Tis The Season

She would come dressed to ride.
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Jill loved the boxing day jam tradition she had stumbled into, and someday she hoped to host such an animal.  With a real tree in the house... why not anyway.
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Jill was glad to be horse-story swapping at the Gymkana. "So anyway, about this perfect place in Caledon to go get a tree: the very first time Stoney ever took off on me, was the very first day I invited a whole bunch of  barn kids out on a hack with me." Jill went on, as usual, with barely a breath. "I had been hacking on him on the roads myself at that point, and he was going well or i wouldn't have been in that situation... I guess it must have been one of the younger riders that knew we were allowed to ride in that big open field? Because we were out on my hack turf, with the brave, sensible Stoney leading the way and we decided to make the turn.  And as soon as I turned him into it, he bolted. He just took off, full speed, with no warning he started running."
Jill had been riding all her life, so to hear her first ever total take off story took place as an adult, was a shock.  But not compared to the horror that showed on her face as she described it.    "I have to say. that was the fastest I have ever travelled on horseback in all my life!   And so, there we went,  whipping past trees and who knows what stumps and holes at full tilt and the kids are whooping and hollering like this is fun as their herd of horses do their best to keep up somehow with the racehorse.,   Jill described shouting back to them STOP!!! I AM OUT OF CONTROL!!! STOP!!! which, incidentally, does not sound like whoa. to a racehorse.ha


Jess, who had a lazy horse it was hard to make gallop caught on first, and since she had been second in the ride she was quick in cutting things off and bringing the others to order. Jill said "I do not know how far away Stoney was when I could finally stop him. but I shook and shook and maybe even cried  on the long, long walk to return to the herd.  She did  not begin to try and count the stumps walk way back to the kids, who were standing there in a group worrying. 


What a horrible surprise yet ultimately lucky run, ha. At first Jill had said  "I never want to gallop ever again in my whole life. especially on THIS horse."

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But there's a more fun thing about that Christmas tree farm:

The family tradion when as Jill was growing up was always an artificial tree, because of the pets. But, one time, when  parents surprised her.  


It would turn out that as they were driving home with their first ever real tree, from that very farm, they passed a very flashy horse and rider on the roads. They discussed the beauty and visible talent of the horse and the wonderful connection he seemed to have with the rider.  Jill's dad reported that he had always wished to get Jill a horse just like that... 


Meanwhile, Jill would remember that the very considerate driver passing safely had a car that looked like her parents' , (but obviously, it wasn't them since there was an actual real tree tied to the roof) that indeed that her mount  was sort of spooking at, so Jill rode on and they drove off and it was only chatting on the phone later they figgered out we had in fact seen each other day!