Two days ago I went out on a horseback ride with Dylan, our 13 year old. We started out just fine, early in the morning, and with a favorable weather forecast which said that the high for the day would hit 102, which meant that on the typical temperature curve, I was thinking that we’d have till around noon before it got hotter than body temperature, which is where you really start to feel it. I had no intention of being out past 10 AM, so the weather should have been fine.
We took off early, and rode all the way north in the wash till we got to I-15. Then we had to turn around and come back, which meant finding a way down from the mesa, then riding the length of the wash all the way back to the house, which would normally be no trouble at all, however, on this trip we got hit by 100+ temperatures far earlier in the day than expected.
We did not run the horses the full 7.9 Miles home. Of course not! But we ran them off and on, and when we did, I soon found out that Patches’ deep gait it really rough, and very hard on the butt! But by the time we were still about two and a half miles from home, the gait got to me, and I became suddenly quite ill feeling, thinking that I may have come down with sea sickness. Between it, and the heat, I was done for, passed out, and fell off the horse. After a bit of a short rest I tried to mount back up on the horse and ride, but after a short while I passed out again and came off the horse again. This time I took the saddle over and by the time I recovered enough to try to stand up, I decided to walk a bit, but to no avail, so I tried to straighten the saddle, also to no avail.
I could not make it home, and that was that. I did not know what to do, but Dylan let me on Umber, the smaller horse, who also has a much smoother gait. I was able to ride the rest of the way home, though it was a rough ride, and it could not end soon enough for me! When I finally came into the yard, I was lucky enough to have JJ there to unsaddle the horse, and Dylan walked Patches in the gate behind me. I was feeling worse than I have been for a very long time. I don’t remember ever feeling this bad when sickly. I went in and laid down and slept it off while taking occasional drinks to hydrate.
Eventually I recovered, but it took a few hours! It was a world away from laying in the hot sand, with my head gone so dark I could not see a way out, and my body giving out on me. I thanked Dylan for his heroic effort in helping me to get home, and told him we were now even for the time I pulled him back from a fast moving car in a road back in England.
Ethereal Fog of War gone from my head, I took the next day off as well to recover because quite frankly, I really felt I was on the way out that day I fell off the horse. I’ll leave being tough to tougher people than me!
So, the weather has been getting hot as hell! We finally got the A/C working today, and it has not been off since! Even at 11:30 at night, the A/C is working to keep the temperature down to 85 degrees in here!
Well, I am off to watch Seymour feed the dentist to Audrey II. Goodnight!
Kelsey J Bacon