horsies

[rm]

Well, I did it. I rode a horse. I apparently have really good form instinctively, and we did a lot more today than she thought we would and I apparently figured out some stuff it takes people months to get; we're working on posting now, and she basically thinks that if I get over the minor fact that I'm afraid of everything (and wow, do I suck at getting on and off the horse or what?) I could be really good at this. English sadle for anyone who cares.

Horse was named Emily, and she was white and dappled, and doesn't like going clockwise in the ring at all, but otherwise was very very docile.

I've my next lesson next sunday, also at Kensington, but I think I'm going to pay Claremont a visit and then figure out where I am most comfortable (there are pros and cons of both for me mentally, quite aside from the practical issues).

I hurt in places I didn't know I had. And among other things I still find it utterly hillarious that I'm doing this. Here's to another one of my completely cracked whims.

Overall it was a really nice day. Got a sandwhich at Le Kiosk on the way to the stables, and chatted with the folks there in French (while listening to bad French pop music) while the food was prepared. Without doing anything really extravagent today just felt like I wasn't struggling, like this is how my life is, just this weird ongoing adventure where I get to learn how to do all sorts of strange crap, and that's like my job kinda. It was nice. It was really fucking nice.

Meanwhile, I finally decided that if I could face horses, I could face Kim's Video -- but the one our household has a membership with is closed closed closed. I'm sort of relieved. Signing up for Netflix tonight.

Comments

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

I'll discuss all the gaits, of a standard, four gaited horse.

Walking. Four beats, each foot comes up, one at a time. A rolling motion, around the horse, front, opposite rear, other front, opposite rear; repeat.

Trot. Two beats. The front, and opposite rear come up together, and land the same. This is a diagonal. You choose one (the left, or right; determined by the front foot) and rise to it. You sit on the other. A horse will have a favorite lead, though it ought to change them when switching direction (i.e. in a left, or right, circle), and you should switch them as well, but outside the show ring this doesn't really matter.

Canter. Three beats. the two front and the joined rear. This is the rhythm of the gallop, which one learns to make by slapping one's hands together, on the way to the thigh, bud-a-bup, bud-a-bup. There are, perforce, four foot-strikes, but the rear come so close together as to not matter.

One sits this, and is lifted a bit, or not, depending on one's seat, level of comfort, and the swing of the horse. On a smooth horse, when sitting comfortably, it can be, remarkably, similar to a rocking horse.

Hand-gallop. Same as the canter, but all-out. The horse is streached, neck flat, legs a blur. Seen on television, when one watches races. One sits this in "Two-point" by lifting the butt from the saddle, just high enough that the rise of the horses swinging back, brings the back/bottom of the saddle to the lifted rump. On a pleasant horse this is an almost flat ride, though one feels as though one has never travelled so fast in one's life.

If the horse/rider team knows the trail, it can navigate an incredibly complex path of turns, and minor obstacles... though I think you might want to avoid jumping, until you are more confident.

When the trail is well known the shifts of weight, and the delicate inclining of the horse to the left, and the right, is a cross between flying, and floating. Delicate, and powerful. One of that category of things which is second only to good sex/lovemaking, in the sense of wonder and release it engenders.

TK