St. Kitts Rainforest

Well I never expected to be writing about my ride in the rainforest, but here I am. I spent last weekend in St Kitts, one of the Leeward Islands in the West Indies, a three hour flight from Miami. The trip was sponsored by the General Practice Solo Small Firm Section of the Florida Bar. I'm not a huge fan of commercial trail rides with hack line horses but good friend and horse lover Susan Kirkconnell wanted to experience the West Indies rainforest from horseback. Since I definitely hate to pass up a possible adventure (and the opportunity to tell another trail ride story) I agreed to tag along.

 We were picked up at our hotel, the St Kitts Marriott by Wilfred of Trinity Stables, one of the few riding facilities on the island. We were joined last minute by Angie and seven year old daughter, Brianna. They were both very excited about the chance to ride so Susan and I knew this would add an element of interest to our ride. Our transportation to the "stables" consisted of an open air, very breezy, seat in the back of Wilfred's pickup. We were told the ride was $75, cash only. Wilfred's strong suit is not making change or remembering how much you gave him so exact change is recommended.

We were introduced to our mounts and our trail guide, Scott, an island resident. Susan had requested English saddles for the two of us. Apparently requests are taken but not necessarily acknowledged. All of the horses sported worn western saddles that had seen more than a few rides. Scott asked each of us about our experience and I was given Gypsy (a gelding despite his girlie name). Susan had Mary (not really a good name for her as you'll soon discover).  Brianna was on Pretty Boy and the remaining two horse's names have already slipped from my fifty something brain.  Scott's horse ponied Brianna's - a questionable choice because he really seemed to be a handful and not suited as a pony horse.

Gypsy was the designated leader and off we went into the rainforest. No need to have any real riding skills as Gypsy knew exactly where he was going and at what speed - fast enough to stay ahead of the other horses but never faster than a walk. The weather in St Kitts is like Florida, if you don't like it wait a few minutes because it is destined to change. It looked like we were in for a major downpour. The top of the mountain was shrouded in mist and the sky was dark and overcast. Much to our surprise we never even got one drop of rain and the cloud cover made the day very enjoyable.

Kitticians (the term for locals) don't share the same view of animals as Americans. In St Kitts an animal must have some sort of utility or it is disposable. We were told there were more monkeys on the island than people. Well you couldn't prove it by me because I only saw one living monkey. On the trail ride i unfortunately saw two vey dead monkeys that looked like their demise was anything but pleasant. They were hung grotesquely tethered between two trees as a warning to the possible fate of other unlucky monkeys who might venture that way.  In addition there were several goat heads mounted on sticks. Very voodoo and very unsettling. I prefer my animals alive and well, living free from human interference except for food, love and affection.

Likewise the dogs we encountered we're either tethered with heavy chains or roaming free, obviously fending for themselves. The females have the additional burden of providing for pups, without the comfort of a regular meal she can count on. The cats were all feral, some with tipped ears indicating either they had been trapped, neutered and released or somehow mutilated. Others had their kittens in tow eating scraps of discarded food or courting the beach bar patrons for leftovers and handouts.

I digress.  Okay, enough about the need for a St Kitts Humane Society and more about our trail ride.  The views from the trail across the village landscape out to the ocean were amazing and well worth the effort.

Once we reached the top of the hill, Scott unlocked a creepy corrugated metal gate giving us access to an area where the local atv attraction was prohibited. We rode down the hill a short way to a dilapidated padlocked shed. I have to admit that my danger radar was on high alert. After the dead monkeys and goat heads, it was all just a little too weird. We dismounted and Scott prepared soft drinks for us - nice touch  Still can't figure out what the paring knife was for unless he brought it  in case we wanted to carve our initials into the shed as evidence we actually survived the ride. 

During our refreshment break, Gypsy and Mary were allowed to roam free.  I was hoping they would be interested enough in the lush hilltop grass not to abandon us miles from the beginning of our journey.

We soon learned that Scott's horse was a fully intact male, a stallion in all his glory. This explains his erratic behavior on the trail. We also quickly discovered that Mary was in heat and very interested in the possibility of a husband (or a quickie). Scott decided to indulge his horse's natural instincts and we all (especially young Brianna) got an up close and personal lesson on where baby horses come from. Sadly, I was dumbstruck and couldn't get my camera out before the deed was done and Miss Mary was no longer the virgin Mary, although I got the impression this might not have been her first trot around the block either.

 And right when we thought we'd had all the excitement we could stand, Scott invited us to follow him down a deserted trail. My imagination was on high alert, conjuring up the next day's headline - Four American Women Missing in the Jungle. Sorry Scott but it  really was a little creepy and strange to be in such a remote place with a total stranger on a randy stallion in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in the ocean, thousands of miles from home, West Indies.

Actually my instincts were dead wrong, thankfully, and he only wanted to show us a really cool banyan tree. Thank you, Jesus.

We made our way back to the horses, remounted and enjoyed the descent down the mountain without further incident. Both the stallion and Mary no worse for the wear and both in a much calmer frame of mind.

Not sure I can top this one any time soon, but stay tuned.