First day on the horse...
Nov. 11th, 2002 11:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prowler1971My expected riding time is 6pm. I've been told to show up anytime as my instructor, Sally, has the day off from her real job and will be around all day. Still, I get there at 5:15 figuring I'm in for some prep. I'm actually in for some surprises and some standing around. I wound up using the standing around time wisely and got to know the horses, but that came later. What was happening when I got there was that the horses were outside playing and they were being sent back into the barn. There's this little old man there, I think Sally's dad. I have no warning what's about to happen.
Without warning, a horse comes galloping (maybe cantering, I don't know, I'm new at this) through the barn door is heading, to my eye, right toward me. I quickly duck into a corner and the horse turns into its stall. Okay, so I've to get used to the creatures. No big deal once I realize they are all pretty smart. They all go straight to their stalls and the old guy closes the door. A couple come in at once and if their door isn't closed right away, they come back out and walk around. Now, I'm still a little afraid of horses at this point. Fear of being kicked mostly. I think it's a healthy fear. The cat isn't afraid. Why should I be afraid? Anyway the horses do their thing. I'm looking at pictures on the wall when I hear the clomp clomp clomp of feet coming my way and this big horse (who's name I later found out was Fancy) turns the corner towards me. Okay, I'm scared for my life. The horse comes to a screeching halt, hooves sliding across the floor, as he's as surprised to see me as I am to see him. Then he slowly walks into his stall. Then he walks back out again. Apparently, he missed his food.
Okay, here comes Sally. She's going to put me on a horse named Junior. He's about a medium sized horse (from my limited experience) and apparently very friendly. None of the horses were clean so Junior seemed to be a good choice. I learned to clean him. I got dirt in my eyes but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was having to walk behind the horse. Panic sets in. I can do this. Please don't kick me. Please don't shit on me. Whew! Clearly I made it out alive, and I also cleaned the horse.
There was some standing around talking to an electrician. Then to some other guy who seemed nice. And it looked like I might not get to ride because of the on and off rain. But I'm going to learn how to tack up the horse when she's all done.
Okay, time to pick the hooves. Now the fear of being peed on is there. But this horse seems like having its hooves picked. So this is not that hard. After this, it’s off to get a saddle, saddle pad and bridle. Sally's phone keeps ringing so things move slow. It's okay, I get to let the horse get used to me. I think he likes me. We get this on then I have to find a helmet. I meant to bring my motorcycle helmet (it’s a brain bucket) which is probably sufficient head gear (especially if a skating helmet is). I realize these protect you more from lacerations than from paralysis. My neck is still fair game. Now it’s off to the ring...
It's time to mount the horse. This is kind of easy. Climb the steps, get on the horse. Getting my right foot in the stirrup was the hardest part. So now it's time for a crash course in driving a horse. Neck reigning, leg commands, verbal commands, direct reigning, shifting my weight, etc. What do I remember most? How to stop the horse. Now it's time to make it walk.
Junior seems less interested in this than I am. I give him the verbal command to walk. He doesn't move. I give him the leg squeeze to walk. He doesn't walk. I squeeze harder. He finally walks. Now, keep in mind if I squeeze too hard, he's going to go faster. That would be bad for a guy who's never been on a horse not being led by a rope in his life. Direct reigning is easy. Neck reigning is easy... but Junior is more interested in going wherever Sally is. And I'm doing leg turning backwards. The leg turning bit is kind of like flaps on a plane. The horse will actually move sideways. So if you leg and reign at the same time, the horse will make pretty tight turns, especially if he's moving fast. I don't want to experience this. I think Junior was ignoring my neck reigning, or I was doing it wrong. It might have been that as you lay the reigns on the right side of the horses neck to go left, you can inadvertently pull his head right. This will take some work.
Hey, I'm riding and steering (mostly) a horse. He seems to be having fun (considering he's just walking along). I'm going in and out of cones, which seems awfully advanced for day one, but I think the horse knows what to do when he sees the cones. Sometimes he listens to me.
It's time to learn how to stand up in the stirrups. Sally thinks I'm doing great. I'm balancing myself on the saddle. This is cheating and I let her know. Okay, I try it without my hands and fall a lot. I'm mostly afraid of slipping forward and making the horse think I want to go faster. I am experiencing the most excruciating pain I have felt in years as my knees start screaming at me. I was not designed to stand this way.
Some more riding then its time to head in. I un-tack Junior and put everything away. I help Sally feed the horses, stick around for a little while as she's doing a bunch of things, is on the phone, and I want to give her money and confirm next week. Then I'm off for home. All in all, this is a good day. I have finally ridden a horse. I have taken the first step to becoming a jouster.
Without warning, a horse comes galloping (maybe cantering, I don't know, I'm new at this) through the barn door is heading, to my eye, right toward me. I quickly duck into a corner and the horse turns into its stall. Okay, so I've to get used to the creatures. No big deal once I realize they are all pretty smart. They all go straight to their stalls and the old guy closes the door. A couple come in at once and if their door isn't closed right away, they come back out and walk around. Now, I'm still a little afraid of horses at this point. Fear of being kicked mostly. I think it's a healthy fear. The cat isn't afraid. Why should I be afraid? Anyway the horses do their thing. I'm looking at pictures on the wall when I hear the clomp clomp clomp of feet coming my way and this big horse (who's name I later found out was Fancy) turns the corner towards me. Okay, I'm scared for my life. The horse comes to a screeching halt, hooves sliding across the floor, as he's as surprised to see me as I am to see him. Then he slowly walks into his stall. Then he walks back out again. Apparently, he missed his food.
Okay, here comes Sally. She's going to put me on a horse named Junior. He's about a medium sized horse (from my limited experience) and apparently very friendly. None of the horses were clean so Junior seemed to be a good choice. I learned to clean him. I got dirt in my eyes but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was having to walk behind the horse. Panic sets in. I can do this. Please don't kick me. Please don't shit on me. Whew! Clearly I made it out alive, and I also cleaned the horse.
There was some standing around talking to an electrician. Then to some other guy who seemed nice. And it looked like I might not get to ride because of the on and off rain. But I'm going to learn how to tack up the horse when she's all done.
Okay, time to pick the hooves. Now the fear of being peed on is there. But this horse seems like having its hooves picked. So this is not that hard. After this, it’s off to get a saddle, saddle pad and bridle. Sally's phone keeps ringing so things move slow. It's okay, I get to let the horse get used to me. I think he likes me. We get this on then I have to find a helmet. I meant to bring my motorcycle helmet (it’s a brain bucket) which is probably sufficient head gear (especially if a skating helmet is). I realize these protect you more from lacerations than from paralysis. My neck is still fair game. Now it’s off to the ring...
It's time to mount the horse. This is kind of easy. Climb the steps, get on the horse. Getting my right foot in the stirrup was the hardest part. So now it's time for a crash course in driving a horse. Neck reigning, leg commands, verbal commands, direct reigning, shifting my weight, etc. What do I remember most? How to stop the horse. Now it's time to make it walk.
Junior seems less interested in this than I am. I give him the verbal command to walk. He doesn't move. I give him the leg squeeze to walk. He doesn't walk. I squeeze harder. He finally walks. Now, keep in mind if I squeeze too hard, he's going to go faster. That would be bad for a guy who's never been on a horse not being led by a rope in his life. Direct reigning is easy. Neck reigning is easy... but Junior is more interested in going wherever Sally is. And I'm doing leg turning backwards. The leg turning bit is kind of like flaps on a plane. The horse will actually move sideways. So if you leg and reign at the same time, the horse will make pretty tight turns, especially if he's moving fast. I don't want to experience this. I think Junior was ignoring my neck reigning, or I was doing it wrong. It might have been that as you lay the reigns on the right side of the horses neck to go left, you can inadvertently pull his head right. This will take some work.
Hey, I'm riding and steering (mostly) a horse. He seems to be having fun (considering he's just walking along). I'm going in and out of cones, which seems awfully advanced for day one, but I think the horse knows what to do when he sees the cones. Sometimes he listens to me.
It's time to learn how to stand up in the stirrups. Sally thinks I'm doing great. I'm balancing myself on the saddle. This is cheating and I let her know. Okay, I try it without my hands and fall a lot. I'm mostly afraid of slipping forward and making the horse think I want to go faster. I am experiencing the most excruciating pain I have felt in years as my knees start screaming at me. I was not designed to stand this way.
Some more riding then its time to head in. I un-tack Junior and put everything away. I help Sally feed the horses, stick around for a little while as she's doing a bunch of things, is on the phone, and I want to give her money and confirm next week. Then I'm off for home. All in all, this is a good day. I have finally ridden a horse. I have taken the first step to becoming a jouster.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Being scared around horses is normal & good. They can be dangerous. You will eventually get comfortable with being around them, and in the meantime just admit you're scared & new to it & don't worry about it. As for walking behind the horse, it is actually safest to walk right up next to them: that way if they do kick, they don't have enough room to get their foot up to speed & just push you away.
I would recommend picking up your own helmet that's specifically for horseback riders. There's a convenient tack store in Grafton (but not necessarily with the best prices or selection) called Saddle Shed, and one with better selection in NH called State Line Tack that also has online ordering. A cheap helmet that works well is this one. For $30, it'll be much more comfortable that borrowing one and weigh a whole lot less than a motorcycle helmet.
And soon, you get to look forward to trotting!
no subject
Date: 2002-11-12 12:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-11-13 10:05 am (UTC)