Thursday, December 1, 2011

Hunting Horses

There is this Irish man that lives on the north shore who everyone calls Cowboy. He has several horses and you often see him taking tourists out for a ride on the beach. Two of the girls I work with, Jill and Stephanie work for him and ride often. They both worked on a ranch in Colorado before their move to St Croix and have a lot of horse experience. I asked if I could come along sometime and was thrilled when they all invited me this passed Tuesday. Cowboy said I could ride for free as long as I tell my customers about him.

I arrived at 8am as told and was met by Stephanie, Cowboy, and Laura, another local rider. Much to my surprise, Cowboys horse were right beyond the road and were tied to the trees with a simple rope. Think a noose around a horses neck. It didn't seem all that secure to me. As I'm thinking this, Cowboy says, "we're missing a pirate!" Turns out Pirate is Cowboys favorite horse who sometimes escapes. (Not that difficult considering the ropes that secure them.) Cowboy jumps in his truck and asks us to come help find Pirate. Stephanie jumps in the back and I follow suite and join her. Now let me paint a picture of this truck bed. It is full of horse saddles, pads, bridles, and feed. There was not much room for me, let alone me and Steph. We start down the road and as we hit the first bump, I think, "What am I doing? This is so dangerous, I'm going to fall out before I even get on a horse!" I scoot down as far as I can and HOLD ON!!!

We drive through the hilly roads for about 15 minutes before we spot Pirate. He is with 2 female horses and a local guy who owns the two mares. Cowboy says, "Look at that mare shaking her ass. Shes in heat!!" Looks like Pirate was out looking for love overnight!!!! His red rocket was showing and he did not want to come home! Cowboy finally lured him away from the ladies and Steph jumped on bareback.

As I walked back with Steph and Pirate she began telling me about the horses on the island. She says that there used to be a guy close by that wound capture Pirate when he ran away and would blackmail Cowboy for money in exchange for the horse. Otherwise, he threatened to kill Pirate with a machete. (Only in St Croix!!) She says Cowboy was forced to pay him $100 on several occasions. He is since gone and that is no longer an issue. I asked her about the not so secure ropes and if Cowboys horses were marked. They aren't. Horse theft happens sometimes she says, but a threat to call the police or Dept of Ag usually ends that. Unless you are the machete wielding blackmailer! Steph says that Cowboy usually buys his horses from the locals. If he sees someone riding a horse he likes, he'll stop then and ask to buy it.

We finally get back to the other horses. We feed them all, saddle up the ones coming on the ride and are ready to go. I rode Blarney, an albino horse. I have not saddled a horse or been on one in years so it was quite the re-learning experiences. I was a little nervous in the beginning but by the end, it was awesome. We rode on the beach, in the water, through the rainforest and all around the north shore.

It was a really great morning and Cowboy says I can come ride anytime I want. I wonder if I'll ever get Drew on a horse?

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