Fourth of July Fireworks

Fourth of July Fireworks

As we approach the Fourth, my sister and I ride with caution.  Since we ride in a highly populous area, there is always a chance that we might encounter some crazy person with fireworks while we are in the saddle.  We ride early, not as far and with awareness.

We aren’t blowing the situation out of proportion, because we have had problems in the past.  The first time, was the very first year I was trail riding.  It was actually on July 5.  My first horse, Brandy, and I were riding in the evening.  As we passed a deep pool of the river, someone on the other side threw a firework into the water, and I saw it explode.  The following moment, I was on the ground and Brandy was running home.

A few years down the road, Ellen and I were out on an early morning ride on Cruiser and Ranger.  There was a woman with a couple kids shooting firecrackers quite close to us by the river edge.  I’m sure they didn’t even see us because we were up above their heads.  They spooked both horses, but at least, this time we managed to stay on.  We did give them a piece of our mind.

The next time was shortly after the Fourth.  We were crossing a street, and someone threw a firecracker out of a car window at us.  Of course the horses were spooked, but we were able to ride it out.

The last time was a very puzzling incident.  I remember I was on Mingo, Ellen was on Ranger and I am pretty sure Kevin was there, but I think he was on his Morgan, Arby.  It was in the evening a few days after the Fourth, and we were riding down a steep hill.  All of the sudden, a whole bunch of fireworks went off all at once and lasted at least one endless minute.  It wasn’t close to us, but close enough to get the horses upset—not a good thing when you are riding down a steep hill.  We all just had our horses stand in place and wait it out.  It was pretty scary, but the horses were great.

So, you can see that the threat this time of year is very real for us.  Needless to say, the Fourth of July holiday is our least favorite riding holiday, but we still ride.  It is hard to keep us out of the saddle.