Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

About 6 years ago I was galloping down a dirt road on my mare, rounded a curve, and there was a mama pig (feral hog) in the road, surrounded by little piglets.  She ran off the road, and the piglets scattered.  My mare sat back on her haunches and did a perfect sliding stop.  It happened so fast that I ended up on her neck, looking down her face between her ears.  I shimmied backward into the saddle, she slooowwwly straightened up, and off we went.  If she had swerved even a little, I would have hit the ground, but she stopped so straight that I ended up on her neck.

At a ride one year, a friend and I were trotting along on the second loop, on a piece of single track in brushy woods.  I was leading, and came around a corner to see a large striped skunk ambling down the trail ahead of us.  Needless to say, we stopped and hoped it would leave.  Nope, it liked the trail.  We followed it (at an appropriate distance <G>) for about 5-7 minutes.  I crowded it at closely as I dared, watching its body language to avoid an "incident."  It finally had enough of our close company and turned off into the brush and we were able to go on.

At another ride I was trotting along alone on the last loop of a 50 on my extremely spooky gelding.  Suddenly, I saw an armadillo burst out of the grass to my left, and charge straight at us.  I didn't have time to grab mane, and just knew I was going to hit the ground.  The 'dillo hit my gelding's front foot, bounced off, and kept going.  Chivas snorted, did a hop-step, and mercifully kept right on trotting.

Dawn in East Texas