fireworks & thinking like a horse
how many cooks does it take?
Hope y'all had a nice Fourth. Ian and I went to my mom's house. We grilled burgers and hot dogs, then went out to the back yard to watch the fireworks. She lives about a block or two away from ground zero, where they set the things off. We think that $250,000 was spent by the city and several sponsors to give the show to our community. That's a lot of money. And our fireworks were on the 3rd instead of the 4th. Cannot guess the reasoning behind that. And there was some thought about not having the display at all given our drought-like conditions. But we got lots of rain the last week, so the fireworks were on like donkey kong.
me & Ian on the 4th preparing to ride
On the actual 4th, Ian and I went horseback riding with Blogless Amy and her husband at Warrior's Path. We arrived early, before the stables opened at 10 a.m., but didn't get out on the trail until nearly 11 o'clock, I guess. They put us four with six other folks and sent two guides along, too. The ride was sedate and cool. Ian was disappointed by the boring landscape and no opportunity for trotting. But, he has slipped discs and we wanted an easy ride so his back wasn't jostled too much.
trail riding
My horse, Mack, or Max, wanted to stop to eat, and we never fine-tuned our relationship. For the most part, I abandoned any aesthetic appreciation of nature and tried to think like a horse. I eyed the bushes and leaves alongside the trail and when I spied anything remotely lush I prepared to direct Mack's attention away from the greenery by pulling the reins in the opposite direction. Mack and I brought up the rear. With no real reason to pick up the pace, my horse plodded and plodded. It was not a thrill ride, to say the least.
might be Billy, my former steed
Oh, another thing Ian disliked about the trail ride was that we were arranged single-file. That made talking to one another difficult. The stable owner was very clear about not letting our horse pass another horse. Stuck in the back was I. The horses know the trail and so there's no real reason for them to get rowdy or try to diverge from the route. This is great for those unaccustomed to riding horses, but kind of a bore for the experienced rider.
Blogless Amy told me that there are stables at Cade's Cove, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. That's about an hour, hour and a half drive from my home, so we may go there one day for a different experience. One of the stables offers a two hour trail ride ($38/per person) featuring 8 miles of wooded trails and mountain streams geared toward the experienced rider. Question is: Am I an experienced rider?
My answer is no. I am not. But I'm fairly intuitive and don't scare easily. And I know how to handle my horse. I think I could ride another 4 or 5 years and not consider myself "experienced." It's all relative. My riding teaching tells me that I made progress, or did well, after each lesson. Does he say that to all the students? He is glad I stuck with it though. I know that becoming a horseperson does not happen over night, and I am prepared to work towards it.
