Kurt and I were leaving the trail one morning, crossing around the big tree at the bottom of the hill that is the last stop before reality, before the street and cars and life moving at a hectic pace. The tree is still peaceful, because you know you have a whole big hill to get your balls up for riding the civilization part that's coming up, you still have those fragments of quiet minutes so it's like a calm breath.
We had the dogs with us, and only our two horses and I could see around the bend behind the tree that there were two riders coming. So trail etiquette is you gather your dogs back in case their horses are afraid of dogs, and you make sure the other riders are safe. So I'm calling the dogs and I see the first rider round the bend of the fat tree and it's a dude, a rather jolly bearded older dude that's probably my age, and someone behind him on a horse so I say, friendly heyyy you want me to get the dogs?
He answered cheerfully, no that's okay! I think they're fine.
Around the corner behind him comes what looks like his thousand year old grandmother on a tall, shiny chestnut thoroughbred. Both Kurt's and my eyes pop out of our heads, alarmed. That's like seeing a blind man about to merge onto the 405 driving a Maserati.
Uhhh I say Are you sure...?
The dogs are always a wild card, you can never be sure how new horses will react. My dogs are tongue slobbery trail wet, poking all around, the younger dog is going happily RIGHT UP to the fiery chestnut carrying the strong but bent over from the weight of time gramma.
The gramma was calm and unflustered, I don't know if he's ever seen dogs before, he's just off the track
Kurt's and my eyes pop even bigger
The bearded guy is chuckling like he's sitting around a campfire not hosting his gramma's death here, his hands on very loose reins saying yeah this is his first time out!
I need to freeze frame for a second. There are four horses, two going one way into the wilderness, two going home, passing close enough to touch boots with each other, there are three dogs bounding around obliviously, and in the middle of this is an ancient human who looks like King Tut's grandmother with the back shape of a backpack, but whose arms and legs seem to be working correctly, on top of a huge young horse who has never been outside of a stall except to run full speed around a racetrack. Until today. Right this second.
Kurt and I would have been yelling OKAY OKAY OKAY I THINK IT'LL BE OKAY NO PROBLEM JUST LET US GET AROUND THIS CORNER HOLD YOUR DOGS!! HOLD THE DOGS!! I DON'T WANNA DIE JUST FOR A LITTLE FUN!!
I sat on my horse heading past them, Kurt behind me with his eyes as wide as hubcaps but acting cool, admiring the lady who was obviously a lifetime rider just stuck in an old body, with the balls of King Kong but the craziest part was they had the spirit of two people on a Sunday drive. Nothing but a meandering stream and their toes in the water, in their minds, they were laughing and just riding by all casual.
The bearded guy was well past us now and Kurt was just passing the old lady and her hot wired steed and the bearded guy said it's a perfect day to be out and the old lady said glorious
and Kurt looked at her bent over body as he passed and said nice knowin ya
And then we were on the hill and they were gone
I was laughing so hard at what he said, we just kept staring at each other and laughing and shouting whatthefuckwasthat??! and the whole ride home felt hilarious but in the end it was so inspiring, really because goddammit, that lady was a GODDESS, relaxed, happy and old! Years of confidence, curled majestically in an orthopedic ball on the back of some horribly inappropriate horse, with complete happiness and faith, with the bearded friend who was not even worried, he was just along for the ride because you know what it was a beautiful day
How was that young horse was just OKAY?! He was so calm. I kept thinking all day, and later at night. Because even though she was the crypt keeper, she balanced herself up there, with knowledge and years of skill. Maybe at some point as a rider you eventually sputter out of the crippling anxiety, and the world just gets funny, and then even though your body is completing the circle of life, the horses are still opening up the whole world of rides in empty wilderness. What a lucky life, I decided, that new horse landed in, in the hands of that talented gnome. Peaceful walks, and dogs and first times are no big deal maybe
It is nice knowin ya
