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Friday morning, just another day at the office. But not my
office.
Today I’ll be working
from the office of Galaxy, an 8 year old, 15.3 hand high, Bay
Gelding whose office just happens to be the beautiful
Axarquían countryside. Could be worse I suppose.. Or could it?
You see today Smile has been challenged by Galaxy to learn to
ride a horse. When I say Galaxy, I mean his owner Claire from
Horsin’ Around. And when I
say Smile, I mean me. There’s just one tiny problem. I’m
scared of horses!
Why? They’re big,
they’re strong, they’re big, they’re moody, did I say they’re
big?
Now, having two sleeves on my shirt I
tend to approach every situation with a trick up each one. Up
my left sleeve, an open mind. Right Sleeve, a big Smile.
However, for this situation I found some extra storage space.
When I arrived at ‘Horsin’
Around’ in Nerja I’d brought with me the usual
sleeve fillers, plus a heart full of anticipation, a cowboy
hat full of nervous sweat and a BIG bag of carrots!
One of those, and I’m guessing it wasn’t
the silly hat, did the trick of getting Galaxy and I off to a
great start! And after some guidance on safety, meaning the
replacement of said silly hat, and some tips on balance and
posture from Claire, I was
soon ready to ride out with my new friend.
How did I feel? On top of the world! Or erm...
Galaxy, so to speak. I have to say it felt so natural to be in
this part of the world and in command of a horse. Horsemanship
is so very in the blood of the Spanish and to be exploring the
countryside astride one I can see why. The presence of the
horse seems to diffuse the human presence and so nature just
kind of gets on with it, instead of running away to hide.
 We
rode out to the natural park behind Nerja and after a brief
stop and some more tips from Claire we upped the pace a
little. Claire showed me where the horsey accelerator was, we
went off for a canter, that’s "hoofin’ it" in normal
speak, and I remembered what she’d said about how the brakes
worked. And they worked! Amazing, I unpacked the big Smile
from my right sleeve and planted it on my face!
What a turnaround. Just an hour or so ago I
was ready to put Mr. Snappy, the photographer, in my place and
take the photos myself. Now I can say I know how to ride a
horse, I’ve seen the Andalucían countryside like never before
and more importantly, I’ve made a new friend. Galaxy, you were
a star :)
If you live in this part of Spain and want to see more of
the beautiful countryside or are on holiday and want to
explore it, this is the way to do it! Call ‘Horsin’
Around’ now and say you want to be challenged!
Horsin' Around:- Nerja, Málaga. Tel: (0034) 629 880 480
www.horsinaround4u.com
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Photos courtesy of Mr. Snappy
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