| Laura's Trail Stories By Laura Vonk |
I'm not even sure where to start. I'm very lucky, I've had some really awesome adventures
while out riding. Most of them good, a couple bad or scary, but that's pretty normal for
anyone who's been trail riding for very long.
Awe Inspiring Moment
Probably, bar none, the most awesome moment riding for me came the time I was riding with
a few friends in the Paddy Creek Wilderness. There were 5 of us, riding in single file because
the trail is single track. I was riding in the middle, with two in front of me and two in back.
Jim was in the lead and when his daughter, who was behind him, wanted him to stop for a
moment, we all halted. Majic and I were stopped halfway over a log. His front legs were in
front of it and his hind legs were behind it. For some reason, I happened to look down, and
lying there, perfectly still, and right underneath Majic, was a tiny baby fawn. I had always
heard that when does left their fawn hidden somewhere, the fawns would lay there perfectly
still, under almost any circumstances. Well, I guess it isn't an old wives tale, because that's
just what this fawn was doing, even though horses and mules were stepping over it. The little
thing never even batted an eyelid. As you can imagine, I was scared Majic would step on it,
even though the mules in front of us didn't, and not knowing what else to do, we continued
on over it. I had, obviously, warned the two riders behind me and they veered off to the side
of it. Majic didn't step on it either, thankfully. I'll never forget that day, and I'll always regret
that I didn't have a camera with me.
Funny Memories
I guess, when telling the funnier side of things, I should explain how it's so funny that, after all
these years I still have Majic and consider him to be my equestrian soul mate. It's not really a
trail story, but it's kinda funny in a weird sort of way. You see, when I first got Majic, I really
didn't want him. I bought him because he was trustworthy for me at the time, but I just had a
hard time bonding with him. I don't know why, but I spent the first few years I owned him
trying to sell him off. For one reason or another it just never happened. Then as time went
on, we did more and more things together and I trusted him more, I had several offers from
several people to buy him. I always turned them down because I knew at that time that we
had something special. I also knew, and enjoyed the fact that very few people could ride
him. I never considered myself an expert rider, but Majic was high spirited, fast, and if the
rider had any fear in him at all, Majic would take off with them. Both my brothers tried to
ride him and I considered them to be good riders, but Majic ran away to the barn with them.
Besides me, there's only been three other people who have managed to ride him. Two
friends I used to ride with a lot, Chris and Ken. The other is Hank, but he had one good
experience with him and one bad, so he doesn't particularly want to try again any time soon.
After Hank and I were married a couple years, I thought about selling him again, mainly
because from the age I was told he was when I bought him, he was getting older and I really
didn't want to deal with his death. So I put him in the paper and warned in the ad he was
only for very experienced riders. One woman came out, said she was experienced, and she
tried to ride him. Majic came unglued and scared the heck out of the poor woman. She
thought I was lying about him being broke, so I got on, he calmed right down and did
everything I asked of him. So, she decided to try again. Majic reacted the same way, rearing
up and almost going over backwards. The woman bailed off, Majic broke away for a
minute, but then came right up to me and buried his head underneath my arm like he was
trying to hide or something. About that time, especially after Majic hid his head in my arm, I
was having doubts about selling him. There was one more person coming out to look at him,
and the vet was also coming out to vet check him. I asked the vet if he could give me an idea
of how old he was so I could give the people looking at him a better idea of his age. I was
thinking he was 19 or 20. He surprised me by saying he was about 15. One last prospective
buyer came out to look at him and that day decided things. He again tried to kill the poor
person. Hank told me I best get used to the idea of keeping him because Majic wasn't going
to let me sell him. Now, there's no doubt about it. He'll spend the rest of his life here with me.
One last tidbit to end this story...... The next year I had my regular veterinarian out. She's a
vet that only deals with horses. I still couldn't believe he was only 15, so I asked her to look
at his teeth, figuring since all she dealt with was horses, she might be more accurate. She told
me he was about 12. Majic's the only horse I've ever met that got younger with age.......
Some of the funny memories I have, weren't necessarily funny at the time. I remember a small
group of us all riding down to the river at a friend's place, near where I lived in Union. We
didn't know it at the time, but we stopped to enjoy the view in the middle of a big patch of
Stinging Nettle. Next thing you know all the horses were stomping their feet and refusing to
stand still. At the time it was a little scary, not knowing what was wrong at first, but I
remember looking around me and for a moment it crossed my mind that it looked like all the
horses were dancing jigs. We high tailed it out of there, and it took a while for the horses to
settle down again, but the rest of the ride, and even now when I think back to it, I find myself
giggling to myself at the funny picture in my head of jig dancing horses.
Dumb things I've done
Thank God Majic is as good of a horse as he is, or I'd probably be dead by now because of
some of the dumb things I had him do in the past. It embarrasses me to admit it, but I could
write a lot about this subject. I'm only going to mention the two that stand out in my mind as
being the worst though. The first was when I was riding Majic along side of Hwy 50 in
Union, Mo. We weren't in the tall overgrown grass at a more safe distance from the highway,
we were on what little of a shoulder it had, which wasn't much. Riding a horse that close to
highway traffic is scary enough, if you're smart enough to be scared, but it got worse when an
18 wheeler hauling an empty car carrier behind it came by. Do you have any idea how noisy
one of those things are? I remember holding my breath slightly as it went by, hoping Majic
was as good as I though he was. Luckily he was even better. I was barely worried at all. But
thinking back about it, I bet that poor truck driver just about had a heart attack.
The other time I was lucky, was when we were four hoofin it at the river down the road from
where I lived in Union. We were having fun blazing new trails along the riverside. Then I
found a spot that looked shallow enough all the way across to ford our way to the other side.
We got across with no problem, but as we were turning around to go back across, all of a
sudden Majic sank to his belly and next thing I know he's lunging, trying to fight his way out
of what seemed at the time to be quick sand, but what I later learned was a bog. I didn't
know we had such things here in Missouri. I don't know how long he fought to get out. It
seemed like forever, but was probably less than a minute. All I could do, all I knew how to
do, was hold on for dear life. He finally freed himself and galloped back across the river.
When we got to the other side, I stopped him and jumped off. I don't know who was
shaking more, me or him. That's one of the experiences that taught me quite well to stay on
the trail. You can be sure that trails are laid out in pretty safe locations. When you four
hoof-it, you can never be sure what you'll get yourself into.
More stories to follow later, including my Montana memories, scary adventures and yellow
jacket run-ins.....
while out riding. Most of them good, a couple bad or scary, but that's pretty normal for
anyone who's been trail riding for very long.
Awe Inspiring Moment
Probably, bar none, the most awesome moment riding for me came the time I was riding with
a few friends in the Paddy Creek Wilderness. There were 5 of us, riding in single file because
the trail is single track. I was riding in the middle, with two in front of me and two in back.
Jim was in the lead and when his daughter, who was behind him, wanted him to stop for a
moment, we all halted. Majic and I were stopped halfway over a log. His front legs were in
front of it and his hind legs were behind it. For some reason, I happened to look down, and
lying there, perfectly still, and right underneath Majic, was a tiny baby fawn. I had always
heard that when does left their fawn hidden somewhere, the fawns would lay there perfectly
still, under almost any circumstances. Well, I guess it isn't an old wives tale, because that's
just what this fawn was doing, even though horses and mules were stepping over it. The little
thing never even batted an eyelid. As you can imagine, I was scared Majic would step on it,
even though the mules in front of us didn't, and not knowing what else to do, we continued
on over it. I had, obviously, warned the two riders behind me and they veered off to the side
of it. Majic didn't step on it either, thankfully. I'll never forget that day, and I'll always regret
that I didn't have a camera with me.
Funny Memories
I guess, when telling the funnier side of things, I should explain how it's so funny that, after all
these years I still have Majic and consider him to be my equestrian soul mate. It's not really a
trail story, but it's kinda funny in a weird sort of way. You see, when I first got Majic, I really
didn't want him. I bought him because he was trustworthy for me at the time, but I just had a
hard time bonding with him. I don't know why, but I spent the first few years I owned him
trying to sell him off. For one reason or another it just never happened. Then as time went
on, we did more and more things together and I trusted him more, I had several offers from
several people to buy him. I always turned them down because I knew at that time that we
had something special. I also knew, and enjoyed the fact that very few people could ride
him. I never considered myself an expert rider, but Majic was high spirited, fast, and if the
rider had any fear in him at all, Majic would take off with them. Both my brothers tried to
ride him and I considered them to be good riders, but Majic ran away to the barn with them.
Besides me, there's only been three other people who have managed to ride him. Two
friends I used to ride with a lot, Chris and Ken. The other is Hank, but he had one good
experience with him and one bad, so he doesn't particularly want to try again any time soon.
After Hank and I were married a couple years, I thought about selling him again, mainly
because from the age I was told he was when I bought him, he was getting older and I really
didn't want to deal with his death. So I put him in the paper and warned in the ad he was
only for very experienced riders. One woman came out, said she was experienced, and she
tried to ride him. Majic came unglued and scared the heck out of the poor woman. She
thought I was lying about him being broke, so I got on, he calmed right down and did
everything I asked of him. So, she decided to try again. Majic reacted the same way, rearing
up and almost going over backwards. The woman bailed off, Majic broke away for a
minute, but then came right up to me and buried his head underneath my arm like he was
trying to hide or something. About that time, especially after Majic hid his head in my arm, I
was having doubts about selling him. There was one more person coming out to look at him,
and the vet was also coming out to vet check him. I asked the vet if he could give me an idea
of how old he was so I could give the people looking at him a better idea of his age. I was
thinking he was 19 or 20. He surprised me by saying he was about 15. One last prospective
buyer came out to look at him and that day decided things. He again tried to kill the poor
person. Hank told me I best get used to the idea of keeping him because Majic wasn't going
to let me sell him. Now, there's no doubt about it. He'll spend the rest of his life here with me.
One last tidbit to end this story...... The next year I had my regular veterinarian out. She's a
vet that only deals with horses. I still couldn't believe he was only 15, so I asked her to look
at his teeth, figuring since all she dealt with was horses, she might be more accurate. She told
me he was about 12. Majic's the only horse I've ever met that got younger with age.......
Some of the funny memories I have, weren't necessarily funny at the time. I remember a small
group of us all riding down to the river at a friend's place, near where I lived in Union. We
didn't know it at the time, but we stopped to enjoy the view in the middle of a big patch of
Stinging Nettle. Next thing you know all the horses were stomping their feet and refusing to
stand still. At the time it was a little scary, not knowing what was wrong at first, but I
remember looking around me and for a moment it crossed my mind that it looked like all the
horses were dancing jigs. We high tailed it out of there, and it took a while for the horses to
settle down again, but the rest of the ride, and even now when I think back to it, I find myself
giggling to myself at the funny picture in my head of jig dancing horses.
Dumb things I've done
Thank God Majic is as good of a horse as he is, or I'd probably be dead by now because of
some of the dumb things I had him do in the past. It embarrasses me to admit it, but I could
write a lot about this subject. I'm only going to mention the two that stand out in my mind as
being the worst though. The first was when I was riding Majic along side of Hwy 50 in
Union, Mo. We weren't in the tall overgrown grass at a more safe distance from the highway,
we were on what little of a shoulder it had, which wasn't much. Riding a horse that close to
highway traffic is scary enough, if you're smart enough to be scared, but it got worse when an
18 wheeler hauling an empty car carrier behind it came by. Do you have any idea how noisy
one of those things are? I remember holding my breath slightly as it went by, hoping Majic
was as good as I though he was. Luckily he was even better. I was barely worried at all. But
thinking back about it, I bet that poor truck driver just about had a heart attack.
The other time I was lucky, was when we were four hoofin it at the river down the road from
where I lived in Union. We were having fun blazing new trails along the riverside. Then I
found a spot that looked shallow enough all the way across to ford our way to the other side.
We got across with no problem, but as we were turning around to go back across, all of a
sudden Majic sank to his belly and next thing I know he's lunging, trying to fight his way out
of what seemed at the time to be quick sand, but what I later learned was a bog. I didn't
know we had such things here in Missouri. I don't know how long he fought to get out. It
seemed like forever, but was probably less than a minute. All I could do, all I knew how to
do, was hold on for dear life. He finally freed himself and galloped back across the river.
When we got to the other side, I stopped him and jumped off. I don't know who was
shaking more, me or him. That's one of the experiences that taught me quite well to stay on
the trail. You can be sure that trails are laid out in pretty safe locations. When you four
hoof-it, you can never be sure what you'll get yourself into.
More stories to follow later, including my Montana memories, scary adventures and yellow
jacket run-ins.....
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