Horsing Around

I have said that I was not an athletic kid while growing up, but that doesn't mean that I didn't earn some medals along the way. Back in the day, circa the mid to late 1980s, I used to be quite the horse rider. I earned a few gold, silver and bronze medals for my show jumping prowess. Here are a couple of shots of me in action:

I haven't ridden for a good 17 or so years though! Wow...I can't believe it has been that long... Anyhow, this weekend it was time to get in touch with my old horse riding self and my inner cowboy. A friend and I signed on for an afternoon of horseback riding followed by a steak dinner and a bonfire complete with marshmallows. Yum. My friend got held up in traffic, and long story made short, she wound up missing the horseback riding part of the day. So...it was down to me and a few other strangers. Our guides picked out horses for us. This guy was not for riding, but he sure was cool as he had his own cowbell around his neck!
Here's me, eagerly anticipating my horse:
Yes, I decided to cowboy it up with my classy Lone Star beer shirt (courtesy of a friend of mine who worked for the brewery in San Antonio), cowboy hat, and cowboy boots straight from Aldo. Authentic! I was paired with Tonto. Things between Tonto and I were all good in this picture:
Once it was time to make our way out of the corral and on to the trail Tonto and I got squeezed between two other horses. I guess Tonto didn't like that so he backed way up and wasn't so sure he wanted to be a part of this adventure. At this point I was warned that Tonto was new to the ranch and would likely get picked on by the other horses. Oh goody... I reigned him in and attempted to set off on the trail. We got a bit of the way out, but as soon as we approached a mud bog he decided to throw a fit and would not cooperate. Luckily one of the folks working the ranch asked if I would like to swap horses so I bid a hasty farewell to Tonto and made my way over to my new trusty steed, Pistol Pete. Here is a shot of the back of Pete's head:
Pete and I got along much better. We mostly walked, but every once in awhile the horses had a chance to gallop for a short ways. I can't remember what I used to do during the gallop as I was bouncing in the saddle a ton. Ow... The scenery was pretty fantastic out there though. Unfortunately I couldn't get too many good shots, and the one below doesn't even do it justice. But we really lucked out with some amazing weather and having a chance to see the trees just as the leaves are turning colour.I was pretty proud of the fact that I got to wear my Aldo cowboy boots to do something relatively cowboy-ish. So far they have only been used to hit the rodeo in San Antonio and to wear around downtown during Stampede here in Calgary. So here we are, a shot of my cowboy boots in action:Afterwards it was back to the ranch to socialize and enjoy our steak dinner. Then we gathered around the bonfire to roast some marshmallows. Delicious! It was a really fun day, however my saddle has forgotten how sore a saddle can make it, so needless to say it is a wee bit painful to sit!