Day 3 - Horseback Riding

Being from Kentucky, we never shy away from a day we can spend riding horses.

This is a false statement!  You all know it is, but ask anyone who hears we are from Kentucky and they automatically envision us riding our thoroughbreds through Kentucky Bluegrass with the manor house and white picket fence in the background.  This is also false. ha ha. The only time we ride horses is on vacation and it is also the one time we will ALWAYS say "Cincinnati" instead of "Kentucky" when asked where we are from.  We don't want anyone to think we are experts or anything.





We rose with the roosters to get ready for our horseback riding day.  Lainey learned a valuable lesson at breakfast when I explained that the Ugly Duckling has no genetic way to become a swan.  She felt her entire childhood was a lie and isn't sure she can forgive me. She did get over it though when it was time to head to the lobby for pick up. 





The Ponderosa Ranch picked up us at the hotel and we took a short trip to their place.  The van was full and we met people from Atlanta, Massachusetts and England.  They were all very nice. The guys from England were cracking us up talking about wanting to eat at Wendy's before they went back home.  I told them to try the Baconator, which I have never eaten but I saw it on a billboard. We spent the rest of the night, wondering if they ever got one.  We will talk about them for the rest of lives, just like Mr. Electric and Lainey's super friendly hello wave to an ex boyfriend recently.  These stories re the stuff of legends in our family. 

Double Trouble 

After saddling up, it was obvious Lainey's horse was going to give her some problems.  She was initially in the back part of the line by me, but her horse quickly galloped (as in RAN) to the front of the line and that was where he stayed all day.  My horse, on the other hand, was content to find another horse's butt and put her nose right up to it, falling in line effortlessly.  Of course, I bragged to everyone that I am from Kentucky and that is why I can handle my horse so well (ha ha)  Lainey was so far away, I didn't have to claim her or her unruly horse.




The terrain is much like that of the Grand Canyon we encountered last summer on our hike.  I am not sure if I blogged about that trip or not...I don't think I did due to dehydration and heat exhaustion.  Anyway, the terrain was super dry, dusty and rocky.  I am amazed at the horses' ability to navigate their big bodies, and mine, under such conditions.  They all did great.

This riding trip was different than any others we had every been on.  The horses galloped a lot.  Thankfully, our guide told us about keeping our legs straight and pointing our heels down.  That advice saved my a*s a couple times.  We rode for a total of 4 or so hours.  It was pretty cool.  I engaged in a full conversation with one of the guides.  She and her husband were from the Netherlands and moved to Aruba 4 years ago with their daughters (now age 9 &12).  She is an attorney in the Netherlands but a ranch hand here in Aruba.  Her daughters attend an International School and are fluent in four languages: Dutch, English, Spanish and Papiomento (Aruba's official language along with Dutch).  She said her parents told them it is time to come back home to the Netherlands and their oldest daughter is starting 'secondary school' so they also felt it was time to go.  Lainey made friends with her daughters and they told her they are not happy at all about moving away from Aruba.  I can't say I blame them.  What a very cool life they have lead so far.

After riding for quite a bit, we came over a ridge and there was the Caribbean Sea in all its glory right in front of us.  I say this on all of my trips, but you really can't do the scenery justice with a phone camera (or any camera for that matter).  I will never forget the majesty of the ocean in Spain after we completed the El Camino, the Agean Sea as we drove up the cliffside streets in Greece, the crystal blue of the water of Grand Cayman....all of it etched in my memory just like today will be.  The power of the water as it crashed against the rocky shore was incredible.  Thankful for the breeze, it was hot, and the breeze really helped keep us and the horses cool.

Natural Bridge 

We rode along the beach for awhile but did not get off the horses.  This was a cool part of the island because there were not a lot of people.  The cliffs were very rocky and the surf rough.  I didn't catch the name of the beach but there was a natural bridge there.  Apparently there was a very large natural bridge (span the size of the one in KY is how I imagine it) that fell into the ocean in 2005.  This was just a natural occurrence that no one seems to blame on anything other than the rough sea hitting against it for so many years.  That was refreshing, to not hear that it was human's fault.  Things are different here - it's not called "One Happy Island" for nothing.

After the beach we rode to the ruins of a gold mine.  I couldn't hear a thing about the gold mine with the horses clopping and the waves crashing but it looked OLD.  We took some cute pictures and looked high and low for gold but didn't find any.  Lainey has told me repeatedly how lucky she is but she hasn't proven it yet.  Maybe tonight in the casino.

These are our 'cute gold mine pics...

After a fast gallop back - let me tell ya ladies, you ain't had things jiggle until you are on a galloping  horse down rocky terrain.  Enough about my lack of working out but I did vow to be better for when we come back next time.  Our legs were very tired and felt like 'sea legs' when we disembarked.  We counted it as a workout (that is probably why I jiggle so much).

Me, when I realize that I have so much that
jiggles when we gallop and thankful we stopped

Lainey's horse heading to the front

We got back in time to go to the pool and for Lainey to experience real life birth control right in front of us with three sisters, a grandma and about 17 children between them. Their husbands were drinking beer in the pool, happy to pull 'lifeguard' duty, while the moms did everything else.  When the one boy starting throwing sticks at the iguanas, I wondered what the hell the mom was going to do about it, until I saw her splash beer on the same iguana.  They were American, of course, and complaining that the iguana was too close while they were eating.  I can't make this crap up.  Some people are real pigs. If I had sat there much longer I was going to have Lainey throw sticks on their kids, while I splashed beer on them, I think she would have done it if I asked nicely enough.  I would much rather eat with an iguana than with their bratty, crying, yelling kids.  Instead, we got in the pool and hoped they were gone when we got out.  (They were!).

Us after we got away from the bratty kids and
had a strawberry daiquiri 

We had a nice dinner at one of the hotel restaurants and went to be super early so we could be up and ready for our ATV tour on Wednesday.