River Ride

We’ve had some fun riding in the river and through waterholes over the years. For the most part, our horses were seasoned and quite equal to the task. Many times, some of my siblings and I rode with my Dad checking cows on the river pasture. Sometimes we’d have to cross the river to retrieve those strays who thought the grass was greener on the other side. Dad would just instruct us to line up behind him and cross the river where he crossed. As we got older my siblings and I would saddle up and head out ourselves. One such time, my brother was riding a draft cross mare we called “Festus”. The corner of a slough covered our trail because of increased rainfall that summer. Festus stopped mid-way across and began to paw playfully as many horses do but she took it further. The splash sprayed water all around, then she suddenly dropped to her knees. She rolled onto her side and flopped all the way into the water. My brother’s hat landed in the water a little further than an arm’s length away from him. He was also wearing a new pair of fancy stitched cowboy boots. He tried to keep them out of the water. I think he even tried to stand on her belly but he got dunked, new boots and all! He was not happy with her. He scrambled to his feet, his dignity floating away somewhere near his hat!

Another time riding down the road towards home in the spring, a friend was riding Festus, and she pawed at the snow in the ditch where water was running underneath! (You’ve got to be kidding me, I thought!) Without warning she dropped to her knees in the snow and began to roll. My friend, cursing the mare, jumped off and onto the road saying, “I’ll never ride that horse again!” We just used her for a spare saddle horse when we had lots of riders. Even though she kept our trail rides very entertaining, we didn’t ride her anymore from then on. She remained a work horse.

Fast forward to today, my daughter and I have ridden down the river when it was shallow. I have always been aware of the changing river bottom; spring flooding causes the riverbanks to change as well as the river bottom. There are new deposits of sand and new holes to watch out for.

On our last trip down the river, it was shallow and clear to the bottom. The air was fresh, tinged with the earthy scent of damp moss and wildflowers. The scenery was so beautiful; high riverbanks in places, low riverbanks in places, so many shades of green; leafy trees and willows lining the riverbank, lower vegetation and ferns. The water was dotted with lily pads; some crowned with white blossoms. The horses walking through the water makes a sound like gentle splashing or splooshing and that would chase away any birds in the immediate area but from a distance we saw a heron standing motionless on a fallen branch. We saw beaver slides in several places. Further down the river a family of ducks were gliding with their downy ducklings trailing behind in neat formation. They hustled away before we got too close. At times, the horses stopped, ears flicking and muscles tense, sensing movement we could not see. It could be a deer in the willows or a moose or maybe a bear as they have been spotted following the river valley. Considering the horses would probably snort or bolt at the smell of a bear, it was probably a deer. Amid our own chatter, we would occasionally stop in the river to listen to the chorus of songbirds.

The river moves quite silent with the exception of the odd ripple or when there is water flowing over many rocks to make rapids. I love that sound, it’s so peaceful. It was such a beautiful ride. We even picked out a picnic spot for next time.

The horses came out of the river with nice clean legs and hooves and didn’t break stride, they/we were headed home!