Finally...an update...the 2nd half of "Ginger" day

So...finally, an update...well, continuation really

The second half of "Ginger" day was just as exciting as the first.
We had our first field trip for Animal Science class. Horses, was the topic.
Went to Keezlenutten Farm about 10 minutes from campus. Nice place..we got a tour of the facilities and learned about the different kinds of horses, anatomy, types of shoes, types of gait, feed types (they actually smell rather appetizing!), vaccinations...etc.
it always makes things more clear when you've got a living specimen to look at.
We're required to have coveralls & rubber boots to wear on field trips. It was a beautiful day, really warm for October..and it being our first field trip everyone was busting out the crunchy new overalls & Dickies coveralls...nice, because we all look equally dorky...
The highlight of the day, though, was the trail ride. $15 for a 45 min. ride! (we got a nice discount) I got to ride Butch. An enormous Quarterhorse...i was really hoping that I got to ride him..the bigger, the better I always say :)
So, we were all assigned a horse and mounted...talk about a rather amusing scene.
I could get my big butt about halfway up but couldn't quite get my leg over his back.
So, the trail guide had to give my leg some help...oh, yes...
So, i'm finally up there..pretty compfy! We get on our way..i'm near the front, 3 horses back from the guide. Butch was great, a little preoccupied with trying to eat bushes on the way down the trail, but I handled him okay...kept him on track.
Things were going great...had to stop a few times for horsey potty stops. (the guide told us in the beginning, if the horse starts to go potty, stop!) I must say, my horse and the one behind me stopped at the same time and it sounded like a freakin' garden hose was running.
Anyhow, we come to a particulary muddy part of the trail and the first couple of horses get through fine. Then, the horse in front of me stopped and kind of threw his head around..the girl riding him edged him forward and he seemed fine, then...my horse stopped and started to throw his head and tried to back up...then, I saw the problem. Yellowjackets. Suddenly, they were all over the place. Not a swarm, but enough to start spooking the horses. The girl ahead of me was far enough forward to avoid them, but Butch started to swing his head and try to back up..but wouldn't go forward to get away from the bees...he started turning in circles and reeling up on his hind legs (not really really high...but the girl a couple of horses in front of me is really experienced with horses and said it looked like he was trying to buck me off and that she was impressed i did so well and didn't fall off) while all this was going on for me, the horse behind me was kind of frozen, then suddenly bolted into the woods to the left of the trail. The woman riding had never ridden before, lost her hold and fell off the horse among the trees. ouch. She ended up with some bruising and a sore upper back..but is otherwise ok. After her horse bolted, the rest of the group behind us had to back up and find another section of trail to cut through and meet up with us. The rest of the ride was uneventful in comparison...it was great fun, though.

What a Day!

(pictures to come...a couple of girls had their cameras)