Night Rider

The Caped Crusader. The cooler was more for me than him-- it was COLD tonight and I wrapped myself up in it while riding. The glowing orb above his neck is just a spot on the lens.

I've decided Mother Nature does not own horses. If she did, there's no way she'd bless us with a rainy winter that would scare even Noah off. Nor would she allow it to get dark at such an ungodly early hour for several months out of the year.

Between the muck and the dark, riding the green-bean filly P has been all but impossible the past month. We don't have a true ring, let alone lights. And there's standing water EVERYWHERE. My horses aren't sure if they're living in a pasture or a rice paddy.

But B... well, you don't own 22 year olds for nothing! Off we went this evening for a sloshy, chilly, bareback hack in the dark.

Since it was too wet to actually DO much of anything but walk, I had the brilliant idea to take some pictures of the cars whizzing by our riding ring. ("Ring" meaning the flat area at the far end of the pasture where we put our jumps. It's the only level area on the farm.) I thought the car headlights would yield some impressive shots in the dark.

For future reference, flashbulbs from horseback are not the wisest combination ever. Anyone with two brain cells could probably figure that one out. But you know, I wasn't worried about that on my trusty, rusty old pony...


That was my one, lousy attempt at a headlights picture. It is a REALLY good picture of my piss-poor grooming job. The car would be the two, minuscule dots between his ears. And what the picture fails to show is the aftermath-- my horse leaping straight up in the air and wheeling around to hightail it home, with me, bareback, hanging on to reins, camera, and cooler, thinking, "Wow, that was a stupid idea." LOL. That picture would have been priceless!

The camera went back in my pocket for the remainder of the ride. Live and learn, eh? Although $10 says I'll innocently try it again in the not-so-distant future...