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Horseback Riding? Not really... - 6

08.06.14

I was so excited this morning, because we were going horseback riding! It's actually really fun, and I loved it. Every time we went on vacation, we just had to go horseback riding. And so we got up bright and early to get to the stables.

We were kind of late, but that's okay, since the only ones in our group were us! So as soon as we got there, we saddled up and were ready to go. My horse was named Stan, and he was a cute dark brown colored horse who behaved nicely. They all behaved nicely actually. Or so we thought.

We set out on a lovely trip through the woods, which ended up on a road by the lake. The lake was really, really pretty, and the ride had been going pretty smoothly, until the tour guide in the back said that her horse was missing a horseshoe and she had to turn back. That left us with one tour guide in the front, but so far nothing went wrong. Then, all of a sudden, I turned around to see my mom's horse stop and pee. Okay, well, that was a little weird, but she'll catch up. Actually, she didn't. Her horse turned in the opposite direction, and bolted. Then the tour guide in the front made us stop all of our horses, which was a little hard, because I think all of them wanted to chase my mom's horse, Louie. After a couple of tense seconds, my mom and her horse reemerged from the road. Thank god. But then they galloped back over to us. Ouch. The tour guide said we should probably turn around, because this kind of stuff never happened and it wasn't safe. So sadly, we turned around.

Louie wasn't the only horse misbehaving though. It seemed that is rebellious act had spurred all the horses. Even Stan. But thank god Stan didn't do anything, other than try to eat when he knew he wasn't supposed to. But the way back to the stables held disaster. We were rounding a sharp turn back into the woods when Louie, my mom's horse, decided to bolt for it. So he did, through the twigs and branches. Next thing I knew, Louie was galloping down the path, but without a person on the saddle. Yeah, it was that bad. I looked down, and there was my mom on the path. My first thought? Crap. Second thought? Ohgodmyhorseisrunningaway. Yeah that was a long one. And then Stan, my horse, tried to trot off after Louie, except that wasn't what I wanted him to do. He protested while I pulled against the reins, but he stayed. My mom groaned a little, but then said she was fine. Thank god for that.

It was basically a mess. None of the horses would listen, and it was awful. So many things went wrong, but at least it didn't get any worse than it did. My mom was fine, other than being scratched up, traumatized, and terrified by horses. She didn't want to get back on, but she did, because we still had to get back to the stables. Louie still didn't cooperate, but he was forced to, by another guide who fortunately passed by at the right time in the right place. It was really a good coincidence. And finally, we got back to the stables safely.

After a chaotic morning, we took the afternoon easy. We took a lift up a mountain, saw a few animals, and took a short walk. Nothing huge. I don't think any of us were ready for a big hike after the morning we'd had.