Dusty's Dilemma (True Camp Story)
Posted on July 27, 2010 with 0 comments
This is a true story about a dilemma that I and a horse named Dusty ran into. About 15 years ago, in the month of May, not long after I had moved to New Life Bible Camp, I was helping the camp director and his nephew with leading horse rides for a group of young children. There were about 60 youths in the group and we had just finished the last ride when the camp director, asked if any of the adults would enjoy a ride before the horses were returned to the stable. Three rather large ladies emerged from the crowd of children. They were the cooks for this retreat group, and we quickly regretted offering them an invitation for a ride. Our major concern was how to get these ladies on and off the horses without killing them, the horse, and/or us.
The largest of the three rather large ladies walked toward me and my horse, a beautiful white horse we called Dusty. Dusty looked up and saw who was coming to ride him. It was the only time in my life that I actually saw a horse start to tremble. Dusty looked over at me with a look on his face that seemed to say, “Oh come on, you have got to be kidding me.”
It took team work, and a good bit of effort, but we some how got the ladies in the saddles safely. We struggled getting my rider mounted. She did not seem comfortable in the saddle at all.
We finally got the ride under way, but around the half way point, my rider got terrified and wanted down. Now I do understand the laws of gravity. There was no way I could get her down by myself and the other guys could not help because they had their own horse and rider to be concerned with. Turns out that my rider had fallen off a horse when she was young, and the reason she wanted to try to ride was to conquer that old fear. But now she was having second thoughts. She was close to going into a panic. I was not sure what to do, but I talked her into sticking it out. I told her the ride was half over, and if she could hang on for just a few minutes, she could go home and brag about facing her fears. Certain tragedy averted, at least temporarily.
We did make it back to the corral without any more anxious moments. Now it was time for getting these ladies off their horses safely. We tied up the horses and were able to get the first two ladies down without much of a problem. When we tried to get my rider down, we ran into a snag, literally. The lady was very scared about dismounting because I think she also understood the laws of gravity like I did. I could tell she was getting close to the panic mode again. I spoke calmly to the lady and said, “Ma’am, all you have to do is to lean forward and swing your right leg over the saddle. We will catch you as you come off the horse.” Great plan, huh? The lady took me at my word and proceeded to do exactly what I had suggested. She leaned forward, threw her right leg over the saddle and began to come off the horse. We braced ourselves to catch her, but to our amazement, something seemed to pull her back into the saddle. Every time she tried to come off the horse, something seemed to pull her back on. We could not figure out what the problem was. Then the lady went into a full panic. She began screaming and hollering and trying desperately to jump off of the saddle, but something kept holding her fast. Meanwhile, Dusty was getting ready to go bronco on us. We were able to gain control of the horse, but the lady was really terrified. I got her calmed down enough so that I could investigate the situation. I asked the lady to sit up in the saddle, but she could not bend back into an upright position. Something was holding her fast to the saddle horn. That’s when it all made sense, and I realized what had happened. When the lady first leaned forward to get off the horse, somehow how her bra got tangled up with the saddle horn. It wasn’t just hooked on the saddle horn, but it was completely wrapped around it. There was only one way to fix this dilemma. Since she was my rider and Dusty was my horse, it was up to me to get this lady disconnected.
I was able to get her untangled (the camp director was whispering in my ear the whole time, “Don’t you dare laugh). Once the bra was unhooked from the saddle horn, we were able to get the lady down without any further embarrassment. The lady handled it better than I thought she would. She laugh it off and headed back to the Lodge to cook supper for the teens. Dusty was glad to get into the stable for a good feed and a well deserved rest. From that point on, we are a little more careful about who we allowed to ride our horses.
-The End-
The largest of the three rather large ladies walked toward me and my horse, a beautiful white horse we called Dusty. Dusty looked up and saw who was coming to ride him. It was the only time in my life that I actually saw a horse start to tremble. Dusty looked over at me with a look on his face that seemed to say, “Oh come on, you have got to be kidding me.”
It took team work, and a good bit of effort, but we some how got the ladies in the saddles safely. We struggled getting my rider mounted. She did not seem comfortable in the saddle at all.
We finally got the ride under way, but around the half way point, my rider got terrified and wanted down. Now I do understand the laws of gravity. There was no way I could get her down by myself and the other guys could not help because they had their own horse and rider to be concerned with. Turns out that my rider had fallen off a horse when she was young, and the reason she wanted to try to ride was to conquer that old fear. But now she was having second thoughts. She was close to going into a panic. I was not sure what to do, but I talked her into sticking it out. I told her the ride was half over, and if she could hang on for just a few minutes, she could go home and brag about facing her fears. Certain tragedy averted, at least temporarily.
We did make it back to the corral without any more anxious moments. Now it was time for getting these ladies off their horses safely. We tied up the horses and were able to get the first two ladies down without much of a problem. When we tried to get my rider down, we ran into a snag, literally. The lady was very scared about dismounting because I think she also understood the laws of gravity like I did. I could tell she was getting close to the panic mode again. I spoke calmly to the lady and said, “Ma’am, all you have to do is to lean forward and swing your right leg over the saddle. We will catch you as you come off the horse.” Great plan, huh? The lady took me at my word and proceeded to do exactly what I had suggested. She leaned forward, threw her right leg over the saddle and began to come off the horse. We braced ourselves to catch her, but to our amazement, something seemed to pull her back into the saddle. Every time she tried to come off the horse, something seemed to pull her back on. We could not figure out what the problem was. Then the lady went into a full panic. She began screaming and hollering and trying desperately to jump off of the saddle, but something kept holding her fast. Meanwhile, Dusty was getting ready to go bronco on us. We were able to gain control of the horse, but the lady was really terrified. I got her calmed down enough so that I could investigate the situation. I asked the lady to sit up in the saddle, but she could not bend back into an upright position. Something was holding her fast to the saddle horn. That’s when it all made sense, and I realized what had happened. When the lady first leaned forward to get off the horse, somehow how her bra got tangled up with the saddle horn. It wasn’t just hooked on the saddle horn, but it was completely wrapped around it. There was only one way to fix this dilemma. Since she was my rider and Dusty was my horse, it was up to me to get this lady disconnected.
I was able to get her untangled (the camp director was whispering in my ear the whole time, “Don’t you dare laugh). Once the bra was unhooked from the saddle horn, we were able to get the lady down without any further embarrassment. The lady handled it better than I thought she would. She laugh it off and headed back to the Lodge to cook supper for the teens. Dusty was glad to get into the stable for a good feed and a well deserved rest. From that point on, we are a little more careful about who we allowed to ride our horses.
-The End-