Bud's Ballad: Happy (?) Trails

Later that month Bud and I were invited to join my niece and Pardy on their yearly outing with 26 other horses - do I know how to have fun or what??? By this time, Bud was an expert at loading, traveling, and unloading and was happily munching away at his hay when word came that it was time to mount up. I had lounged him before hand and he seemed mellow. Once in the saddle, we let other horses go by first and slowly followed behind them. Other riders came up behind us and greeted us and moved on. This is when Bud decided if they can pass him HE can pass them. Before I knew it we had arrived at almost the front of the pack. Some riders were not happy with Bud's arrival and told us to "stay back - my horse is green and isn't fond of horses following that close" - like this was MY idea?? When I tried to slow Bud down and take him to the side and do circles, he decided to imitate Trigger and was rearing up and bucking. At that moment......I felt like .....give it your best shot cause I'm staying on!! He performed for a few minutes (altho it felt like hours) and settled into a nice slow gait. I turned around to locate my niece and she was right where we had left her... at the end of the pack with Pardy plodding along enjoying the view of other horses' rear ends. One of the riders asked who the lady as that was having SO much trouble with her horse........my niece replied " I don't know - never saw her before!" So much for family ties.........

Needless to say, we were the talk of the BBQ that followed and one lady stopped by our table and stated, "Wow, that horse looked so docile tied next to the trailer earlier - I wonder what happened?" Another said, " If that had been me - I'd had been off and walking". I just smiled and looked over at Bud and Pardy as they seemed content to bask in the sun and enjoy their surroundings. I'm sure Bud had thoughts of winning our little battle of wills - as I did. Truth is I loved every moment of playing Roy Rogers on her trusty steed...........