Saturday 14 January 2012

Roll roll roll the horse, gently down the beach...

My body was a bit all over the place, having originally passed out before 7pm the night before and then tossed n turned trying to win more sleep... there was not much need for my alarm clock. I knew I had to get up, I was awake, but I was certainly not feeling it.

To make matters worse, I misplaced my hat and it was to be a busy day, so I was to spend hours without shade on my precious little while girl face. God only knows what the result would be.

Funnily enuf, that was to be the least of my problems. As the day progressed, I found that not just one, but two of my horses felt like rolling in the sand with beginners atop, and I was without explanation except that "well, they like to do that." The first horse was not a "roller" so I didn't expect it, the other had been out of work for a while so I didn't even register that it was a possibility. At least no one was seriously injured, or really injured much at all.

Then there was the stumble. Max, a gentle, tall horse, was given a sturdy lady (probably too big for him to be honest) and during our walking tour he fell over a rock and she tumbled off. Thankfully, she was not hurt and neither was he - she also understood, as she was an advanced rider, that horses are not superhuman and do occasionally stumble. I dusted her off and we continued the ride.

It was a massive day for tips. I had an American couple for a 2-hour ride to begin my day, and they gave me a lil sumthin' sumthin' which was nice. But after that it was just cruise rides - and I tried to make them good, I really did!! Those horses, you just can't predict their behaviour all the time. They'll be the death of me.

Speaking of being the death of me, man o man was this customer annoying... part of a larger group of older American tourists, the first thing he said to me when he got on the horse was, "Can I get off and walk beside it instead?" Why on earth would you want to do that, I asked. To give it a rest, his explanation. I'm thinking, why the hell did you come on the ride in the first place but he answered me anyway... I don't like horseriding, I'm just doing this for my wife. Great, so I'll get the bitching n moaning for the rest of the time. Can't wait.

He wasn't too bad, since he couldn't hear that well and mostly I just spoke to everyone else but him. He was the only one to smoke on my ride, not something I care about, just told him to butt it out on the sole of his shoe and put it in the bin (which I doubt he did)... but of course he didn't come into the water. Fine with me, I would probably have led him out into the deep if he annoyed me... of course not, I am a responsible guide.

Thought I'd get away with being regularly wet this day, but it seems not even a boob-high water mark on my shirt was enuf. A party of 3 complained they didn't get any photos in the water at the end of their ride, so my boss said they could take photos on a horse with me leading it quickly before the next ride. I led Madonna (with one blue and one brown eye) down to the water and each of the 3 people mounted, while I led them in and treaded water while they snapped away. I didn't actually realise I'd get so deep but there I was, dreds wet to my ears n all. Sigh. I got a $5 tip. I suppose they felt sorry for me.

The day was pretty hot, so I didn't take long to dry. Again, it was so uneventful I can't even remember the end to this day so that's about it for this blog. Almost caught up on the days anyway, since E's departure. Yep, my head's almost right again.

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