I've always loved horses; they were my first passion in life. However, I've also always been a city girl (not by choice) so have never owned one, nore have I ever learned how to ride properly. Have gone on trails every so often at local stables, and when I was a teenager made friends with some kids who lived on a farm/campground. But even with next to no experience around horses, I can say I've been bitten, stepped on, bucked off, knocked over, and even chased at one time or another. However, the scariest experience I ever had happened when I was around 16, and my friend and I were visiting the kids in the country who owned horses. Their dad ran a campground, the horses were an afterthought who spent most of their days either in the barn on the hill, or out in a back field somewhere. The dad was crazy enough to let us go and ride the horses unsupervised, and even though one of us could have wound up killed (boy, my dad would've been so mad at me if
that'd happened), we had the time of our lives there. One afternoon we decided to take the horses out for a ride, and I happened to be riding my favorite (Carrie, the love of my life back then) bareback. All was going well until I heard one of the owner's kids shout, "Look out! Romeo's loose!!" Romeo was - well, a romeo. He was being boarded there for the summer, and he was a young stallion, raring to find his Juliet. Unfortunately, I happened to be riding the one mare on the property. Before I really had time to even register what had been shouted, I heard horse hooves galloping up behind me, then I felt a 'thud' as something hit Carrie. I turned around on her back to see and there was Romeo...or rather, there was Romeo's face -- right in mine. All I remember now is seeing that huge nose, and one enormous set of teeth lashing out at my shoulder. Can't say I'd ever been stuck in the midst of a love triangle before, and I wasn't about to start then. I had no idea what to do, so I did the only thing I could think of...I drew back and punched Romeo in the face. And surprisingly, it worked. He backed off long enough that I was able to get Carrie to take off, and that she did...we were halfway across the farm before Romeo realized she was gone. (Funny how one suddenly knows how to ride when sheer terror sets in.
) In retrospect, I did feel badly for punching Romeo, but at least I do still have two shoulders...makes wearing shirts a whole lot easier...
I do have to say though, one of the best scents ever created is that of a horse's neck. Anytime your're feeling sad, or lonely, or just want some sort of comfort, bury your face in a horse's neck, and just *smell*... Pure heaven.