Happy Trails...

Otherwise known as... The Day Our Fingers Didn't Get Eaten...

Back in the beginning of August, a Groupon for one hour of horseback riding at the Ace of Hearts Ranch in Cocoa popped into my inbox.  I immediately thought of my good friend Jessica, and how both of our birthdays are in October, and wouldn't it be nice to surprise her with this experience celebrating our birth month?! 

YES!

It took some finagling to find a weekend that worked for both of us, plus trust on her part, because I didn't tell her what we were doing until I showed up at her house this morning.  I had only given a few stipulations:
1.  Wear jeans.
2.  Close toed shoes are a must. 
3.  We would be outside and no, we weren't hiking. 
4.  She was mine until 3:00. 

This morning I pulled up in my jeans and long-sleeved plaid shirt.  I felt like I looked very My Small Town-ish.   When I opened Jess's door, Julio, her love, greeted me.  I hadn't seen seen him in a couple of months, and he kissed my cheek in true Latino fashion.  What are you girls up to today?

It's a surprise!

Jess came out, and we started walking to the car.  I asked Julio to take a picture of us, and looked at Jess.  Can you guess what we're doing today?

NO!

We're going horseback riding-- in Cocoa! 

Yay!  

I was so relieved... Yesterday I had been panicking that Jess was secretly terrified of horseback riding and had concealed this fact from me in the seven years we've known each other.  I had been stressing myself out for no reason... but you know... that's what humans do.  We make up little dramas in our minds that are unfounded.  That said... you never know. 

So, after posing for pictures and Julio letting me know he was disappointed that he wasn't invited along (It's a GIRLS' day out, Julio!), we were off, with Map Quest directions printed, magical radio on.  The drive was awesome.  Today was a perfect day... just a little bit cloudy, cool, and breezy. 

We easily found the Ace of Hearts Ranch, and made small talk with the owner's mom while we waited for her to return from her last tour group.  There were two beautiful Australian sheep dogs waiting outside the stables, and I asked her if we could pet them.  She replied, No.  They're not covered under our insurance.  Plus it would be confusing for the dogs if we let everyone pet them. 

I find it unfortunate that business owners can't even let dogs be petted anymore for fear of a lawsuit.  Still, I understood not letting the dogs be handled by so many strangers. 

We had a 12:30 appointment for a trail ride with the Ace of Hearts Ranch owner, Sandy.  We actually left at 12:45, but that was fine.  It was such a lovely day to be outside.  We had dutifully applied the insect repellent provided to us by Sandy, and when offered two choices of equine-- Belgian or Arabian-- Jessica immediately replied Arabian.  She was given Kemosabi, a gray male stallion.  That left the Belgian for me-- Sadie-- a beautiful, ginormous brown mare.  She was the biggest horse I've ever seen, let alone ridden.  We were taught how to turn the horses, and stop them, and keep them from eating when they were supposed to be walking. We were also told to keep the horses at least a horse's length apart.

Apparently male and female horses get rough when they get too close. 

At least these two horses do. 

Sandy warned me if I let Sadie get too close to Kemosabi, that Kemosabi would stop walking and kick Sadie with his hind leg.  Violent, but I guess that's normal horse behavior. 

Sandy led us on her horse, followed by Jessica and Kemosabi.  Sadie and I brought up the rear.  Sandy told us about the various forms of vegetation on her property, and Sandy and Jess conversed easily throughout the ride. I was a bit behind them, keeping Sadie at a safe distance from Jess's horse, and to be honest, I enjoyed the bit of quiet and communion with nature that I experienced while riding the horse.  

I also felt quite tall.  Standing at five feet, two and a half inches, I never feel tall.  It was a definite, unexpected plus, and an unusual feeling.

At 1:45, we returned to the stables.  We dismounted, and were given bits of carrot and treats to feed our horses.  Keep your palms flat, and do not feed them your fingers!

Got it. 

Jess and I stopped for a late lunch on the way home, and talked about all the new developments in our lives.  A particularly challenging grad school course for Jess, and extreme activity levels for me. 

All in all, it was good day with my friend whom I don't get to see so often any more.  We're both so busy.  And glad that-- even though our thighs are incredibly sore-- at least our fingers weren't eaten.


Addendum:  While attempting to write the above post, the author was trying not to watch Oprah's Life Class, which was about how animals touch our lives.  The program closed with this amazing clip from youtube-- and she just had to share it.  It's an amazing testament to the power of love between a pet and its owner.  Even if the pet is a two hundred pound lion that had been released back into the wild a year before.  Given the nature of today's post, she couldn't imagine a more wholly appropriate closing.