Have you ever seen the movie ‘The Bucket List’? Well, my sister and I saw it and decided to write our own bucket lists, basically a list of things we want to do in our life. Yesterday, I did something on my list and it felt great! I had wanted to go horseback riding at the ocean for a long time and yesterday my dream came true!
My friends, Neila and Lauren, and I headed out in the morning. On the drive there, Neila gave me some tips because I hadn’t been on a horse in a long time. She grew up riding horses and has horses on her farm down the road from us, so she gave me a good refresher. We’d been passing C & M Stables at the coast every time we went to the beach and always dreamed of going. We were excited to finally be doing it!!
When we got to the stables, we signed up for the beach trail. They had people from our group come in one at a time and chose a horse for us. I hoped for a gentle horse and I lucked out with Woody. He was a very good fit for me. Lauren got a horse named Buddy and Neila got a horse named Kimosabi.
At first I felt nervous, I hadn’t been on a horse in a really long time. I knew it was a good lesson in confidence and it certainly was. We headed out on the trail and pretty soon I was getting the hang of it again and having a lot of fun. We took a trail through lush forests, up the sandy dunes and finally down to the beautiful blue ocean. I leaned forward when Woody was going up and leaned back when he was going down, getting in tune with all of his movements. Soon we reached the water. Woody didn’t like to get wet, but he loved to walk right along the edge and then gently move away when the water flowed in. He just went with the tide. I loved the ocean air, the sun shining on the water, and the new perspective from higher up.
I was soaking it all in when I heard some noise behind me and suddenly a horse was racing past us with no rider….. all of the horses had a rider when we left….
Later I found out the story. One of the horses got spooked when a wave came up and reared up on their hind legs and the lady fell off. Luckily, we were at the beach, so she landed in the sand and wasn’t hurt. She was brave and got back up on the horse after one of the guides brought it back. I was glad I had a helmet on.
I could have hung out with Woody on the beach forever, but we finally rode together back through the woods. It was the perfect beach day and I was so grateful for the incredible weather.
When we got back to the stables, and I got down, my legs weren’t used to walking. I’d been riding for over two hours and boy, was I sore! I still have to sit down tenderly the next day! 🙂

I felt rejuvented and happy to have yet another adventure! And I look forward to many, many more!

What’s on your list?
……………………………

Neila, Lauren and I with big smiles