"MAN I'm hungry!" I thought.
So, trip to Taco Bell?
I'd be delighted!

And as I drove to the Taco Bell which is hardly more than 5 blocks away, as I passed by the highschool (a block away from my house). I saw something. Nah! There's no way I just saw someone riding a horse. Hm... I turn around to make sure I'm not going crazy. Again. No, YUP! It's someone riding a horse. At midnight. In the streets. The streets of White Settlement, Texas, granted, but STILL. There's no place for horses near by. Not for a few miles, at least. And even then, midnight? in this neighborhood? practically a suburb of Fort Worth.

***Side Note: I know it's called White Settlement. I hate it along with half of the rest of White Settlement, if not the world. The name originated from the fact that this was, in fact, the first settlement of white folk into native american land crossing the Trinity River. There's a museum and everything. So, I assure you it's NOT as redneck as it sounds. Heck, we're getting more and more hispanics, blacks, and filippinos by the day. So, it's not racist. It's just... labeled correctly in a wrong era.***

So, I keep driving to Taco Bell. More perplexed then ever. There's these two HUGE trucks in front of me in line. I get the feeling they're going to take a while. They were talking to each other side by side when I first got there. I look in my rearview mirror and I see the horse again.

"I've always wanted to learn to ride a horse, I say."
Then it hits me. How often does one get an opportunity like this???

So, I drive out and head towards the horse and it's rider. I pull up right beside.
The lady rider screams out, "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"
"Uh... Nothing. I responded. Just wanted to say HI."
She approaches with her horse cautiously. "That all?"
"Well, I must admit, I've always kinda wanted to learn to ride a horse."
"Oh," she responds, "I was worried it was those guys that tried to shoot at us earlier."
"What? Seriously?"
"Oh, yeah! We've even gotten chased down before." she gets even closer to my passenger window. "If you want to pull around where you can park, so we can talk..."
"Allright. I'll meet you there in a sec!" I say.

At this point I'm thinking MAN! What a lucky break! How often does something like this happen!?
Little did I know...

I drive around to get into one the residential streets and park. I get out of my car as she gets closer to me with her horse. This is when things began to seem a little odder. Her horse was incredibly short. It wasn't quite a pony, but it sure as hell wasn't no regular lookin' horse.

"What's yer name?" she asked me.
"I'm Aldo, nice to meet you." I tell her as I shake her hand.
"Eldo?" she says.
"Aldo. It's like Waldo, but without the 'w'." I respond, much as I have countless others with a similar question.
"I'm Tabbitha. And this is Trixie." she says as she pats her horse.
She then slides down off her horse.
Now, I just felt like this was surreal.
She stood no taller than 4 feet 7 inches, I wanna guess. She had long natural dark blonde hair that reached well past her shoulders. She wore a long dark green coat and large thick glasses. And the way she spoke let me know she was texan and either not too well educated or educated enough not to give a damn how she spoke.
"That's weird! I've never had an adult wantin to learn to ride a horse!" She exclaimed with complete amusement and bewilderment. She then proceeded to tell me how long she's had the horse. How usually only 9 year olds or so show interest in learning to ride. That horses can get pretty tempermental about things and that's why she was out walking her; making sure she knew what each tug and such meant. Meanwhile, I'm standing outside in 30 degree weather with nothing but short sleeves. I asked her for her phone number so I could get in contact with her. She tells me she doesn't have a phone, but she stays in contact with a friend named "Dave" and gave me his phone number.

She then looked at me and asked, "Do you wanna hop on?"
"Right now?!" I asked in shock. Didn't I have to get to know the horse first or something? I mean, go to the movies, maybe a quiet dinner afterwards or something??? Seriously? Just 'Hop on it'?
"Uh... sure." I said. I didn't know what else TO say.
"Well, you gotta pet her first, though. Don't want to freak her out or nothin'."
There we go. That's what I thought. I knew it had to be harder than just that.
I pet the horse for a second. She talked to the horse. Amidst the things she said, one of them was, "Don't worry. We're almost home."

Wait. WHAT? Pardon?
What does she mean "almost home?"

"Where exactly do you live?" I asked.
"Oh, just up there at those apartments. She's lucky. She's the only one that gets a room of her own." she responds.

Wait. What? Huh? Did I hear...? Yup.
Well.
Allright...

I've been in theatre folks. I've had friends who enjoyed covering a car with stuffed rabbits and driving around. We would say things like "Chickenpot, chickenpot, chickenpot pie!" in public places for no reason. I know crazy. And if there's one thing I've learned...

..............When things get crazy, don't ask questions.................

You know why? Because it won't matter. It won't make sense. Alice in Wonderland ring any bells to anyone? I assure you. I know crazy.

"Oh, ok." I tell her in the most understanding and uncurious way possible.
"So, you ready to get on?" She asks.
"Actually, I'm going to have to say 'no'. But in all honesty, simply because I'm terribly cold."

I know many of you might believe that was a lie. I assure you it wasn't. I also assure I really don't have any questions. No, I'm not wondering all the thousands of questions one could be asking in a situation like this. I'm honestly at peace with the crazy.

I bid her a good night and a safe one at that. She did the same for me. I told her I'd be getting in contact with her and drove off as she rode off.

I then went to Taco Bell. I got my usual;
"Hi, I'd like a number 7, please, with a Baja Blast. Oh yes,... and Cheesy Gordita Crunch."

I don't believe it for one second.
» Dilated on 2007-01-19 03:35:44

Good thing you didn't get on, she would have transported you to another dimension. She was probably the equivalent of a siren, only for 9-year-olds. And she was excited to finally get an older person for her "collection" in the underworld. You can never trust blondes.
» Zanzibar on 2007-01-19 08:41:00

lol, hadn't thought of that one zanzibar!
ah yes, the usual...hmmm...now *I* want Taco Bell.
» Helena on 2007-01-19 01:30:23

oh no, dont get me wrong
i loved lms, it just made me sad.

and i love that story. it made me laugh.
things like that never happen to me.
» bananaface on 2007-01-20 01:40:26

to aldo
I laughed reading through this. for those of you wondering. She is my guide pony whom I also live with and use as transportation to and from work. Aldo caught us en route from work. Thus the reason for a pony in town at midnight, As for the "training" I'd been doing with her. well she is rusty on neck reining since there aren't many turns to be had in the city. Obviously we have corners and intersections but thats not enough to actyuallly do a 90 degree smooth turn on the forehand. So I was softening her responses. Otherwise she's fine and dandy. I constantly try to maintain both our habits while on the road. Wish I had a few days off each week to romp around and work out the kinks or try something new. There's not much left for either of us to learn. SHe rides western, english and advanced dressage, still we get bored and its fun to keep experimenting. Anyways I haven't ride her in a year or more on a daily basis and so she was a wee bit rusty. Aldo, I do hope you call. I'd love to be able to help you get back in the saddle. But if not thats fine too. And dont worry about your sanity at seeing a pony in town. By the way, you seemed to be in a daze at this encounter and I'm sorry for that. Glad you took it well though. But yes I was on edge for the past few encounters I've had while going home. There seems to be too many young kids wanting to harrass us for no good reason which scares and irritates me. Kids need to be far better behaved. If I ever catch them they'll have a few apologies to make. All I want is to be left alone in peace when traveling to work and back. Have a great day!
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» Bradford (200.129.25.14) on 2010-09-02 04:05:50

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