I don't like horses!

How could any twelve year old boy, who was raised in a farming and ranching community, not like horses?  I enjoy watching beautiful horses but only from a distance.  I enjoy watching horse races but I never desired to ride one.  I even enjoy watching rodeos but mostly so I can watch the clowns.  Well, let me tell you of four events in my life that will perhaps explain why I don’t like horses. 

Event #1 – The Smith family, who were our next door neighbors, announced that they were the new owner of a pony.  A pony in this case meant a mature but smallish size horse. The father said that he had purchased the horse so that his children could learn about the use and care of a horse. The oldest of these children were two boys ages eight and ten.  All of the boys in the neighborhood were very envious of the Smith’s. But we were equally excited about having a real live horse living next door.  This was especially true since the two boys announced that all of the neighborhood boys would have an opportunity to ride their pony.

The exciting day finally arrived when the horse was delivered. It would be kept in a pasture next to the neighbors home.  For the first several days, the Montgomery boys pretty much monopolized the horse. But then it was announced, neighborhood-wide, that on the following day every boy who arrived at the pasture at 9:00 a.m. could ride the horse.  This ride would be bare-back meaning there was no saddle.

The ride was to a point about fifty yards from the starting point and then return. About fifteen boys turned up for this momentous event.  The first four of five boys completed their ride without any mishap.  At the end of their ride each of them raved about how totally exhilarating the ride was.  They immediately began a campaign in their home for the father to buy them a pony.  As I watched each of these rides it appeared to me to be a fairly routine ride.  You calmly took hold of the reins, kicked the horse in the flanks and completed your ride.  It looked simple to me.  It was simple; for the first ten or fifteen bounces.  The horse was trotting in a very dedicated manner and I was having trouble staying mounted.  I still hadn’t learned that the only way to stay on a trotting bare-back horse was to clamp your legs.  I didn’t learn soon enough and the next thing I knew I was sitting on my rear end on the ground.  And that wasn’t the worst of it.  I had fallen into a “Red Ant” hill.  I quickly became aware of this when I felt Red Ants furiously climbing up my arms and legs.  There is only one way to solve this problem.  You quickly start the Red Ants Dance.  This dance is simply to jump up and down and high as you can in hopes of dislodging the ants who are now gleefully feasting on your flesh.  After a few minutes this seemed to work but that was only the beginning.  I could hear riotous laughing.  No one was thinking of riding the horse.  They were having too much fun mimicking my horse ride and dance. I had never experienced such humiliation.

            Check tomorrow's blog for the other three events regarding horses.