We went to St. George for our annual Hope Ranch horse trip. I wasn't able to take Bubbles this year due to her arthritis in her knees. I was able to ride Sonya. The first day we got there was Wednesday. We unloaded the horses and then went to check into the hotel. After checking into the hotel, we back to hangout with the horses.
We rode around the property. The property had some puddles on it. I found out that Sonya didn't like puddles. So I got off and tried to have her go through the puddle while I was on the ground. She side jumped the puddle and landed on my toe on my right foot. Lets just months later, I finally went to the doctor and had a deep bone bruise. It was interesting riding with a hurt toe for the weekend.
Our first ride was in Snow Canyon. It was beautiful and there was water. Not Sonya's favorite part of the ride but we managed.
Our second day ride was the most challenging I have ever been on. On horse back, I get a little nervous when we go to some place new and I don't know the terrain, especially with drop off or hills. The second ride we had both. Sonya was nervous, so she kept pushing forward and we weren't at the front, which meant she was pushing into the horse's butt in front of us. I was trying to keep her pulled back to keep her space. We finally ended up at the back of the group. Our group consisted of about 14 horses and riders of different ages with different degrees of horse experience.
The riders in front of me thought it was fun to trot down each time up and down hill, without a though of who was behind them. This made Sonya so high strung that I could barely keep back my tears. We also road up a steep rocky area with a drop off to the left of me. We got through that area and at the end of it was a huge pond. I saw it and lost it. I got off my horse and didn't know how I was going to get her to go through the puddle. I started bawling. I was lost. Three of the ladies, came over and checked on me. They tried to help me and Sonya. I finally composed myself and got back on Sonya. I was able to walk around the pond to my great relief.
Well, everything that goes up must come down. We had to go down a steep hill. I could barely breath, but the rider in front of me, Julie, said "at some point you just have to sit back and trust your horse." I saw this every time I see a hill now. I go over it again and again until I reach the bottom of a hill. I ride down every hill I see and I haven't had my horse flip head over hills yet.
I rode down to St. George with Julie. This was the second trip I was able to just sit back and ride with Julie. On the way home, things got a bit interesting. We rearranged cars so we would have talkers in each car. I rode with Terri. It was a hard and memorable ride home.
This trip stretched me a person, horse person, and friend. I will never be the same because of it.
