One of my best online friends, Maureen, agreed to write a post for me, and I couldn’t be more excited about it! Enjoy!
I thought since I was guest-posting for Jen, I would try to channel my Inner Cowgirl. But, having grown up just outside New York City, and living these days on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, that’s easier said than done.
Then I remembered: horses.
I have been horse-crazy since I was a very little girl (I think the South Dakota Cowgirl can relate, Maureen). There were no horses in my day to day life so I settled for the next best thing. I read every book I could find that had anything to do with horses, from Black Beauty to Misty of Chincoteague (me too!).
I cut pictures out of magazines and created my own horse books. I learned the lingo. At 10 I knew the difference between a stallion and a gelding, between a western versus English style saddle (that’s me too!).
When I was 11 I spent a whole weekend at a dude ranch with my Girl Scout troop. Three days of riding! Okay, maybe it was only on the trails, but I was as excited as if I was performing in the rodeo.
The picture to the right is from the first five minutes of that first trail ride. Before the instructor told me to turn out my saddle-shoed feet. Look at my face. I’m trying not to reveal how nervous I am. Trying to act like, “This? Oh, I do this every day.”
Of course that horse sensed I was a newbie immediately. He purposely walked under trees with branches low enough to slap my face and led me too close between boulders that banged and bruised my knees.
But I was determined not to back down.
I lucked out with gentler horses the rest of the weekend. Until my last ride, when they led out that same trickster. I looked him in the eye and told him I was a changed girl than the one who’d ridden him earlier. No way was he trashing me around the trail again.
Well, either he understood my new attitude or he just took pity on me, because that last ride was the best one of the weekend. I went home yearning more than ever for riding lessons, but instead had to settle for yearly trail rides on family vacations.
Naturally when I had kids, all three of them learned to ride. Horses are big on Martha’s Vineyard. But with the demands of single-parenting, learning to ride myself wasn’t really an option.
Yet I refuse to give up. My last child goes off to college in just over two years, and I’ve promised myself that’s when I’ll start. And I will.
Because when one day I show up at Jen’s ranch and ask for a tour on horseback, I think my form should be a little better than in the picture here. Or Jen just might be too embarrassed to let me anywhere near her horses.
No worries, Maureen, we’ll have the perfect mount! For more from Maureen, visit Island Roar.
Absolutely you should be taking lessons … !! I bought my motorcycle in 2000 and learned to ride in my 50’s …. it’s never too late…but, you shouldn’t wait…..
my sister was like you, loved horses all her life… we rode rented horses on Indian land in our teens and younger…had to ride our bicycles for miles to get there…. not learning much about actual riding… but loving the poor mistreated beasts… getting to pet them and feed them a bit of grass…. getting bucked off or slapped off by branches too… especially the day one of the horses spied a wisp of smoke coming from underground….wow… did we go fast..hahahha….. I remember it with humour..but, it was far from funny at the time. Now…. finally…. .she has horses of her own. Which I get to pet and clean up after when I go to visit once or twice a year. Tthey are a lot of work and some sadness and agony to her now… and they may outlive her….so she has to make sure to leave them in her will to somebody who will care for them as if they are older relatives…… sigh…… it never works out quite right no matter how hard we try……
Nice post…you will find that there is always someone that rides better than the next person, but don’t let that stop you. Enjoy and love what you are doing. I wish you luck and many happy trails!
Great post. When I was a kid I used to love horses too. I would read a lot of books, fact and fiction, about them, had shirts with horses on them, and loved it when my aunt would let me ride hers. I have great memories of that time of my life and how my mother and aunt encouraged that hobby of mine.
I went riding a few times w/ girl scouts (growing up in the same part of the world as you). Had the same experience, loved it. But am allergic… so… perhaps I will learn how to ride a motorcycle when the kids are gone. 🙂
Great post, Maureen – love the photo!
I’m too scared to ride. (Does that make me ineligible to comment??) => I have ridden, though I worry too much about falling and getting hurt. However, I think horses are magnificent, gorgeous creatures, and I respect their power and grace, as well as people who can develop bonds with them.
I had a horse growing up. I am right now trying to sell my saddle on Craig’s List. has not been used in 30 years and my kids are beach people…
I rode at girl scout camp, neighbors home, friends homes, and other assorted places as a child but I’ve never developed the need to continue into childhood. That’s a good thing as I am a total klutz. My riding would not be pretty.
Nice post, Maureen. I wanted a horse when I was young…but I got over it when I grew up. I loved riding the feew times I got the chance at my aunt’s farm. They raise Appaloosas. (sp)
I’ve always wanted to learn to ride. A dude ranch sounds like a dream come true for a kid who had her own horse scrap book. 😉 You look great up there!
Wow! Maureen you never cease to amaze me! I would have never guessed your love for horses and riding. Great story and so want to see pics of you riding again.
Hello Jen, howdy Maureen.
Maureen, you are a cowgirl too!
Maureen, when we moved to the Vineyard in the 1970’s, young girls could strike a deal with the stables that rented horses to tourists. We could have the horses for the winter! If we fed and cared for them, we could take almost any horse from Nip and Tuck Farm or Misty Meadows in West Tisbury..It was a great deal for everyone. The horses got fed and exercised and brushed, and high school girls were kept busy. It was only hard on Mom who had to pay the grain store bill until I got a job there.
I rode all over the island, which was still relatively undeveloped. No one was around to stop me from riding on the Lambert’s Cove Beach, or the woods around Mohu. I could get lost for hours on old dirt roads between the North Shore and Sengekontacket, seeing only the ruins of old farmhouses and overgrown pastures. Those are my favorite memories of the island. Thanks for reminding me! I hope you get the chance to gallop down an island beach someday.
Hey, thank you guys so much for the great comments.
And thank you Jen for letting me borrow your space!
Maureen- You are welcome to borrow my space any time you like! And you’re also welcome to come visit! The coffee is always on! Thanks so much for taking time to write about your horse experiences!