Keisha Shakespeare, Freelance Writer
Giddy up! Freelance writer Keisha Shakespeare can hardly contain herself as she takes a ride on Damiondo. Shakespeare and most of the 'Lifestyle' team took a 20-minute gallop through the property.
I WAS ready and raring to go, but when I saw the size of the horses my heart began to beat as if I were on a five-furlong sprint.
Entering the Good Hope stables, we were greeted by Alvin Forskin and Noel Williams, horse trainers. It was overcast, so we didn't waste any time. Forskin and Williams got us geared up in helmets. I was the first to choose my horse, Damiondo one of the largest. Mounting Damiondo was no picnic in the park. It took several tries before I got on. After I finally settled in my saddle the horse decided it was time to go. As you may have guessed, my heart was sprinting again.
DO HORSES BUCK?
I started panicking and, as you might imagine, everyone started laughing. Thankfully I was not the butt of their jokes for long, as Shelly-Ann Thompson took the cake when she asked the priceless question, "Do horses buck?"
It got us all howling. (And to think she calls herself a country girl.) She was even more dramatic when she appealed for the trainers to get her off her horse whose name is Sprint Factory, a former racehorse. However, she settled down when Williams informed her that he would not run off with her.
We all saddled up, except for my editor Grace Cameron. Her excuse was that she was wearing a skirt, but everyone knew that she was just plain scared. (Editor's note: Not true.)
I was less than thrilled at the start of our 20-minute ride when I realised that the trail would lead us through the bushes. There was no backing out though and Forskin, to ease my mind, added a leading rein onto Damiondo, so he could control his movements.
DOWN THE HILL AND PAST THE COTTON TREE
Down the hill we went, past the 75-year-old cotton tree, Tony Hart's home (which was the doctor's cottage in the 18th century), river cottage, and the bird feeding trees. While going downhill Forskin advised us to lean backward to balance the horses.
We slowly made our way past the old graveyard where John Tharp's grandson is buried and past the field manager's home (once the home of Tharp's illegitimate son, John Harewood).
We soon came to an old brick ruin. Forskin told us that it was an old church that use to be a hospital for slaves and that it was destroyed by Hurricane Gilbert in 1988.
On the way back to the stables the rain started. I don't know if it was the rain or the sight of the stables but the some of the horses got excited and started to gallop. I was the first to dismount, relieved to have my feet back on the ground. However, when I took my first step it hurt like crazy. I was walking all funny and of course Cameron was cracking up, saying I was walking like I had "boasen".
THE WATERWHEEL
We said our goodbyes to Forskin and Williams and went off to the waterwheel which was built by John Tharp in 1769. It was used for crushing sugar cane. The power source is the water that runs through the cut stone aqueduct from a dam a mile upstream. Instead of returning to the river the water continues through the hand- built aqueduct under the road, over the river and down another four miles to another of Tharp's estate to drive the waterwheel.
Stuart Roland, waterwheel tour guide told us that the waterwheel in earlier years was the main source of water on the estate.
The wheel became a part of the Good Hope attraction last December after repairs were done on the walkway. It took three months to complete with nine men including Roland. The walkway was repaired with flint cut stones that added beauty to the old wheel.
The wheel, though old, operates as well today as it did years ago.
