I know, you've forgotten more about riding than I'll ever know, and I remember telling two rodeo stars about the Thoroughbred Grey I was training, with help.
me and the youngest
They looked at me blankly, in a nonplussed wtf are you kind of way and I replied, "Hey, just having fun with a horse." They lightened at that, "What it's all about, man."
Three screws in the hip and a cautionary tale later I'm more cautious and haven't ridden since; maybe that needs to change? But here's the thing, I'm not inclined to get on a half-broke horse anymore, much less a mad Arab. Is that wrong?
Ride on,
LSP
Having left horses behind long ago, I still remember lessons learned (I was riding solo before I was 4 years old). Until domesticated, horses were pray animals and all the instincts of prey animals remain. Therefore, have your head on a swivel and your brain in gear anytime you are around them.
ReplyDeleteOne thing my father always did every time was to put his hand into his armpit then his hand over the horses nostril. The idea is the horse then associates your smell with their own smell. Right or wrong? I can't say except my father was the best horseman I ever saw.
Arab's are pussycats except I would never ride my stallion. Riding wasn't his job.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't matter how good of a horseman you are, at some point you and your mount will have a disagreement, right when you get complacent. As MrsPaulM says, "Usually the safest place is in the saddle when he goes to bucking." But as we get older the landings do get harder if we bail.
ReplyDeleteI don't blame you. Wisdom, that's what it's called. You don't bounce so easily nowadays and why take the risk?
ReplyDeleteI don't blame you. Wisdom - that's what that is. You don't bounce so easily these days so why take the risk?
ReplyDelete"I'm not inclined to get on a half-broke horse anymore, much less a mad Arab. Is that wrong?"
ReplyDeleteSeems common sense to me. I know nothing about riding horses but I would pick the quietest old girl in the paddock to ride on. A horse with the disposition of Blue Sleeper after a fried cherry pie.
Yep, probably waited too long. And that bottom saddle is a roping saddle somebody 'added' some rubber to the horn for snubbing a rope...
ReplyDeleteHaven't ridden a horse since I was 10 or so, but I enjoyed them. But a half-broke one? Uhhh...no thanks. A Man's Gotta Know His Limitations!
ReplyDeleteI think you're wise, drjim.
ReplyDeleteRight, NFO, a roping saddle. It just came to hand (I'm not a roper).
ReplyDeleteHa! Good call DOS!
ReplyDeleteSaying that, I used to like to FAST. Big exhilaration, no doubt about it.
Now that, Juliette, is a very good point and I'll take it. Glad you had fun in Whitby!
ReplyDeleteWell said, Paul, and that buck took me by surprise. I'd become complacent and overconfident as well as a bit rusty. Then boom, disaster.
ReplyDeleteGreat horses, imo, glasslass, though a lot of cowboys scorn them. Not sure why, because they're not Quarterhorses? Huh.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely prey animals, WSF, and good advice.
ReplyDeleteYour dad's method has a ring of truth... I think I've heard it before too, in "horse lore."