The Ups and Downs of Up and Down

Oh, trail rides on a green horse. They are so…unpredictable. Of course, hindsight is always 20/20, and I could have used some for this ride. But we’re alive and ended strong. 

First off, I didn’t sleep well last night, and grandson came up sick. I barely made it to this ride and my brain was not fully engaged. 

For some reason, I got it in my head to go to this river access point (above), but it has one of the most technical descents. I told myself I’d walk him down it and get him used to that stretch, and we did. All was fine, even though he did a lot of sliding. My friend said he was dragging his feet in back, and he was, and I’m not sure why. Her horse did a little of that, too, so I’m guessing he was trying to slow down the slide or not get his feet up so high that one slipped too far out from the other. At any rate, that was the hardest part of the ride, and he survived. 

So, my friend wanted to explore a trail I’d never been on before. 

When we got into it, it was flanked by dense bushes with a drop off to the river. There was also some kind loud buzzing transfer building beneath us. Oh, and hills. It was so narrow that you couldn’t turn around. Once you’re in, you’re in. He did pretty good until he heard something scurrying in the bushes, then he got worried. After a while down that trail, we finally came to a spot we could tightly turn around, and we did. 

I told her if he’s going to be working on narrow paths with drop offs and vertical descents, they need to be a little more open for now. 

She took those photos above, but they are before we entered the narrow trail. 

Heading back, we had to ascend the same crap hills. On the worst part, Tweed wanted to run, but my friend’s horse was leading. I checked his speed and he told me f-off, for lack of a better word. I dismounted, to be safe, and walked him the rest of the way. At the half way point it levels out, then turns up another steep hill with no turnarounds. I asked to lead, but he was amped up. When we turned up the hill, he tried to grab the reins and run. I checked his speed and he flipped me the bird and got turned around sideways. Once again, I dismounted and had to walk up that hill myself. It sucked in more ways than one. I was sucking air.  

At the top, tired and hot, I mounted again and then did a couple loops in the trees. He came back to me. I had my horse again. 

That was about 1/3 of our ride, so the remaining 2/3’s was golden. 

We went to lots of new places, and some old hills, and he discovered he now likes those hills. In fact, Tweed discovered he likes riding everywhere, but the hills from hell, quite a bit. It’s as if the first 1/3 of our ride was reform school for horses (and riders). 

All told, we rode just under 5 miles, but it seemed like 20, and it was HOT. 

I’m so happy we had a happy ending, because we got to end on a positive note where we were both confident in each other and ready for our next adventure. And they are definitely ADVENTURES. 

Someday, they won’t be. They’ll be boring. While I long for that day, I think I will miss these beginning nail-biter ones. It’s where you bond in blood, sweat, and tears. 

Well, at least sweat. Hopefully no blood or tears. Ha!