After my first indelible ride at the Blue Hills Riding Stable I had no other opportunities to ride a horse for quite some time. I finished high school and went off to college. And, completely as a bonus, that is where I got my second chance to ride.

In those days the University of Massachusetts was considered an agricultural school. And right there on campus was a barn loaded with horses. I was in luck! Naturally I had to check it out and what I found was a stable full of the most beautiful horses I had ever seen. There was no comparison to the Blue Hills Riding Stable horses. (No offense to hack horses) These were fine animals, pure bred Morgans that were being bred right there on campus. And to top it all off there was a riding club which anyone could join. Which I quickly did. What a gift, second time, heaven sent.

I had experience, right? I had ridden. I was later to find out that I was what one called "unconscious incompetant" on the learning curve. Hey, no matter, I was there, I was being offered the chance to ride and it was FREE! What could be better? I was joining the ranks of the horse world. Life was good. But I was totally clueless and I didn't even know it-- that's the unconscious part. So let me get on with my riding.

First day out was a disaster. I remember the mare that I rode was very shiny and she had recently foaled, so probalby hadn't been ridden in quite some time. No problem for me. I was a rider. And I was young, nothing bothered me. Off we went for a little stroll. We walked a bit and that was pretty boring, so we stepped up the pace into the trot. And I am thinking, this does not feel like the horses at the Blue Hills Riding Stable and the next thing I know, I am on the ground. That is when the girl I was with confirmed her doubts about my experience.

But for me, no problem, I hop back up and we ride off again, with me firmly planted in the saddle this time. We rode around a bit more and I was finally getting used to all the bouncing, which later I learned was called posting. It seemed pretty straight forward, up, down, up, down. (with the emphasis on down)

OK, so I am not the best rider, I still had a good time. In fact, it was such a good time that I suggested we come back in the afternoon for another ride. This time I was determined to stay on and not make a fool of myself, but it was not to be. It seems that the necks of those beautiful animals were extremely slippery. (Maybe it was because they were groomed. perhaps?) And I just did not quite have the knack of it so off I went again.

No problem, I still was not daunted, the ground accepted me very willingly and the horse just stood there as I took my second tumble. Back up again, as I thought to myself, at least I am learning how to mount up from the ground.

So for a little change of scenery we found ourselves on the newly groomed baseball diamond and thought it would be fun to run the bases. Oh, big mistake, because we left telltale tracks that only we could have made. Not good. As a result I was asked to drop out of my new most favorite club and to forget about riding for awhile.