Insanity in the Dark

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My work schedule the past couple of months has been………..
 
 
 
………completely packed

 

 
The Real Job……….takes up all my daylight hours.
 
 
 
 
This means that I ride in the DARK before work
 
 
my horse isn’t even awake
 
and I ride in the DARK after work.
 
 
 
Riding in the dark on young hot Thoroughbreds adds an entire layer of drama & danger.
 
 
 
For those that haven’t done it…… zipping along at 15 or 20mph when you can’t see anything, is rather………
 
dizzying.
 
 
 
Not to mention somewhat …….
 
terrifying.
 
 
 
My riding area is also the pasture that my mares and foals are turned out in.
 
Baby Seabiscuit striking a pose with 2yo Genuinely Amazing
 
 
For rather obvious safety reasons…..
 
 
 
 when I’m riding before sun up I keep them locked up in a different pasture.
 
BUT! When I was leaving the barn this morning IN THE DARK
 
 
 
 on my lovely Baby Seabiscuit

 

 
I didn’t see the shadows of the mares standing around their shelter………..

I thought it was strange, and that there………..

 
Just
 
Might
 
Be
 
Trouble.

 

 
 
I try to get warmed up before the sun rise…… This means I hack about 2 miles around the property

 
 
 
up a big hill, and back to the big arena….. all in the dark. 
 
 
 
 
It’s a mile (really) from the barn to the back of the property.
 
As I was nearing the back field……….
 
I heard it.

 

 
I couldn’t SEE it…… because it was PITCH BLACK.
 
But I heard hoof beats.
 
LOTS of them.
 
 
 
And they weren’t WALKING.
 
 
 
I did what any somewhat experienced horse person would do,
and IMMEDIATELY jumped off.
 

 
Just as my feet were touching earth, the mares & foals galloped passed us in the dark.
 
There was a cloud of dust, thundering hooves, and a bizarre sense of being in a bit of a horror movie as the giant creates moved the earth and air around me.

 

 
My young pony was fantastically brave…….
 
standing his ground and letting them go by for…………..

 

 
about 30 seconds.
 
After they disappeared and the hoof beats got quieter………
 
it was more than he could handle.

 

 
In a flurry of rearing/spinning/craziness………. he left me.
 
There in the dark.
 
 
 
To walk the mile back to the barn on my own………
 
 
 
Dedication or Insanity??
 
Or just……
 
 

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