I Got One Foot On a Banana Peel

Because Brandon and I are renovating half of our house and it is starting to unravel me with everything being out of place and on its head, I have been looking very forward to some good ole Lilly time. Christine, Whitney and I had a plan to meet for a ride today , and it was going to be GREAT.

Not so fast, pard'ner. It certainly didn't get started that way. When we got to Bill's I knew it might be a little hectic because his daughter was getting married this very day! In celebration of the wedding, Bill and his wife had had a big party last night at their house, complete with a giant tent in the driveway, and even a few guys roasting a pig (I hope Louise was not offended!). So, when we arrived at Bill's today, the tent and "kitchen" were still set up outside. There was also a guy there (a very nice guy, I must say) who was slowly taking the "kitchen" apart. All perfectly mellow.

However, I guess if you are a horse and you are being saddled up next to a guy clinking silverware and moving big, weird pieces of kitchen grills and such around, there is nothing mellow about it. Immediately, Bella started wiggling and moving around like a Chinese dragon. Bella has that big haflinger body--Whitney was probably worried about getting trampled. When I went to spray Lilly with bug spray (as usual), she freaked out, pulled back, and broke the snap on her lead rope trying to get away. Actually, there was no trying about it--she got away all right! When she took off, she almost got QTee to take off with her. Meanwhile we couldn't get through the stall door so Christine was trying to hand Whitney and me all the tack we needed so we could get the hell out of there. I noticed Whitney's face was as red as a tomato as she struggled with Bella. At that point, I guess I decided a panic attack was in order. Seeing my own horse uncharacteristically losing it must have really affected me. Suddenly I felt like I was going to puke all over the hay. I said with an extraordinary wobble, "I feel most nauseous!" as the color drained from my entire head.

But really, was there time to feel sick? No, there was not. I knew as soon as we got out on the road and up to the trail head, everything would seem familiar and very sane, both to horse and human.

We did manage to get to the road even though Lilly had a another mini-freak out when I asked her to walk under the tent. Simply refused. Luckily, that nice guy who was taking things apart, helped move a tent pole so Lilly could slip around the tent without going under it.

Out on the road, Bella decided she was going to throw her head around and try and bite Whitney repeatedly. Then some giant pick up trucks came zooming down the road and the dogs ran right in front of them! It was seriously turning into the worst time I have ever spent at Bill's. Christine said, "This day is an anomaly!" because whatever could go wrong, was going wrong.

Naturally when one is having an anxiety attack, there is not usually an opportunity for picture taking. So even though all of that excitement would have made for some bloggable photos, getting the camera out was really the last thing on my mind. Out on the trail I was able to recover and get the camera out. Here is a picture of Whitney. Soon after this photo was taken, Whitney and I switched horses because Bella thought it would be really great if she started flinging her head all over and running into pine trees off trail. Whitney announced: I want off of Bella! Christine wisely said that I should turn Bella in a tight circle when she misbehaved and do it for 10 minutes straight if I had to. Bella did not like being told what to do and gave me a buck. Whatever, Bella, as if after all I had been through in the last 30 minutes a little buck was going to unhinge me? I didn't think so! Or maybe she was just confused and working out her own anxiety. In any case, Bella and I got it together and we carried on.

The rest of our ride was excellent. I mean, everything was redeemed, everything was dreamy. Yes, it was that good! Lilly and Qtee were wonderful (QTee had been perfect the whole day), and Bella settled in. Today I realized three very important things: 1. The rewards for bulldozing through a sticky situation are great, 2. I do not like riding English at all in the woods; I miss the horn! and 3. I still like Bella very much even when she is naughty.

Here is a snapshot Whitney got with my camera.

YEAY! We are riding along like Life Is Good.

Back at the barn, Gettysburg was very interested in the hay.

Here's a beautiful picture I took of Christine and her husband Chris at the party the night before.

And here is a picture of Bill off to his daughter's wedding. Wow! Bill in a tie! Don't let that expression fool you, he was hamming for the camera. As I write this, Bill's daughter is married by now and Bill has a new son-in-law!