Horseback Riding

Oh, man, am I sore! I went horseback riding with my friends Goldie and Rachel yesterday. It was super-fun, but boy am I feeling it today! Not only my upper thighs where I was sitting, but the front-inside of my ankles where they rubbed the stirrups and my BACK! I must have been terribly wrong on the whole posture thing, because my back is killing me! :) It was SO worth it, though. I got to ride Lista, the quietest one of the group, although she gave me a bit of trouble anyway--Rachel said I was the first one to ride her besides her and her dad, so that might have been the deal. Anyway, Goldie rode the mule, Rosa, who is very easygoing--I thought it was hilarious to see a mule in a saddle! Then Rachel rode Spunky, who very much lives up to his name! He has a mind of his own, that one. Rachel is a really good rider, though, and he didn't give her too much trouble. Anyway, we went riding down a gravel road that was so small and old that it had only one lane, with grass growing in the middle, and no one ever drives down it. It also has one of those old metal bridges with the wooden cross-tie floors... fun stuff. :) But we went for a couple of miles until we came to this pasture that was all grown up in bushes and tiny trees and stuff, and it had a PERFECT route for running--a path down the middle with a couple of curves and flat ground all the way--so we'd start on a trot with Rachel in the lead cause it was getting kindof dark and Goldie and I couldn't really see and Rachel knew the path best, and then we'd kick into a canter or gallop or whatever it was. Let me tell you, that is the most exhilerating feeling in the world! (Okay, maybe not the world, but it's pretty exhilerating!) Then we went back the way we came really fast, then we went there and back once more, and by that time it was so dark we could barely see, so we headed back. (Riding is hard work--maybe not if you're used to it, but it's the first time I had ridden in a LONG time, and when you go fast, you're clinging to reins and stirrups, and I wasn't too good at the posture thing, and by the time we'd get done with one sprint, I'd be breathing in gasps, but I was smiling really big!) Anyway, on the way back it was so dark that we could see a light spot that was the road, and everything else was blackness. Lista wanted to walk in the ditches cause it was easier on her feet, but it scared me to be in the dark spots on the ground where I couldn't see what we were walking on, so I wouldn't let her go in the ditches unless we were following Rachel. That way I could see a white blob that was her shirt, but I couldn't even see my horse's head! It was freaky-weird. But anyway, it was the most gorgeous night--TONS of stars out, and it was the prettiest thing I can remember seeing in a long time. So after the trek home, we took the saddles and bridles off, but Rachel left Spunky's harness on because she had to take him to a different pen. So Gold hopped on Lista bareback and I jumped on Rosa (with some difficulty cause I had NO idea what I was doing) and managed to pull myself to a sitting position, and we rode them bareback and without anything to hold onto across the pasture (I didn't even have a mane to clutch, silly mule!). Then Gold and I laid back on our mounts while Rachel took Spunky away, and it was so peaceful, laying with my head on Rosa's wide rump and my legs and arms dangling by her sides, staring up at the gorgeous night. It was highly pleasant. I'd take a week of saddle-sore walking and a cricked back for that!