03 June 2010

Giddyup!


Cisco!
Originally uploaded by wyosarah203
My experience with horses has been spotty and, at times, unpleasant.

When I was 7, a damnable creature in Montana flung me off his back and into the corral full of ... well. All the things corrals are full of.

When I was 11, sitting on the rail of a corral at the same summer camp, watching a friend ride, a wasp got stuck in my hair and proceded to sting me several times. Granted, it had nothing to actually do with a horse, but ... I let it count anyway.

I may have ridden when I was 14 at a different summer camp in Wyoming or Montana; I don't remember. When I was 15, my brother and I went for a ride along the beach in California.

And, excepting a 20-minute sort-of ride in Colorado a few years ago with Amber, that beachy jaunt was the last time I saddled up.

Too long, I know. And there I was in Anchorage, with an entire day to kill, my horse-allergic friend still somewhere in southeastern Alaska and me with an urge to DO something, for cryin' out loud!

So I did.

I contacted Horse Trekkin' Alaska, made an appointment and spent 2 hours with Steve, Tina, Laura and Cisco (seen here), walking through a forest and enjoying how utterly green and gorgeous it was and chuckling to myself that it was snowing back in Laramie.

And I GALLOPED for the first time in my life.

It was terrifyingly fantastic. I want to do it again.

I didn't tell Tina (or anyone else) about getting bucked off when I was 7; I merely confessed my fear of walking behind a horse, because that had always been strongly discouraged (forbidden) at camp.

No problem, Tina said, just let the horse know you're there, and there shouldn't be a problem.

And there wasn't.

For somone who hadn't ridden in half a lifetime, Tina said she was pretty impressed with how I handled Cisco.

I was, too.

And I had a blast.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

As the legal owner of Cisco. Congratulations! I hate his gallop. LOL Renee Laseter.

SarahC said...

I had so much fun! He was a good horse. :)