On Horseback

Today I rode my pony Buttons for nearly 3 hours in a part of Bedford known as Piney Woods. I was in the company of my two favorite riding partners, the beautiful and strong H., and J. who is petite and elegant. J's  long red hair is the identical shade of the mane of her horse, Dakota. H. was astride Commanche. We own our horses and we love riding together on the dirt roads and in the woods. Several times a week we conspire to leave our work by 1 o'clock to meet at the barn to go riding. 

Around 1:30 we were trotting up Succabone Road. The sun was shining. Two dogs, a lab and a spaniel, barked at us as we went past their house. At Bedford Center Road we made a left turn on to a short piece of trail in the woods that runs parallel to the pavement. Outside some iron gates protecting the entrance to an estate, at a decent break in traffic at a particularly hideous to cross spot, we trotted single file across the road to re-enter the trail and make a mad dash up a steep hill that then twists and winds sideways down into a ravine before becoming a long straight flat stretch surrounded on both sides by trees, ideal for a canter. Next we loped across a long expanse of green lawn set beside a swimming pool and a fenced in property where a barking golden retriever stood guard, hair up, tail straight as a flag, unfriendly.

We laughed at the dog (what is a dog to a horse who can kick a dog into silence?) and proceeded at a walk down a steep gully, me saying, "easy, easy," to Buttons who forged straight ahead. I love my little pony. He is nimble and brave. Unfazed by cars, trucks, heavy earth moving equipment, balloons or grates in the pavement, he moves along, his little gray and white and black ears pricked forward. Very curious about everything Buttons is. He listens to birds calling to each other in the woods. He looks at the deer. On a ride we took alone last autumn in Buxton Gorge, we came upon a buck and a doe the buck was most interested in. Buttons and I stood stock still for a minute, as did the deer.  We took each other's measure. Aware that bucks in rut are prone to highly assertive and aggressive behavior, I encouraged Buttons to move along, which we did, quietly. 

J. and H. and I circumvented the jumping bowl to take a side trail over to the area adjacent to Shannon Farm, a genteel old equestrian facility directly behind Bedford Village. The views are amazing. We trotted along Clinton Road and turned into the preserve and navigated the woods and trails until we got to Shannon. On the trail just outside Shannon, we encountered two rather heavyset women riding horses. One of the horses was rearing. In addition to her utterly correct English riding gear, its rider had attached a large, supplemental sun brim  to her riding helmet which J. remarked made the woman look a bit like a bee keeper. We wondered was it the hat scaring the horse.

On the way home, we galloped through the jumping bowl and J. and I dared to take some jumps. Buttons was ecstatic. At the barn I hand fed him carrots and half an apple saved over from my lunch. It feels very spoiled and nearly wicked to sneak off this way on a Wed afternoon.