Ingenuity

 Ingenuity

My sister and I were out on a trail ride the other morning, and we were enjoying a good trot.  Along the way, we met a fellow walking a dog that we have seen and spoken to a number of times.  He wanted to ask us a question, so though we were thoroughly enjoying our trot, we stopped to answer it.

He wanted to know our opinion on racing horses.  He had read the book "Seabiscuit," and it got him wondering about it.  Ellen told him that many horses are naturally competitive, and they love to race.  In fact, we used to have 2 of them, (Cruiser and Ranger,) and our biggest problem was keeping them from fighting to be the leader.

That made him feel better about the subject.  Suddenly, Ellen said, "My rein broke."  We use reins with snaps on the ends to attach to the bit, and the metal snap--snapped.

For many years, I used to have a piece of nylon stocking attached to my saddle for just this kind of thing.  I never needed it, and somewhere along the line, it got so cruddy that I threw it away and forgot to replace it.

Ellen tried to tie the rein to the bit, but it just didn't appear that it would hold very well.  She could lead Dante home with the other rein, but that was an option that we preferred to avoid.

I was searching all over for something.  I thought maybe she could pull the strap out of the top of her half chaps.  She gave it a tug, but it was in too snugly--then she noticed her shoelaces.  My boots have zippers, but hers have laces.  She undid one of her boots and used it to attach the rein to the bit.  It was very snug, and we both felt confident that she could ride safely.  She did say it felt funny to ride with a boot with no laces, though.

Meanwhile, Kevin was out riding behind us with the intention of catching up to us.  He saw the man with the dog, and he asked if we were up ahead.  He told him that we had a problem with a strap breaking.  Kevin always used to carry an old shoelace in his saddlebag for just this kind of thing, but when he switched saddlebags, he didn't put it in the new one.

I guess I don't have to tell you the moral of this story.

Anyway, we made it home safely.  The best thing about the whole incident is that the rein broke when we weren't doing anything!  It is good to stop and talk to friendly people even if it does break up some good trotting.