Bareback riding

 

 I rode this beauty bareback, felt the wind in my hair as we galloped across the pasture. Okay, that was all in my mind. But I did find an apple with a few bites out of it near the kiddie playground. I tossed it to this horse which was grazing in the grass. It was thrilled beyond belief. After eating the apple, it galloped up to the fence to see if I had more, and I was able to pet its nose.

 

  

When I was a preschooler my parents would take me to ride the shetland ponies on hot summer evenings. The poor horses walked in a circle around a track at the traveling kiddie carnival. Not my idea of horseback riding, but it was better than the mechanical bucking bronco that cost a nickel, or the slow poke merry-go-round ponies. I was often unlucky. I got stuck with the stationary horse that did not glide up and down the brass pole.

At 21, I rode a horse in Alaska...bareback...for real. We were visiting homesteaders. Their youngest boy asked if I wanted to ride his horse. Sure. I mounted that big dude and asked the little dude how to make it stop. He said, "Nudge him with your heels." That horse shot out through the woods, and when I saw the tree branch at eye level, I got tossed off and landed in a pile of cow manure. My pale pink turtle neck and my pride were never the same.

 

These ducks were a sight to behold. The one in back had a soft downy tuft on top of its head. Click on the picture to enlarge the photo. That curly tail makes me thing it's a female. No self-respecting male would wear such a hair do.

 

Suson County Park is free and open to the public. There are several stocked fishing lakes, a playground, a barnyard of horses, cows and other animals, and there is a playground. Picinic areas galore, too. The perfect place to spend a  weekend with family or friends. St. Louis has so many free attractions and beautiful parks.