The Other Hard Way

That last post was meant to have two stories but I lost the drive late in the game and quit. Now I think I'm ready. I've told some of you about my latest flash of inspiration: horsie. It is harder for me to make an impact in my town than could be made in the many villages in my commune. My idea is to get a horse and start riding to villages and getting to know their needs and how I can help and what village(s) might need a volunteer of their own (since I'm the last volunteer in Sofara). So I bought a saddle and found a guy with horses and he was happy to have me start riding his to get the basics. Oh, did I mention I don't really have any experience with horses? I'd say I've ridden a horse maybe 5 or 6 times before this.

Anyway!

I started riding his horse but just to start he left the rope tied from his right, front leg to the right, back leg so he could only walk (not run). I was lead along by the horse boy... actually that sounds like a freak mutant... he was a stable boy... there you go. OK so I got the hang of it. Early one morning I told him I was ready to ride the horse sans restraints but with a saddle (oh man bareback hurts, heylot).

Now there are two things I had to learn the hard way, I'll let you guess what they are, then I'll tell you at the end.

I get on this horse who, honestly, is taller than I am and huge and powerful to boot. The horse owner (and guy I study the Koran with) was nervous and baulked saying, "no, let's get the rope." I said NO, I could do it and jumped on the horse. So, I give him a little nudge and we start walking. Slowly, the horse realizes it's not tied up and goes a little faster and a little faster. I was fine with the trot. Kr-plunk, kr-plunk, kr-plunk. Then: kr-plunkity-dunk, kr-plunkity-dunk, kr-plunkity-dunk. And finally: Kerdledunkkerdledunkkerdledunk!! As we go from trot to faster I pull back on the reigns but he only goes a little faster. Then I pull back harder, FASTER. OK, don't panic, we don't want to flip this thing.

Now a bigger problem, I'm going way faster than I'm comfortable going and frankly, this saddle is not holding in place too well (duh, maybe that has something to do with the fact that it's basically tied on with one leather shoe lace). But now, the horse wants to leave the wide road and go down a little path it's used to taking to go graze. This is in an alley between mud houses and we're sure to destroy some poor little child in the process. So I start cranking on the reigns to go right and he desperately wants to go left. So instead of going on either path, we start going right in between them on a non-path heading for a shelter of wooden staves with millet stocks on them. These staves are just my height. You know, the height to stab me. Still, I knew the horse wasn't going to run into this wall and would stop short. What I was also aware of is how quickly horses can stop and I was NOT going to be catapulted at them.

So we are galloping full speed at this shelter (inhabited by kids selling peanuts) and I'm getting ready for the abrupt stop by holding on to the saddle with all my strength. Kerdledunkkerdledunkkerdledunk!! BAM!!! The horses feet kick the metal peanut tray with a bang and they go flying. I young boy runs from the shelter with an infant in tow (by the arm). The horse stops on a dime and the saddle flies forward and then to then back and off to the side where I land on my feet. I grab the horse by the bit and lead him, defeated, back to the house only a few blocks away. Malians fill the streets and laugh once the ordeal is over.

Now for the info that would have been nice knowing before my near death. A) That horse has been tied up for who knows how long. Days? weeks? It is a powerful horse with a lot of energy and it WANTED to go, to let off steam as it was sick of being held back. B) A horse can bite on the bit so it doesn't pinch and the horse doesn't have to stop. When this happens, one is meant to give the horse some slack till it relaxes it's jaw then pull back quickly, forcing the horse to slow or stop. Info I could have used like 5 minutes earlier.

When I got back I started yelling at the horse owner, "You don't tie up a horse for weeks so he has all this pent up energy!, then place a Toubab on top of him!, untie the horse and let it go free!! You need to run your horse every once in a while! Jeeze!" It was a playful scolding and we were both sort of laughing. He told me after that he was so scared when we took off. "My heart was going b-dta, B-Dta, B-DTA!" He was afraid he had killed a toubab, which couldn't have been good for him. Honestly, I wasn't scared causes I knew it would be OK but I did learn a couple things.

I always understood the saying "If you fall off a horse..." But somehow it has come to life even more vividly. I'll let you know how my next ride goes.