I swear i will never lie again!!! but man was that a thrilling lesson!!!

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Ok so i decided to go on a 2 day horse tour in beautiful canyon country. Well you know how they always give you a donkey (a crap slow horse)... so i asked for a very fast horse, but one that listens... they asked me do you have a lot of experience, and i figured since i´ve been on a horse twice and learned to gallop by accindent, yes why not.....

holy crappers!!! they gave me Rosita, and i should have figured something was up when the owner asked me three times, so you have a lot of experience? a lot, a lot??? ya ya sure.....

i didn´t know a horse could run that fast, sure maybe on the track but in the bush??? we left the stable and calmly walked for half an hour until we turned into the ravine.... rosita started to trot for like 0.5 sec and the next step was not a gallop but what i believe they call a run, when a horse moves so fast it feels like a train, not even a bump!!! but rosita LOVES to run, she doesn´t care about trees, rocks, bushes, or rivers. within 4 seconds we were doing 60 k in a narrow dry river bed surrounded by thorn bushes (and when i say thorn bushes.... well i´ve never seen or felt sharper, larger thorns...) Ok, so we broke out into a run, within 10 seconds i had lost my hat and my feet were no longer in the holds (not sure what they´re called). I pulled her to stop, and pulled and yanked, shushed, and screamed. The thought of just giving up and letting go occured to me as an easier way out when she started to go sideways at top speed fighting my every move to stop her. but thank the lord i´m stonger than ever and i yanked and yanked and yanked, and ever muscle within my core held her body as she protested the deceleration, into a violent trot.

that was our first gallop.... the fear i experienced made me consider heading back to the stables. what the hell was i thinking?? this lightning rod will kill me!!! i don´t even know how to ride a horse!!! but then i thought, no - maybe next gallop will be better. don´t get me wrong when she runs its like nothing i´ve felt. i feel like i could run with her for hours... we could hit china! but i don´t know how to jump'when she hits rocks, and i don´t know the terrain, or how to stop her, her in particular.

so after a bit of walking we broke into our second gallop, or rather run, and boy did she run!! on a dirt road we approached the next group (i passed every group by the way, and mine... well... they eventually caught up, eventually). the fear grew within in me. what will she do at such speeds, there was no room on the road. the darling began to slow to go around, overtake and fly!! but i used the opportunity to sush and pull the reigns, this time violently. and i pulled to the side, to which she responded with a sideways jump, very dangerous!! but she slowed and i felt that it had taken all my power, but i was wrong.... my power would be taken later...

we had crossed a couple rivers with the horses, really cool!! then approached a clearing (with rivers) and the guide said you can gallop if you like.... i pondered. it felt like a game of russian roulette. will this be the one with the bullet??? the fear i felt before i let her go (and mind you she always wanted to go, i had to constantly hold her back, this formidable wild, beautiful, and slightly nuts spirit) - well the fear was like that which i felt just before i jumped out of a plane to go skydiving. will i die??? i really don´t want to, but i have to try it!! and so, i let her go..... wow, she burst into her run.. like lightning, like a train, smooth over the rocky earth, the landscape flying by so fast you could almost loose direction. and then i saw it. holy crap!!! the rivers met before me and we were approaching the v so fast!!! only 100 m to stop, maybe 150, but not enough for my beauty. i pulled, shusshed, i screamed but it was too late. rosita flew into the river!!! the deepest part!! and even that was not enough to stop her formidable force. amazing animal!! she GALLOPED with me waist deep!!! i lost my foot holds and almost my wits, i continued to fight her, and fight her. she faught me in the river to run, to run, to run, but as we came out she had lost enough speed that my firm slashing at the reigns calmed her down.....

wow.....

next we rode calmly among high reeds that reached past my elbows on my high magisty... beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. and then the bushes opened, and rosita began to fill her body with gust, she felt the opening, she imagined the run. she beggan to hop as i fighted her to stay... but the it was like what the hell. RUN!!!!!!!!! she ran so fast, and the wrong way, towards the river. thanks. i was too busy holding on that i forgot to steer her, i can´t even tell you how crazy it was!! as we approached the river i yanked her so violently and EVENTUALLY we stopped, but THAT indeed took every ounce of strength i possessed, and it was so violent my organs actually hurt, they twisted and helped me stop her. it was unbelievable!! afterwards the guide came and told me i don´t need anymore experience with horses (believing i had a lot). he said i know all i need to know. lol..... holy shit!! he also told me i was the only tourist he had seen courageous enough to ride this horse. he said anyone who ever got on her, got straight off!!! thanks guys!! i wanted fast but not super crazy out of this world!!!!

after that we walked by sunset into the small village where we were gonna stay the night. (we did pass another lovely village made of dust and dirt, amazing wild west). so that night we ate a hearty chicken meal, drank liters of beer, and played cards with the local anoyying kid, Rosso. He was good fun actually but when i kicked his ass in UNO i rubbed it in good!! hahaha

I slept wonderfully, although i had bad dreams about being murdered and then living in others peoples bodies trying to negotiate my life back (but i did watch a real horror movie at another hostel with friends into the wee hours of the night the night before). I awoke naturally as usual, around 730am. It felt so good, as most untroubled mornings here. Nobody rushed us. I sat in bed for half an hour, took my time. Had breakfast, got ready at my leisure and saddled up!!

Oh Rosita, no more galloping today!! I felt her power and spirit, and the desperate urge she had to run. I feared that if i didn´t let her she´d buck me off and go anyways... but i didn´t have the strength, the courage, or the stamina to stop her once again. The others wanted to gallop their sleepy lame horses and so i tried to turn her not to look - well that didn´t work. Me and the guide held back our beasts (his horse was far more crazy then mine, fighting, and bucking constantly). but holy shit, when they left i pulled and yanked, she fought and jumped and got so mad she went into the bush and started up the steep mountain. i fougt her but she circled and fought me back until she finally jumped up!! i knew at that point it was really dangerous having lost all control of this angry frustrated beauty and so i yanked her with more force, anger, and brutality than i ever have, and more than i ever would care to (but it was me or her). she practically yelped with pain from the shot i had given her in the mouth, and to my surprize, she settled right down.... so know i knew the secret, but i still feared to overuse it and anger her. afterall the beast was much more the stronger opponent than i. but eventhough i feared her, i loved her too. i admired her spirit. and we fit together.

nonetheless after lunch i switched horses with another guide cause i wanted to gallop and be able to stop. little did i know that his horse was faster than rosita, winning second place in the races!!! however, the darling did listen... somewhat. i think fast horses just have such a spirit you can´t control, maybe just nudge it and guide it if you´re lucky. negrasita was her name.

we galloped and had good fun till the end. when we got back to tupiza my ass hurt so much but i still wanted more.

thanks to my guide, Milton, to the other guide, Ariel, and to the new found friends, Johanna, Robin, Sam and Emma, for a wonderful and CRAZZYYYYYY time 😊

wow

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Comments

[Brad]

Lol I would love to take Rosita for a spin!
Oh man I am laughing here at work! You should write books Viv, you have a flare for story telling.