and very feisty. We learned how to handle the horses, put on the gear, brush them and ride them. Each weekend we would see them and have fun. It wasn’ t easy as they had their own minds and usually towards the end of the weekend we had them under control only to repeat this the next weekend. One time the owner where we kept our horses had organized a rodeo for all of the people that owned horses and boarded them. So here we were Mimi and I were in a rodeo. We were signed up for a baton race where we had to race around the barrels and hand a baton to the other and keep going. I started out and made it around the barrels but we couldn’ t get our horses close enough for me to hand over the baton. Essentially, we were designated as the rodeo clowns as everyone was laughing so much. It was all quite a bit of fun.
Exactly one year after buying our horses, we returned to the same horse riding place in Cape Cod. When they asked us what our riding ability was, we both blurted out in unison- we are experts. So they let us on the ride and we were confident. They gave us our horses and off we went. The horses walked over the sand dunes for about 2 hours until we reached the beach. Two days prior, a hurricane had come through and it was still windy and the oceans were disturbed. We didn’ t feel the wind as we rode on the sand dunes and it was quite pleasant.
About one sand dune before we hit the beach, the horses started getting excited and so were we. The leader of the group told us that if the horses run away with us that we were to steer them away from the water and into the sand to slow them down. Just about then the horses took off and reached full gallop in seconds. It was incredible as we had never ridden that fast before. The horses followed the leader who clearly had the fastest horse. The waves in the ocean were enormous and crashing on the shoreline and we were now riding at the edge of the water getting soaked. I looked back to see Mimi who was very scared but holding on well. After a few minutes we
Clockwise: Meghann, Nicole, Mimi stopped but the horses were revved up. The leader asked how we were and everyone was good. I asked Mimi if she could continue and she said yes. So off we went again in a full gallop through the water. It was unbelievable. After about the third sprint, we were in the groove and able to enjoy this immensely. It was so smooth riding at that speed. We were so in tune to our horses and this was the ride of a lifetime. On the way back, we asked the leader why people had to be expert riders and she told us that one person had fallen off during the sprint on the beach but their leg was caught in the saddle. The horse then walked all the way back to the barn dragging this person the entire way.
Mimi and I were able to spend time with our nieces, Nicole and Meghann when they were quite young. They stayed at our house in Pomona and we took them horse back riding which was the first time for both of them. Meghann got a tick on her and I told her how I was going to remove it by lighting a match, blowing it out and then touching the tick with the match. She was calm until I tried to touch her with the match and she freaked out. We eventually got the tick off of her. Meghann was always more adventurous and outgoing and Nicole was more subdued and mellow. The riding adventure was memorable for Nicole that influenced her to ride more later in life.
One year, my sister-in-law, brother-in-law and daughter Claire came to visit us in New York and we were able to take them into the City and show them around a bit. Claire got a chance to meet her cousins, Meghann, Nicole, Scott and Stacey in New Jersey.
Clockwise: Stacey, Meghann, Nicole, Claire, Scott
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