horsies!

[rm]

Well.

Despite being terrified of the very brusk man on the phone at the horse riding place -- I've a lesson for Sunday at 2:30p.m. -- he must have verified with me that I've never ridden before like 800-times, which was sort of freaky, but I suppose it's just so they have the right horse and instructor for me.

You know, when I came up with this cracked idea (one of many in a long history of cracked ideas), I didn't think it was that insane.

But no, it's that insane.

I've flown a plane, I can do this. I've flown a plane, I can do this.

So like... what do I wear? Jeans and solid shoes, yeah?

Comments

Re: Don't forget the Yeehah!!

[adriang.livejournal.com]

Horses are really fascinating creatures, and as lllvis said, they have all sorts of personalities. They are social animals, so they do have a keen sense for the way other animals (people included) around them feel. You can be certain that the horse will know you are nervous, but you can also be pretty sure that the horse chosen for you will not be predisposed to take advantage of your nervousness. The main thing to fear is that the horse they give you at first may be rather boring. 8-)

You can think of a horse as a really big child, who is used to the idea of being around humans and of being saddled up and ridden (at least the one they bring you will be). Working around horses involves maintaining a bluff of sorts, and your acting experience may help a great deal. If push comes to shove, the horse would win, of course, but you need to simply assume that you are in charge. Whether or not you are competent is not relevant, and you don't have to cover for what you don't know; Being ready to be in charge is what's important. I try to take an attitude of patient and gentle determination. I relax and avoid exerting more control than I have to, and in particular, I use this relaxation of control as a reward when the horse behaves well. But I do become more insistent when he doesn't do what I want, at first. At some point, it can be okay to back down, because sometimes the horse is trying to tell you something important when he resists doing what you tell him to do. This will probably be hard to judge, at first, and the folks helping you learn will likely be a good source of advice.

It's a good idea to learn to figure out what your horse is thinking and paying attention to. In particular, his ears will tell you a lot about where his attention is. Giving your horse room to interpret your signals and even room to rebel just a little can make it easier to figure out what he's thinking.

The main habit that I had to loose was gripping the horse with my legs when I felt insecure in the saddle. Some (but not all) horses take this as a signal to go faster, and they can get a little frustrated if they think you are telling them to go fast with your legs and to slow down with the reins.

The really are marvelous animals, and I hope you have a lot of fun with them.

Adrian

Re: Don't forget the Yeehah!!

[rm.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you so much, this is so useful. My one horse experience was about twenty years ago and involved the horse bolting, for no reason I could discern (this scared the crap out of me, and wound up getting my leg gashed open on a fence). But the thing is, I'm not afraid of horses, but I am, and was even more so then afraid of heights. I could easily have been gripping with my legs too tight out of fear of falling off.