Riding

I remember on summer days, when I was much younger, you got up, had your breakfast, and headed out the door, down to the barn.
Grab your horse, give her a quick brush (maybe skip it if she still looked clean), put on her bridle, climbed up on the two bales of hay stacked for just that purpose, jumped on,(bareback, no saddle required), and headed for your best friend’s house.
Sometimes you packed a quick lunch, sometimes you forgot, because of all the wonderful adventures awaiting you on the trail.
Cut through the Davis’s pasture,(remembering to always shut the gate), scatter the cows as you gallop along, (you will hear about that later when Mr. Davis phones your parents to inform them that his cow’s will not give milk because you scared them), and head off into the woods.
There is a stretch in the trail that is broad and flat, and you take it at dead run, the horse’s head out straight in front of her, tail out behind, flying. At one point you even let go the reins and put your arms out, no better feeling in all the world.
After a good run, you settle down and enjoy the peace of the trail, there is a red tailed hawk that follows you for a time, and you and your best friend are chattering away, the horses know the way, there is no need to communicate further.
I think about those rides a lot these days, especially when I am at the barn and we are getting ready for a ride, and I have to laugh…
Brush the horses for at least one half hour, apply bug spray, oh yes, put on her special boots so her feet don’t get sore, the fly bonnet so the bugs don’t get in her ears, her extra thick saddle pad, cinch her slowly, a few notches at a time, stretch her out so the girth doesn’t pinch, put on my half chaps, do I need my crop?, don’t forget my water bottle, and oh yes, the cell phone, everyone line up for the mounting block, and oh yes, put your helmet on!
Now where to ride? Well, we can go to Pipestave, but the kids have their soccer game going on there, or Maudsley, but crossing Route 113 is tricky, Gordon’s woods? No the hunt is going through there today, they have closed some of the trails, how about Indian Hill? Yes Indian Hill it is!
At last we are off! Oh hey wait, was that thunder??