Photo Series #2: My First Horse Ride

When I arrived in the Philippines from Singapore where I was working, my fiancée and I together with her family planned to have a picnic, some place not so near but not so far as well. We decided to go to the next city's tourist attraction which I hadn't visited yet, it's called 'Kaamulan Grounds.' It took us almost an hour to reach the location. It was noon, so it was a perfect timing to bring out the food, drinks, and blankets that we prepared and brought from home. We savored our lunch under the tall pine trees, and I thought to myself that it was what I wanted to release myself from stress brought by work and city's noise and pollution. It was so serene and the air was so fresh that I could even smell the mountain's breeze.

After we finished our food, my fiancée and I strolled the park and saw a few people riding horses. One of them asked us if we want to ride a horse, my fiancée wanted but i hesitated at first for I had not tried it yet and I also have fear of getting kicked and bit by horses. When I was a kid I used to watch them fighting to death in horse battles in our town, so you can't blame me for having that phobia. Horse fighting was legal back then and was mostly sponsored and approved by officials, although I feared horses but I really thought that derby was downright cruel, with or without animal rights movement.

Let's go back to where I was. So after convincing me to finally give it a try, the horse owner assisted both of us to climb it. I sat at the back because it would look awkward the other way around, I was nervous at first thinking the horse might not like us and worse it would run berserk and kick us if we fall down but fortunately nothing like that happened in fact our ride was peaceful. The horse behaved and walked well, as though it already knew we were novices. And from that moment on, my fear for horses started to wear away. It could also be because I was with the one I love, my fiancée that I felt safe, that I finally had the courage to face my fear.