One of my best runaway horse tales could have had very serious consequences but, fortunately, did not. I was about 6 years old and the girl who worked for us had two horses that boarded at our stable. The older mare was a Percheron, named Lady, and then her daughter was a Percheron x Morgan cross.

Every day, we would go way out into the back field where Lady would be tied out. Claudia, our stable girl, would lift me up and let me ride Lady as she led her all the way back to the barn. It was an incredible feeling, being able to ride a horse sooo big.

One day, Claudia asked me to bring Lady in for her and I asked if I could ride her back to the barn. "If you can get on her," the girl jokingly replied.

Never. Never say something like that to a 6 year old.

I still don't know how I managed to get on that huge horse, but I'm sure it involved the trees in the woods. Either way, I was up there with just a halter and a lead rope to control this Percheron mare....and then she put her head down to grab a mouthful of grass. I will never forget the sight of the leadrope flipped up over her ear as it was pulled from my hands... I had a good glimpse of it as I stretched and reached for it... a cue which made Lady realize she was free and had full rein to RUN for the barn.

No one knows how I managed to stay atop this massive horse as she charged up from the back fields at a full thundering gallop. They could just hear me yelling "Whoa Lady Whoa!" and, in turn, simply yelled for me to hold on...nothing much else they could do. Fortunately, my wild ride ended when she ran up into the barn (my mother yelling DUCK just in time to keep me from getting slammed off Lady's back), and Lady stopped in her stall.

I didn't ride her up from the field for many many years after that LOL.