Day 9 was filled with all kinds of activities. We had an 8:00 trail ride that Gretchen had been wanting to do for a looooong time. She loves horses. I do not. When I was a youngling, my best friend had a horse that bucked me off and I landed on my rumpus. Not only did it scare me half to death, my rumpus was sore for weeks. After I was bucked off, my friend suggested that I just walk the horse. I did. It then bit a chunk out of the back of my arm. So, though I think horses are beautiful to watch, I have had no intentions in the last 30 years to ever straddle one again. Now Gretchen knows my plight with horses, but encouraged me to "face my fears." Seriously, that's what my 10 year old said to me. How does one combat that?
So, on October 3, 2010, I did something I thought I'd never do again! I rode a horse!!
I got very little sleep the previous night. Between the sadness of the loss of my friend and severe anxiety over the horse ride, I got about 3 hours of sleep. But I knew Gretchen was looking forward to this, so I wanted to at least "act" excited.
Good morning, sunshine.
She had to have closed toe and heel shoes but only brought flip-flops and
Crocs, so she had to borrow her brother's shoes. (He never knew. He didn't get out of bed until after we returned.)
We got ready in about 10 minutes.
And off we went...
Oh this creature makes me a nervous wreck!
Not Gretchen!
I was terrified! But the instructors ensured me over and over (and over and over) that everything would be just fine.
There were only 2 other ladies that were on this trail ride. It was another mother-daughter team.
The workers were great. Believe me, they were very patient with handling me and my fears. I think Gretchen wished she had ridden with someone else.
These were our horses after we had dismounted. I liked them much better from afar.