinket had been long sold but my grandfather kept a horse at his country place for us to ride when we visited so I wasn't completely deprived as a city kid!
Last night we moved the chicken's pen to fresh grass and DH actually helped us. That turned out to be a double blessing because he noted some of the things we were struggling with and went to work figuring out how to make things easier. Yay! Easier is always good. Yesterday we got a small darker brown egg and a large light brown egg! What fun it is to find them in the nest box (or wherever, as the case may be). I let the grass grow in spots where I planned to move the birds and they are enjoying hunkering down in the taller grass this morning. I enjoy watching them so much. My big spotty rooster has been a little slower to mature but I notice he is really "noticing" the ladies these days. Big Red SX rooster is not pleased and is doing his best to keep Big Spotty from getting any action. It's quite the drama out there. I have an EE roo that has matured but he is so low on the totem pole he only attempts to shower his attentions on the bantams! WHAT? He's is a really big guy! The bantams just take off -- they can get out of the fence and he can't so he's not too much of a problem for them. I enjoyed the cloud cover this morning but would prefer the wind would die down a bit. My poor birdies look so funny with the wind at their backsides!
Josie, I'm just so sorry about your chick.
Trish, that's a really nice spot for your pen. I had no idea there was a clearing anywhere, your place is so well covered with trees! You have such a beautiful spot there. Hope you're back on your feet soon.
Hawkeye, doesn't it feel great after swimming with the kids when they are as worn out as you? It's worth the exhaustion to keep all the bickering to a dull roar!
Danz, isn't that just the way it goes when an already difficult project goes off the rails like yours did with the poor ducks? Sheesh. There's just no end to the variations of chaos Murphy's Law produces, it seems.
As a young adult I went riding with a couple of my cousins. Todd is a couple years younger than me but his family owned horses most of his life and they rode in parades and did lots of trail rides, etc. Todd is a very mischievous individual who decided it would be amusing to take his city cousins on a little ride. Lynette is only 6 months older than me and was less experienced with horses but seems to breeze through anything that comes her way, unlike me, who manages to be a one woman walking disaster most of the time. We took off at a very casual pace but as soon as we hit the woods Todd decided it was time for a full out canter and away we went through the trees and brush at a breakneck pace. He took us up and down creek banks and down trails with steep drop offs that he was completely familiar with at a dead run. He only checked occasionally to see if we were still with him! He is so rotten! The grand finale was riding up and over an elevated railroad track that was very steeply banked and heavily covered with gravel to keep the erosion down. Going up was terrifying with the horses slipping on the gravel but down was even worse! We slid all the way down and it felt as though we were completely out of control. No way was I going to come off that horse for Todd's amusement and I managed to stay on and not die of fright the whole way out and back. When we returned to the house his equally rotten dad was waiting, took one look at us and said "Karen, what happened to you"? As if he didn't know. Ha! I had leaves and twigs in my hair, my jeans were ripped on one thigh and my leg was bleeding and I had fresh scratches on my arms. I looked at Lynette and she looked calm and completely collected. How on earth did she manage that? Anyway, I said "Oh we've just been for a leisurely ride with Todd" he laughed and said "I can see that, did you stay on"? I replied "Absolutely"! No matter what Todd tried, I wasn't about to come off" He said "Good job". In spite of all the terror, I enjoyed that crazy ride immensely.
As a teen, Trinket had been long sold but my grandfather kept a horse at his country place for us to ride when we visited so I wasn't completely deprived as a city kid!
Last night we moved the chicken's pen to fresh grass and DH actually helped us. That turned out to be a double blessing because he noted some of the things we were struggling with and went to work figuring out how to make things easier. Yay! Easier is always good. Yesterday we got a small darker brown egg and a large light brown egg! What fun it is to find them in the nest box (or wherever, as the case may be). I let the grass grow in spots where I planned to move the birds and they are enjoying hunkering down in the taller grass this morning. I enjoy watching them so much. My big spotty rooster has been a little slower to mature but I notice he is really "noticing" the ladies these days. Big Red SX rooster is not pleased and is doing his best to keep Big Spotty from getting any action. It's quite the drama out there. I have an EE roo that has matured but he is so low on the totem pole he only attempts to shower his attentions on the bantams! WHAT? He's is a really big guy! The bantams just take off -- they can get out of the fence and he can't so he's not too much of a problem for them. I enjoyed the cloud cover this morning but would prefer the wind would die down a bit. My poor birdies look so funny with the wind at their backsides!
Josie, I'm just so sorry about your chick.
Trish, that's a really nice spot for your pen. I had no idea there was a clearing anywhere, your place is so well covered with trees! You have such a beautiful spot there. Hope you're back on your feet soon.
Hawkeye, doesn't it feel great after swimming with the kids when they are as worn out as you? It's worth the exhaustion to keep all the bickering to a dull roar!
Danz, isn't that just the way it goes when an already difficult project goes off the rails like yours did with the poor ducks? Sheesh. There's just no end to the variations of chaos Murphy's Law produces, it seems.
I grew up around horses, lived next to a quarter horse breeder, but most of my experience was cleaning stalls as a teenage job 
