Two chubby, middle aged women and two chubby, old horses hit the

I finagled some time to ride for the SECOND time this year. Pathetic,
ain't it?

A friend and I (the two chubby, middle aged women) postponed our
planned trail ride twice, but we made it to Buck Creek State Park
(Springfield, OH) on Sunday afternoon. She picked us up and the sun
was ****ning. We loaded up and it poured. We arrived at the trail head
and it was still pouring. Dammit.

We waited and the weather cleared to a sprinkle. We unloaded my
chubby, geriatric Morgan mare and her chubby, geriatric Morgan
gelding. They look like two peas from the same pod, do my Stasia and
her Midnight. We tacked 'em up. And it started pouring again. Dammit.

We waited in the shelter house and soon the rain dwindled to something
just a touch heavier than a sprinkle. Oh, what the heck? We mounted
and went on our way. And the rain quit.

The trails were wet, but not soggy or muddy. Impressive, really,
considering that we've had more than nine inches of rain in June
alone. When Stasia decided that a puddle concealed a ravenous, horse
eating monster, Midnight walked forward and she followed. When
Midnight thought that something in the foliage lay in wait to ambush
us, Stasia went forward and he followed. Silly horses.

A really refre****ng breeze hindered the mosquitoes and flies, so being
wet wasn't so bad. And it was quite relaxing to just mosey about at
the walk.

All in all, a good ride. Here's hoping that my friend and I will carve
out more such afternoons this season.

--Karen Smith, who has several loads of laundry and ironing yet to
finish...