Day Forty – Embellished Sandals and a Horse named Shadow

Confession: I bought another pair of shoes. But, they were on sale for $4.98 at Target and they went perfectly with my outfit and they are sooo in style right now. Yes, I realize this is an addiction and I probably need an intervention.  But, I don’t suggest you be the one to try it. You’ll just get hurt.

I thought I was just going to be wearing these shoes to a backyard BBQ last night. If I had known what my night would hold, I would have worn boots.  We went to a BBQ at my friend, Jodie’s, who is also the aunt of our honorary son, Jason. Jason was home on leave from the Marines and had to go back today, so we were having a farewell party for him.  Jodie’s backyard is not just a normal backyard, she also has a barn. And horses. And a lot of land.

I love horses. I’ve never grown out of my horsey stage.

So, I asked Jodie if I could go look at her horses. Of course that was ok. Shadow, the big, black gelding just happened to be all saddled up from giving the little kids rides earlier.

“Do you want to ride?” she asked me.

Well duh. Then I looked at my feet, and my capri pants. Boy, was I glad I decided against that skirt!

“Oh, who cares what you’re wearing,” Jodie said. Jodie is obviously pretty laid back about her horses, and safety.

So, she told me where her property ended and pointed me in the direction of some trails and a big meadow and told me to have fun. Shadow, the dogs and I set off.  Wow, to me, a horse-lover, this was the perfect summer evening.  We cantered up a hill and ended up in this vast meadow.  The sun was starting to set, the breeze was just barely blowing and it was about 75 degrees. I was a girl all alone on a big, strong horse. I couldn’t ask for anything better. I clucked to Shadow, he took off and we galloped at full speed across the meadow. There’s no bigger high to me. It was awesome. As we turned back around at the end of the meadow, I discovered Shadow had even more speed. He knew his head was turned back toward the barn, and it took every ounce of strength I had just to get him slowed down to a trot! I also discovered why boots are important.  My shins rubbed against the stirrups when we galloped. This morning I have bruises on my shins.

But it was worth it. The ride. And the shoes.