Not a Horsewoman

I've always loved horses....and cowboys....and cowboys on horses....and me on a horse....with a cowboy.

But I've never had a riding lesson. Although Victor did try to teach me, but we were living in KY, and I wasn't able to work with him and Patches often enough. And like Guitar Hero, I really wanted to be a natural at riding. But I wasn't it.

On Saturday, Abbie wanted to go trail riding, and we found a place in Marshall, NC and chose a 1 hour ride. Someday, we may go back for the 3 hour ride.
Abbie was on Baby Doll and the guide led her horse by a rope. Paul was on Cotton, and I was on Butterball.

Butterball and I got along fine, but I didn't ride Butterball so well. I was all over the place in the saddle. I will take complete blame on not knowing how to ride, but I still think Butterball's gait was a little off. Afterwards, I told the guide that I wondered if Butterball's hooves needed to be cleaned out. I kind of got the impression that his feet were bothering him. Maybe he was tired.

I was also nervous. I think horses pick up on that - especially if you're not confident. The horses were definitely used to following. I didn't have to do much, but anytime Butterball seemed like he was going to move ahead of another horse or step off the trail, I would almost holler for Norman, our guide. But I didn't. I just thought about it a whole lot!

Because of my inexperience, I couldn't wait for the ride to be over. I worried that my horse would throw me or startle and rear up and numerous other things. And I worried about Abbie's horse too. Wasn't worried about Paul - he was the natural. If he had on boots, chaps, and a cowboy hat, I would have just jumped on the back of his horse.

The trail was awesome. The trail wound in and out of some woods, and we kept climbing (gently) higher into the hills. Even though the trees don't have leaves yet and the grass hasn't completely greened up; the scenery was amazing. I don't know how high we went, but we were UP THERE.

Along the way, we came upon a big herd of goats and two saint bernards that guard them. It was sweet.

By the time we were done, my bum was killing me. I was openly groaning, and Paul would turn around and give me advice on how to ride better. Abbie had no complaints. She loved it.