No, not the rider...The horse. Well, maybe the rider is just a little stubborn at times also...But too stubborn to freely admit it. This image is what you get when stubborn meets stubborn.
That's me on the horse, fighting a losing battle to get him into the water for a cool off. My wife took this photo of me trying to coax my horse into the waves for a splash around. The sand of the beach was quite warm and they enjoy the cool-off; Usually.
He's a stubborn fella, that old boy, and despite knowing he would enjoy the splash around, and cooling effects of the water, was feeling reluctant to do what I asked, despite some vigorous prompting on my part.
I think if he could have talked he would have said something like, "if you think I'm going any further into that water you've got rocks in your head mate."
This is as far as I could get him. He'd stand there, look at the water then wheel around only to have me kick him back in...And so it went for a few minutes.
I think he underestimated the stubborn demeanour of the rider, that's me, however and try as he might to avoid the water, I tried harder to get him in.
He went in eventually though and had a great time. I walked him in until almost shoulder-deep when I felt he was getting a little skittish as larger waves hit him but true to his stubborn nature he stood there facing the waves and I can imagine him saying, "come at me bro," to the waves in stubborn defiance, like the knucklehead he was.
Eventually I got him turned around but, true to form, he wasn't keen to do what I asked and so instead of exiting the water we ended up wandering up the beach up to his fetlocks in water. He got his way.
This was the first time I'd ridden a horse on the beach and I have to say that it was a really nice experience. We meandered at a walk occasionally getting into a trot or canter, and rode for a couple hours. This was at a beach near Ballina, Australia which is a lovely part of the country in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. A superb place to visit for a couple of weeks.
I like to think this old boy enjoyed his time with me as I certainly enjoyed the ride, and battle of minds...It was a contest of wills but a good-natured one played out with mutual respect I think. Yeah, I think you could deem us buddies after the ride...We enjoyed some carrots after we got home...Well, he did...I had a beer.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised.
Be well
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