2 Down

No pictures today, just a silly story.

My sister and I went out for a ride. It started out very nicely. Then SHE decided to go down an overgrown trail we hardly ever go on. That trail was really close to the river which is running pretty high. So that means there were some puddles down the middle of the trail. Her horse does not like to walk in water and was leaping from side to side of the trail in an attempt to avoid stepping into the puddles. Well, as I said, this trail is kind of overgrown and very close with trees. As her horse was bouncing around inside the tunnel-like growth of the trees she was getting scraped and poked and jostled around until the horse suddenly spun around and started heading back to the open area we had just come from (for those of you in the know they call it "the beach").

The problem with that is that I was right behind her. So now my sister is about to fall off her horse, her horse is now bumping and running into my horse which causes my horse to spin around. Now we are really in tight quarters. All this is causing me to lose my seat and before you know it my sister and I are on the ground in the mud listening to the thundering hooves of our swiftly retreating horses.

We verified that we were okay and started out. When we got to the open area we couldn't decide which way to go. We were one and a half way around the loop we make when the river is low. The river is not low. So our options were: go right towards Hack 'n Tack about a mile away and hope someone there has caught our horses and we can just ride back? Or go left, back towards the way we came but a much, much longer way? Left was the weir/bridge, right was a shorter walk but we would possibly have to cross the river. On foot. (Make that "swim" the river to cross.) We chose to go right towards Hack 'n Tack and hoped for the best.

Once we got there we saw a lady who said she had been there for the past thirty minutes and no horses had come by. Great! We got to the river crossing and decided to go for it. After stashing our cell phones and her car keys to our upper bodies (our helmets) we held hands and walked into the river.

With each step we took the river got deeper. We had only gotten about three feet from the bank and already it was to our thighs! We retreated to the bank to rethink our options.

Just then my sister's cell phone rang and it turned out to be someone she knew who had received a call from Billy, the owner of where we board. He had seen our riderless horses and was trying to track us down.

Eventually a kind lady from our stables drove over to pick us up and bring us back. In the meantime some other riders had picked up our horses and brought them back.

Good grief! What a day. Other than a few bruises and some embarrassment we are all (my sister, myself, and the two horses) alright.

Wonder what's going to happen tomorrow! ;-)