OBSTACLE TIPS
JEFF WILSON
by
COWBOY DRESSAGE
The Rabbit in your Hat
The tent fluttered quietly in the breeze, sending ripples across the loose flap of a doorway that someone had left open. Riding up to the campsite, the new arrival gently reined her horse in, pausing for a moment to determine if the site were abandoned or if someone were home. A bee buzzed around them for a moment, and a fish jumped in the nearby pond sending a water ripple to a nearby kayak causing it to softly thump up against the shore where it was tethered. The old gelding flicked an ear in its direction, but the bright, young rider hardly gave it a glance, she was too focused on what she observed before her. Unhurriedly, she stroked her horse and lay the reins down on his short, feathery, black mane. “I could see why nobody would stick around here,” she muttered as she tightened her hat down securely around her face and reached for a stick that was leaning up against a small tree. Her big palomino, obediently stopped, decided this was the long-awaited opportunity for a moment to scratch its head on its knee. His whole demeanor seemed to say, “I’m not too concerned.” With her hands closed around the stick, feeling its smooth bark in her fingers and its rough edges in her palm, the young rider mused over what she must do next.
The campsite was neat, but crude; a makeshift stopover for a hunter or a hiker who was on the go and wanted a quick setup and takedown with no frills, just the bare necessities—a tent for sleeping, a campfire for cooking, a pond for water, and a table for eating. Well, it wasn’t really a table, but it was obviously the focus behind building a camp here. The wide, flat rock jutted out from the dirt fashioning a unique table. You could see its charm, if it hadn’t been for the snake that had decided to curl up on the warm face of the rock to catch a comfortable catnap.
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Photo by Aponi