Last day at the Seaside

As it turned out, Wednesday was to be my last day. I already had Friday off and I was owed a day off from coming in on Monday, so the choices boiled down to Thursday or Thursday.

I came in normal time and saw a whole lot of horses in the rack. Confused me a little, since at the time only J and I were there. Then I came in, and later R. So it was me and my favourite boys to work with. And on my last day! Lucky me! I went back to riding Chico, I thought it was only appropriate since he was the only beautiful black boy I rode during my time in the Caribbean. How the boys were jealous ;)

I had 4 regular rides, almost all cruise ship, and got an assortment of tips. First ride didn't tip at all but the others did (even when I gave them the sob story of leaving because it was hard to make ends meet here - hey, if that's what it takes!). The water had calmed down so it wasn't as difficult to control the ride and the undercurrent didn't suck the horses' feet into the sand. Always a plus.

Didn't really get a proper lunch break, R has taken to giving us half an hour here n there in between rides arriving so it's a little more difficult to go on the internet or have a proper something to eat - not that the internet even works these days but it's a critical time to keep in touch with my boy and even my family, hoping that they've still kept my return a secret for my mum's birthday, the same day I land.

I came up to the horses after my 4th ride to get the horses and cows in one last time, and found that J had stolen my horse for his ride as we had too many people. I couldn't be that pissed off because the big ride he had was the Germans, a ride R told me I was meant to do. "Really?? On my last day? You're giving me the Germans?? Come on, man!!" I threatened to quit early but he said that wasn't possible. I guess he got an attack of the guilts, or more likely, I was out on a ride and he just wanted them on the horses and outta there asap.

And so it was that the only horse left in the rack was Bonita, a reliable but bitchy horse that can carry a lot of weight so gets used quite a bit. I had not put someone on her because I thought she could get a break, but in the end I had to take her out. I took a crop (short whip) just in case, but didn't need to use it. Man, she has a weird gait, though! Kinda fast-trots everywhere and is a bit disjointed in her canter. No wonder they don't use her for lessons.

Found the cows and rounded them in before the bull noticed - made a discreet exit when I came upon his territory. Horses were all basically down by the stable already because there weren't that many not in use for this busy Wednesday, so I really just did the trails but didn't actually round any horses up up there.

I had one more ride for the day, but it was E and her nannying kid, and another mum and her kids. I had a niggling feeling she was not going to show, or at the least be late (even though I instructed her not to be as it was an after-hours ride), so I was getting pretty frustrated when my repeated phone calls were ringing out and the clock was striking 5pm. The office manager was bugging me to close the office for the day and the other guides were waiting to feed the horses - do we unsaddle or wait? I was quietly fuming.

Just after I went up to the stable and said, "Fuck it, just unsaddle them, I'm annoyed now! Seriously, on my last day??!" So they were almost done unsaddling when the first car turned up. There was a toing and froing, do we do it? Do we leave it for another day? The boys were keen but mum could've not spent the money. In the end, they said yes and so I swooped up to get the horses re-readied and as we were about to leave, E and V showed. 2 more horses were whisked out, the food virtually pulled from under their flaring nostrils, and we went riding.

Took them for a little trot, which was more than enuf excitement for the boys. None of them could really ride, just the other mum A, so I kept it simple for them. They loved the water at the end, overreacting about the poo in the water, all a bit of fun. Afterwards, E and A said they loved it and thanked me profusely, even pushing tips into my hands. I felt a little awkward accepting them but they insisted. And I do need it. I just wish it wasn't so obvious!

I put the horses away with the help of the guys, who were still there to do training for the carousel (horse show) coming up. I wish I could have stayed for that, I would have loved to wear the long Spanish dresses and done little routines on the horses. Would've been my first kind of carousel, too. Oh well.

E waited and took me back to her pad, stopping briefly to see if the tattooist was in and leaving my number if he came back and wanted to see me about the tats. He never called, which is fine, I just chilled out with E and had some wine. We were both pretty tired and I planned on going to St Barths the next day, so she dropped me home and I got some sleep.