Holly...a cowgirl??!!?

Oh yes, that is right, my friends...just had to write about this one! Some of you may know that I harbor a HUGE fear of horses. I was thrown when I was 10, and have been pretty afraid ever since. Which makes it funny that I've spent the last several years working at a camp that runs 2 main programs...whitewater rafting and HORSES. I'm sure you know which one I spent more time in :) Until...

My good friend Eric volunteered to fix a not-so-little something on my car last week. Eric does all the 'horse' stuff here at camp. I wanted to do something to thank him for taking care of my car, so...in my foolishness, I volunteered to feed the horses for him all last weekend. He gave me a lesson on Friday morning, and then on Saturday/Sunday I was all on my own!! That's right, kiddos...Holly Ann tried to be a cowgirl!!

And so I will share a few nuggets of widsom with you that I learned about working around/feeding horses:

1. If you're deathly afraid of them, they seem to know it and actually TRY to freak you out all the more. Like baring their huge, 2-3 inch, yellow stained teeth at you...or sticking their huge, cavernous mouths down near your ear (I swear I could hear them whispering about how tasty it looked)...or walking towards you when you have nowhere to run...

2. Don't wear anything with pockets when working around hay. It simply gets stuck and never leaves. My hoodie sweatshirt and jeans are facing MULTIPLE washings to get out the little bits of hay that are down in the seams of the pockets...I kid you not!!

3. Be ready to have hay everywhere on your person at the end of feeding time....and yes, I do mean EVERYWHERE.

4. Some horses have no conception of 'personal space.' Vail, the white one in the pictures, was IN MY FACE every moment I was near her! (and you can reference #1 on this one, too).

5. Driving around in a big 'farm-y' 4WD truck feels cool.

6. Getting up early in the morning and doing work feels good. (as long as you got some sleep the night before)

7. Country music still sucks, no matter how fun getting up early and driving a 4WD truck is.

That is all! Aren't you proud of me?!!