On the taxi ride from the airport we noted the signs for how to get to the
Bayside Riding Club from the roads. When we had a rental car, we went by the
stables (via the roads) to find out when the best time to take the beach
ride would be, and the best way to get to the stables on foot.
We subsequently proved that getting there is not "half the fun."
Carol rode Bonita, and Paul was assigned Cee Jay.
Paul's been
"on a horse" two or three times in the last 25 years, and has never
claimed to know how to "ride."
After everybody else is "on board", our
guide gets to Paul and says:
Cee Jay hasn't been trained yet, and doesn't like the other horses, so I want you to keep him behind us and away from the other horses.Sure. Like Paul knows how to handle an untrained horse. Worked out okay, though. Cee Jay only bolted the three times Paul tried to get him to do something the guide told Paul not to do... Paul got pretty good at shouting "Whoa!" but he thinks the horse only understood French commands...
The water to the left is one of the salt lakes just off the beach. The trail we followed was also used to train real riders. There were lots of obstacles and jumps that we just walked around.
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| The trail took us to Papagayo's for a cold drink (which the horses needed more than we did) then back to the beach for our swim. Bonita and Cee Jay didn't swim, so we had to share the other horses. While the other couple was swimming, Cisco showed a tendency to roll over in the water, so naturally the least experienced rider got to swim with him. | |
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| We did make it back safely, and our hosts took care of the horses while we shopped. Cee Jay lived up to the advance billing by biting Bonita who retaliated with a pretty good kick. | |
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Next time, we're going to do the swimming ride and the moonlight beach ride.
| Copyright 1998 by Paul Kislanko and Carol Weeks |
