Horseflesh...

   I've never been much of a horse fan, they're a little too spooky for me--it seems that way for a lot of people, they either love them or hate them. Maybe my fear started when my Grandma's neighbour's horse kicked my Dad in the knee one day when we were feeding it and smashed his kneecap (I was three or four--the same people had a monkey that bit me when I ran out of the orange I was feeding it... good times).

    Back in the olden days in North Burnaby, there was this place that gave pony rides close to where we lived. Dad took me one Saturday morning when I was four or five--I found it boring being led down these paths by a teenager, pony and I in tow. I hated clowns and the circus too but I did enjoy the girls on the flying trapeze...but I digress...

     When I was living in Penticton in the late seventies, there was this ranch that offered horse rides. You could take the horses on your own (no guide) on these scenic country roads in the hills, so some friends and I decided to give it a try. They didn't give us any lessons, basically pick a sway-backed nag and go. The only things I really remember about the two times we went were; 1- How much my balls hurt when the horse started galloping (always stand up in the stirrups), 2- My friend Doug punching his horse because it wouldn't settle down, 3- My horse leaving the main trail to saunter under low hanging branches and walk along these narrow hillside paths to try to get me off it's back, and 4- Me thinking, "This isn't like a car, these things have brains... just take me back home, I don't want to play anymore." 

    Anyway, my sister Wendy and her family (husband Darren and daughters Kaitlin, Karen and Barky the border collie) live on a seven acre hobby farm in Aldergrove. They've had chickens and currently own about twenty head of cattle...

    Recently my fifteen year old niece Karen bought her own horse named Blaze... 

       (pics courtesy of my sisters facebook)





     I've been invited out for a ride, maybe it's time to give it one more try... Blaze actually looks pretty friendly...