....

we had managed to bullshit the lady at the horse farm into letting us do a trail ride without any supervision. i had enough lingo down to compensate for being a mediocre at best rider. what i lack in experience i make up in blunt optimism that nothing bad'll happen. i almost forgot to secure my saddle before trying to haul myself up. that would have been awkward.
my initial nerves about riding a horse flap away the minute my hand wraps around the horn and i toss my hefty ass up and onto the saddle. it was my guilty pleasure when riding to shimmy into the curve of the saddle for the first time. that purr-inspiring minute where you stretch out your legs and loll back and fourth to feel settled.
the trail horses could have done the trip on auto pilot but i still held the reins like i was a needed part of the process. nope, just a parasite sitting up and smiling at the open space and knowing that we had 60 minutes before even needing to turn the horses around. i'm going to be so bowlegged i won't be able to bend over to pick up a nickle after this...
i tried to enjoy myself and not fixate on the thought of looking like an ass in front of Magda who was pushing a head without a thought of what i was up for. my pride squeezed boots into flank and we took off to catch up. probably didn't breathe in once until we caught up. what a charlatan country boy. while i spoke in rich pastoral myths when thinking about where i grew up, i was still shakey to the core over some things.