I'm a Horse, Not a Fish

Some of the many reasons I love having Saiph as a riding buddy are her incredible sense of adventure, her constant smile and her “equestrian bucket list (EBL).”   Being from the Caribbean, Saiph dreamed of riding on the trails as snow was falling.  Check.  We did that in January and we were both giggling as the mares’ manes became “frosted” with tiny snowflakes.  

 Riding through the snow on one beautiful horse...

Another item on Saiph’s EBL was cantering on the beach.  It wasn’t easy to find an opportunity to do that within a reasonable driving distance.  Horses are allowed on the beach in Ocean City (OC), Maryland until April 1.  But OC is more than three hours away!   Some Googling revealed that horseback riding was permitted on the beach at Wye Island, which is about 1½ hours from the farm.  No problem!  

Saiph’s friend, Liz, was visiting from West Virginia so she joined us on our sandy adventure.  Queenie and Lily rode in my trailer while Q was in Liz’s trailer behind us.  We started out about 10:30 am with plans to ride to the beach and enjoy a picnic lunch after checking off Saiph’s dream of cantering along the shoreline. 

My son had this sign made for my trailer.

Saiph's photo of my trailer on the Bay Bridge

As I was driving to Wye Island, I started wondering what Queenie and Lily must have been thinking as we loaded them into the trailer.  Here’s the conversation I imagine them having:

Queenie:  Damn it, they are putting us in this little red box again.  What do you suppose they’re up to this time?

Lily:  Heaven only knows!  Last time it was wading into creeks, walking over bridges and going through that long, dark tunnel.  What was up with that?  

Queenie:  Yeah, and my mom thinks I should be so happy to get in the box because she puts two tablespoons of feed in the bucket.  I fall for it every time, though, and race into that box.  Wham! She closes the partition and I feel like a sausage.  

Lily:  I’ve tried backing off the box a few times but I’ve given up.  Now I just accept my fate and get on with no fuss. 

The drive to Wye Island was easy but I couldn't help but wonder how the horses were reacting to the drive over the Bay Bridge.  Saiph later told me that Lily looked concern only at one point but Queenie apparently didn't care at all. 

The Bay Bridge is 4.3 miles long and 186 feet above the water at the highest point.

  

The Wye Island parking lot was empty and we didn't encounter anyone along the trail except for a group of Boy Scouts and we cut across a field to avoid them.   

Any organizational suggestions?

I like Queenie to have a full belly when we ride so she’s not tempted to graze along the way.  Queenie took one look at the field of sprouting grass and decided that would be her meal of choice.  I let her graze while I got the saddle, bridle, etc. out of the trailer.  

I keep thinking that there must be a better way to organize the tiny tack area of my trailer.  It’s always such a hassle to get everything in and out.  Fellow bloggers, please let me know if you have any suggestions. 

After Queenie, Lily and Q had been fed, we mounted up.  But first, Liz and Saiph took a quick look at the map to see where the trails began and ended.  The significant others (SOs), along to take photos and enjoy our post-ride picnic, were having lots of discussion about which trail we should take to reach the beach (the posted map was abysmal).  Obviously, Lewis and Clark didn’t have so many different opinions or we’d all still be living east of the Mississippi.  

Which way is the trail?

Heading down the road to the beach

The trailhead to the beach

Finally, Saiph made an executive decision and we left the SOs still debating trail choices.  We agreed that the SOs would meet us at the beach in one hour because we estimated our ride would be about three miles.  The trail was really an unpaved road so we had to ride on the grass sometimes to accommodate passing cars.  But we had plenty of opportunities to trot and canter down the road.  

Saiph's video of the three of us cantering on the beach.  

Need to work on my form but kudos to Saiph for 

being able to film this while on a cantering horse! 

In about an hour, we arrived at the trailhead to the beach.  Liz called her SO who said the guys were on a beer run and would be there shortly.  Not a patient trio, we headed to the beach and told the SOs to meet us there.  

Now I confess that I had visions of cantering along an endless stretch of wide, white-sand beach. Reality was very different.  There was only a very small area of flat wet sand.  The rest of the “beach” was peppered with tree trunks and areas of sea grass that jutted into the water.  Tree limbs overhung the beach.  In other words, we weren’t going to be able to ride very far without encountering lots of obstacles.

I'm used to wide Southern beaches without trees!

Queenie was reluctant to even set hoof on the beach.  She hung back while Lily and Q charged ahead.  With a little encouragement, Queenie decided she could handle the sand.   

Water, however, was a totally different thing!  Liz and Saiph figured out that the best way to get a chance to canter along the beach was to ask their horses to go foot or so into the water.  Lily and Q were quickly splashing through the water at a canter.  

Lily had no problem cantering through the water

Queenie avoided the water while I had to watch those trees!

Queenie took one look at the water and said, “No way.”  With urging, she decided she would wade in a little but she was sure as heck not going to run in the water.  When I finally convinced her that she HAD to do it, she reluctantly agreed but made a beeline for the shore every chance she got.  The photos and videos clearly show Queenie’s single-mindedness about avoiding the water.  

Heading for shore!

At one point, Queenie and Lily had their heads together and I imagined this conversation:

Queenie:  Can you believe this sh--?  We’re supposed to run knee-deep in the water?  I never had to do this when I was pulling a cart in Baltimore.  I can't swim!

Lily:  Oh, just humor them.  Hopefully, they won’t get any crazy ideas like this again.

Queenie:  Boy, are you ever dreaming.  They'll have us loaded up and off for some other crazy adventure quicker than you can say "beet pulp." 
  

Three very happy riders!

We enjoyed a nice picnic (apparently we were all so hungry that no one took photos of the picnic) and mounted up again for the return ride.  Liz had seen another trail that she wanted to try so our return ride was longer and again, we took every opportunity to trot and canter.  Queenie’s gaiting was still sporadic so by mile ten, I was getting really tired.  

On the last stretch back to the trailer, Liz and Saiph started to gallop.  Queenie, being chronically herd-bound, took off to catch up.  I had galloped on Queenie before but the gait she adopted this time was new to me.  I refer to it as “galleaping.”  Saiph said it was a “dolphin dive.”  

Whatever the name, it was difficult for me to ride, particularly since every muscle in my body was screaming, “Are you NUTS?”  Remember, I’m the woman who just wanted to walk and occasionally trot on Queenie.   Liz and Saiph quickly responded to my request to slow down and all was well.  Galleaping will be for another day when my entire body isn't questioning why I resumed this sport when I'm just south of 60 years old.  

A pretty good depiction of how I felt after the ride.

We returned to the trailers and I fed Queenie some watery beet pulp because she never drinks on the trail and she was very sweaty.  As she ate, I realized how fit she looked.  It wasn’t always that way.  

Queenie enjoying her own beet pulp picnic while we had ours.
Queenie LOVES her beet pulp so much that she paws in excitement

But that’s a subject for a future post.