Ride On?

 

Shadow LSP

Perhaps it's time to get back on the horse. I mean to say, there you are at the dear old Tolly in Calcutta and decide to go for a morning ride. So put on those burnished field boots, stroll over to the stables, swing into the saddle and... make a complete fool of yourself because you haven't actually ridden in a few years, four, to be precise.

The Tolly, I Think It's Time to Visit

All wrong. No, none of that. Instead you mount up and ride on into the dawn of a new Bengal day, moving from walk, to trot, to canter, to gallop, all seamlessly and in union with the horse itself. Man and beast at one. OK, so you have a warm up in the arena first to get to know the horse, but that's all good and your Syce suspends his inclination to scorn a new rider. Ride over, you fall back to the veranda for refreshments, the day is young.

Now you see where I'm going with this. If you want to go on a tour of the Clubs of the Old Raj, you'd better be able to ride. That in mind, the Lenten fast is moving me to call up the Senior Warden and ask, "I say, J, d'ye know someone who can sort me out for remedial lessons, English style?"

Me a Few Year's Back at J's Arena With The Youngest 

She'll say yes and we can go from there, maybe to a half lease, and even if the Tolly plan, magnificent in scope, doesn't work out it's still way better than a gym membership. So let's see how this equestrian plan pans out. In the meanwhile, here's J in the day:

Just Outstanding

What an athlete! Her husband was too, RIP, a world champ Bronc Rider and MC/Treasurer at Mission #2 to boot. But rodeo aside, I feel that it'd be good to get in the saddle again and actually learn the discipline. Or something like that.

Cheers,

LSP

Ride On

 

Look at this fool, a couple of years back. Well it's all fun and games till you break your femur. But I tell you, it's a great thing to go fast on a horse. I know, many of you have forgotten more about riding than I'll ever know, but we're not scoring points here, just having fun.

Ride On,

LSP

Ride

"You're not much of an LSP," you mutter darkly, " You don't even ride anymore." Not so fast, readers, I finally got back in the saddle at a friend's compound and rode El Cid. We cantered and galloped about while the rest of the team worked out in a round pen.

Excellent result and I've resolved to ride more, good for mind, body and spirit. Unless you fall off and break, but that's a different story.

Ride on,

LSP

Don't be a Lib, Ride and Shoot

Love riding.

Scorn Libs.

Shoot.

That is all.

LSP

Don't be an Illuminati Stooge, Get Out And Ride

You can sit there reading the pathetically comsymp Guardian or the transsexual New York Times, whining about how gender is a construct, Islam is really peaceful and there aren't enough welcoming bathrooms, for all sexes. 

NWO Stooge Puppet

Sure, you can do that, as you sip your artisanal micro-brew; go right ahead. Or you can saddle up and go for a ride. I chose not to be an Illuminati stooge puppet of the New World Order and went for the latter option.

Typical Texas Street Scene

It was a beautiful evening, made all the better for heavy rain clouds, which appeared miraculously as I drove to my friend's ranch. It even started raining as I tacked up; God was surely smiling on this venture.

Mesquite Work-Out

We moved off briskly into the mesquites and I was curious to see how the horse would perform. Would she be willing and forward, or mutinous and backwards, balking and veering towards the comfort zone of the barn? She was a bit of both last time.

Good Horse

This time was different, she was very willing and a total pleasure to ride. We worked out around mesquites and trails and then moved to a big field and opened up. Walk, trot, canter, gallop, run! Then relax back down to a walk and do it all over again.

Horses Scorn Liberals

I took time to work on posting trot too; good for the horse's back, your stomach... and overall control. I know, posting is "English" but there's more than a few serious Western riders who advocate it. I texted one, a year or so back. Our conversation went like this:

"I'm going for a ride."
"You be careful."
"Don't worry, if it gets all tippy I'll hold on to the strange pommel thing."
"Saddle horn."
"Saddle horn?"
"Yes. Saddle horn. That's what we call it."
"Ah. I see."

Back to the Compound

My correspondent was a world champion bronc rider several years running and has forgotten more about riding than I will ever know. I respect that. A lot.

Ride on,

LSP

Get Out And Ride

People say to me, "LSP, if that's your real name, which we doubt, how come you don't ride very much, seeing as how you're so country?" Good question, and to set the record straight, I drove out to a friend's place and got in the saddle.

We rode out around the 600 acre ranch, walk, trot, gallop, and surveyed the territory. A beautiful place to ride, with plenty of room to put the foot on the accelerator and several vistas that suddenly opened up in the light of the setting sun.

Somehow we picked up a small herd of horses that followed us about and played a little rodeo. You might want to be careful with that; a loose horse in front of you could decide to kick. Your chest. That didn't happen, fortunately, and we lost the herd.

There is a sense of expansive freedom being on horseback in Texas, and my mind goes back to the people who settled this land not that long ago. It was hard for them and the difficulties were great, but so too was the advantage. 

I've been invited back, "Come out any time! But if you see a rattlesnake you have to shoot it."

That sounds fair to me.

Ride on,

LSP

Boot and Spur

When we walked into the Pitt Stop yesterday to get hamburgers, one of the riders was wearing spurs. An old timer looked up from his booth and said, "Spurs?" and my friend said, "Well you can't be a cowboy without spurs, can you now."

The old timer thought for a bit and kind of beamed back, "I haven't worn a pair of those in years!"

I hardly ever ride with them and maybe that's a mistake, but here's some basic spur wisdom from HorseChannel.com:

Spurs are no substitute for good riding skills. By no means will they help make you a better rider.

“You have to know how to ride a horse correctly before you put spurs on,” says Sherryl Crawford of Lipan, Texas, who grew up running cans, trains her own barrel horses and also team ropes. “If you don’t really know what you are doing as far as riding or training a horse, and you’re also spurring him, you’re just going to end up with a big problem that you can’t fix.”

“Spurs are a good tool if you use them correctly; they’re not for looks, and they’re not to be used as a weapon,” says Earnest Wilson of Tolar, Texas, who is a well-respected Paint Horse trainer with 46 years in the business...

Spurs should be applied with steady pressure—pressing the spur into the horse’s side, not poking him. You can increase the pressure as necessary, but if you poke or jab the horse he’s going to lurch or jump. Then you risk grabbing with your legs to hang on, and grabbing his mouth, too. That will simply scare your horse. 

Ride on,

LSP 

Go For a Ride

After Morning Prayer and walking the dog I went for a ride, but first I got some coffee at H-Donuts. H-Donuts is run by Vietnamese, I think, and helps make up the rich tapestry of ethnic diversity that is our small farming community. Their coffee was strong.

Blue had fun playing with the other dogs while I caught a house and saddled up. The animal's an Arabian and stands pretty firmly for States Rights, which explains the saddle blanket.

We walked, trotted and did some reining exercises, and that was all good. Then I hosed the horse down and drove back to the cultural melting pot of the Compound, where a Mexican appeared and gave me some tamales; a dozen of them, cheese and jalapeno. Maybe he was illegal, maybe he wasn't, but I do know that the tamales hit the spot after an hour or so of horsing around.

I've resolved to ride every week, That is my plan.

Stay on the horse,

LSP