Hey guys!
Most of you have probably guessed from my recent posts that I’m back from my adventures galavanting around Africa and Thailand.
My holiday was FANTASTIC. Y’all have to try and go to Africa at least once in your lives! Game viewing was the highlight for me… There is nothing quite like seeing a lion pride devouring a wilderbeast or buffalo at sunrise. Spectacular.
One story I have that y’all will find funny is regarding me and horse riding in the Drakensburg Mountains, South Africa (where all the mountain scenes in Blood Diamond were filmed) which family friends dragged me to for a week (a rather long week, but that’s another story to be told another time). So anyway, I’d been horse riding all week with this big horse named Rusty. I’m no expert on breeds, but apparently this gelding had some thoroughbred in him which was very cool with me. Anyways… At the beginning of the week I was totally incompetent on this beast. But slowly as I rode more I got back in the groove of riding (it had been about six or seven years since I’d been on a horse). On the last day I was in the mountains I decided to have one last ride with Rusty. Let’s just say I was wearing totally the wrong clothes and shoes this particular day. So, me being my cocky self, decided to race with our family friend. So Stacey and I get our horses to gallop along this kind of beaten path the farm owners call the ‘race track’. Now I was going rather fast apparently for a ‘beginner’. All of a sudden we went up and down this little rise on the track. One of the stirrups didn’t have a grippy thingo on it. I was wearing casual sports shoes (stupid, I know). So, my foot starts to slip quickly out of the stirrup and I have no control over the horse because I’m in a slight panic. All I was thinking was ,“You cannot get caught in the other stirrup. You must throw yourself off this stupid red horse.” So I litterally hauled myself into the air with all my strength, crashed and tumbled on the muddy ground and watched as my horse bolted off. Next thing I hear is Stacey screaming for her horse to stop. Now I’m lying on the ground and I look the other way and all I can see is this huge as grey mare trying desperately to stop… She stopped no more than about a foot away from my body (upper torso to be precise). All this happened really, really fast. You have no idea how freaked out I was! But the adrenaline was pumping big time! Trying to remain cool and calm, I jumped up (sore hip, knee, shoulder, elbow, wrists, ankle, etc., etc…) and just laughed and laughed while everyone jumped off their horses in a panic. Rusty had been nice enough not to gallop too far away and came back to me when I called him. Knowing that I’d never ride again if I didn’t jump straight back on and make the big stupid hulk of a chestnut gallop, I did just that. So now we’re heading back to the barn and the stupid horse get’s freaked (we wen’t galloping anymore, just going slow). The stupid red beast bolted for no apparent reason and I promtly fell straight off because the reins slipped clear out of my hands (I was trying to take a picture of the mountains at the same time). Result? One broken camera and me walking Rusty back to the barn.
Fun story hey? There was almost no Jason! How sad would that be? Yikes… Rusty had been good to me all week… Stupid horse. It was no way my fault (of course!). Well it was. Moral of the story? Ride small and lazy horses as opposed to the big, mean horses. Also wear better shoes and make sure the stirrups have grippy thingos.
So yeah… The holiday was great and I thought I’d just share my little horse tale with y’all seeing as half of you guys are horse freaks. Hehe…
Most school-type horses I know would have whinnied in laughter as they trotted back to the barn and left your sorry butt to cart your own way home. 
) I had to lead Rosie around all of the obstacles, all the while keeping her at a trot, then a canter, and etc. Ugh. We didn’t even get past trot before she started bucking like a bronco in a rodeo, and then lunged at a fence. I managed to stop her JUST BEFORE the fence, but I FELL OFF and scraped my entire side against the fence. I bled a lot, but there wasn’t much there but a few small scrapes (which was kind of funny at the time). It hurt like the dickens though. 
Then, the trainer told me to get back on, and I did… I think Rosie felt guilty because she was good to me the whole rest of the ride. But ow… Trotting hurt really bad because of all the jolty bounciness… lol I can still remember it 