The Strange Ride

The Strange Ride

The other day, Ellen, Kevin and I were going out riding.  Kevin left ahead of us so that he wouldn't be in our way.  We followed along.  We knew we would meet him at the end of the trail where we turn around to go home.

It looked like rain.  We checked the radar on Ellen's phone, and we thought we might be all right, so we decided to take a chance.  There was one other concern on our minds.  Kevin told us there was a car club that was planning to drive through the park.  Our trails thread between the street and the river.  Sometimes it is closer to the street--and sometimes the river.  We have been caught out in previous years when all the cars drive though, and it can be difficult.  These aren't ordinary cars.  They are noisy hot rods. 

The ride was uneventful on the way out.  We couldn't cross the river at the second river crossing because it was too high, so we walked the horses across the ford.  There wasn't much traffic because of the weather, so it was an easy crossing.

As we approached the end of the trail, we could see Starry in the distance.  He started neighing for us.  Once we got closer, he got very quiet.  I guess he didn't want us to know that he missed his buddies so much.

We put Starry in the lead on the way home.  Kevin told us the time that the cars were supposed to leave their starting point.  I looked at my watch and realized we might be in trouble.  We had to get across the ford before the hot rods showed up. 

We did some trotting towards home to make up time.  All was quiet, so we brought the horses onto the ford.  We knew the cars would make such a ruckus that we would have ample warning.

Once across, Kevin hurried on ahead.  He wanted to get to a good spot where he could stop Starry and watch the cars.  Things like that don't make Starry nervous the way they make Cole and Ellen nervous.  (Notice I didn't mention Dante?)  He wasn't even out of sight before we could hear the rumble of engines.  We made it across the ford only a few minutes too soon.

We decided to walk because the trail where we were at was far from the street.  Maybe by the time we got close to the street, they would be done.  All went well as we walked along.  I was hoping that Cole would just gradually get desensitized to the noise. 

We saw Kevin and Starry standing over by the street; watching the cars go by.  Starry was a statue.  He didn't care at all.  He is such a strange horse.

By now, we could also smell the fumes.  As the trail got closer to the street, Cole's head kept getting higher and higher.  The cars kept coming and coming.  Cole's steps became faster.  I wasn't feeling very safe, so I stopped him and hopped off.  A few steps later, he leapt into the air!  He had had enough.  I circled him to contain his outburst and asked him to stand.  He then parked out and waited.  Of course, I praised him.  Dante just watched.

The cars were soon gone,  Since it looked like rain, there was a poor turnout for the event.  We were relieved.  I led Cole for a little ways.  When he seemed settled down, I mounted back up.  He was still walking very fast, so we were way ahead of Dante.  We would stop and wait for them to catch up periodically.

When we were nearly back to our river crossing to go home, I stopped to wait for Dante.  Far up ahead, I heard a noise that started getting louder and louder.  I thought it might be a big gust of wind, but when it got to us, it turned out to be a wall of water!  This never happened to us before.  The only thing Cole hates more than loud engines is heavy rain.  Poor Cole was having a bad day.  Not only could we see the rain moving as a wave, but we also could see the wave moving toward us on the leaves of the trees and shrubs. 

Ellen caught up with us.  I asked Cole to go forward, but the rain wall had him so confused and upset that he uncharacteristically started backing up.  For the first time ever, I had to ask her to bring Dante ahead of my typically very bold Cole because he was afraid of something.  Was Dante afraid?  Of course not.  He was amazed at the way the rain was hitting the leaves.  He was looking from one side of the trail to the next.  He wanted to go touch the leaves--and possibly taste them.

Ellen persisted and Dante took the lead. Cole immediately settled down, and we crossed the river.  Once we reached the other side, we got off to lead.  You get less wet if you are leading than if you are riding.

We were home shortly, and Starry arrived a little after us.  Of course, once Starry was inside, it quit raining.

It was a strange ride.