[RC] I'm excited about my new horse - Barbara McCrary
Although I've had Jess for almost a year, I still think of him as "my new
horse."
On Saturday, Lud, a friend and I went for a ride. We were climbing up
a hill, through the manzanita and knobcone pine when we heard strange
sounds. We stopped to listen and determined that there were some dirt
bikes coming down the same trail we were going up. It is a narrow
single-track trail with brush on either side. Jess and I were in the lead
(where he likes to be) and I just pulled to a stop and waited. For some
reason, I was sure he was going to handle this just fine. I had bought
Jess to replace a very spooky horse that I'd had for over 3 years.
Jess was perfect. He just stood his ground, completely un-flapped,
while we patiently and firmly informed the three young bikers that riding on
horse trails was not good for the trails and if they were to go downhill further
they were going to be on our property and we don't welcome bikes on our
property. They said they were lost....yeah, sure. They said they
would just go on by us and head home...no, they needed to go back the way they
came. They said they were almost out of gas...that was just fine by us,
they could leave their bikes and walk a few miles back to where they came
from. Finally, since we weren't moving and we wouldn't let them by us,
they turned around and left. Two fellows were polite and turned their
bikes by hand, then quietly started them and took off. The third guy,
about 6 feet from me and Jess, deliberately left his bike facing me, jumped
vigorously on the starting lever, then revved the engine loudly, spun a couple
of hookers in front of us and roared back up the hill. He was mad and he
was going to show it.
I'm so proud of Jess! No panic, no fuss.
I have found out, however, that he absolutely hates going through stinging
nettles. I hope he doesn't run into a yellowjacket nest...I'll be in
deep trouble if he does.
