If you and your horse aren't safe, don't ride in the arena with other people.
If you notice people leaving the arena when you mount up, and it happens every time? You're not safe.
If you notice people deliberately waiting for you to be done before they come into the arena, and it happens every time? You're not safe.
If you and your horse aren't safe, don't ride in the arena with other people.
*shudder* We had one of those at the current barn for a while. She took her time getting saddled, etc - because she looooved her horsie and had to spend a bunch of time getting him prettied up and saddled - and we'd all either ride before she did or wait until she was done. It wasn't that she was overtly unsafe - I mean, she wasn't hanging off of her horse or doing stupid shit. It was more a problem of communication issues between a very sensitive horse and a very high-strung, not-sensitive rider. They were like a thirty minute session with a powder keg and a lit match. I honestly sat and watched them some days just to make sure someone was on hand to call 911 in case that horse actually blew.
Second place in the pet peeve list definitely goes to "let's all go stand at the gate at the end of the ride!" Just... why. Why would you do this? Your horse already knows that the gate goes out, and that going out of the gate means you're probably done. And the people that always do that also are the ones that always dismount by the gate. Can we say "recipe for a massively gate-sour horse"?
Sunday, November 26, 2017
NaBloPoMo Day 25 - Your dream trailer
I actually don't have a specific trailer in mind.
In the end, what I want is a trailer that will hold all of my horses. At the moment, that's gonna be a two-horse rig...
Oh, and I need a truck to pull it.
It's the little things, right?
In the end, what I want is a trailer that will hold all of my horses. At the moment, that's gonna be a two-horse rig...
Oh, and I need a truck to pull it.
It's the little things, right?
NaBloPoMo Day 24 - Your best riding friend
You know, it's funny... I don't really know that I have one.
I had a best friend in middle/high school that I took lessons with. We were great friends outside of riding, but I found I had... questions... when it came to riding. There were a lot of things she said that didn't line up with what she knew or did. It just didn't add up. And as we moved on into high school, she got into band and I didn't - and she got into some freaking crazy drama and I didn't - and we've grown very much apart these days.
Most of the intervening years were spent around a lot of teenagers. Lots and lots of teenagers. Which, I mean, I'm not a small-child-friendly human (ugh, so sticky and annoying, sorry mothers), but I can handle teenagers. They just aren't typically my friends.
My BOs right now are the closest friends I've had in the horse business, really, and when we do get on and ride, we have a great time. But I'm also conscious that they're best friends and I'm always going to be a bit of a third wheel, no matter how much fun we have.
I realize this sounds kind of... well... isolated and lonely? It actually doesn't bother me. I prefer to have someone around when I'm on horseback (and honestly, sometimes when I'm handling the horses at all), but "around" can be "watching on the barn cameras" and I'm fine. I'm a little bit of an introvert. :)
I had a best friend in middle/high school that I took lessons with. We were great friends outside of riding, but I found I had... questions... when it came to riding. There were a lot of things she said that didn't line up with what she knew or did. It just didn't add up. And as we moved on into high school, she got into band and I didn't - and she got into some freaking crazy drama and I didn't - and we've grown very much apart these days.
Most of the intervening years were spent around a lot of teenagers. Lots and lots of teenagers. Which, I mean, I'm not a small-child-friendly human (ugh, so sticky and annoying, sorry mothers), but I can handle teenagers. They just aren't typically my friends.
My BOs right now are the closest friends I've had in the horse business, really, and when we do get on and ride, we have a great time. But I'm also conscious that they're best friends and I'm always going to be a bit of a third wheel, no matter how much fun we have.
I realize this sounds kind of... well... isolated and lonely? It actually doesn't bother me. I prefer to have someone around when I'm on horseback (and honestly, sometimes when I'm handling the horses at all), but "around" can be "watching on the barn cameras" and I'm fine. I'm a little bit of an introvert. :)
NaBloPoMo Day 23 - Critique a famous/well known equestrian jumping round of your choosing
I don't have a critique. I just want William Fox-Pitt's lower leg skillz. lol
NaBloPoMo Day 22 - The importance of riding in your life
For me, it's not so much the riding as it is the horses.
I mean, I'm the person who went for a good five years without even sitting on a horse after I lost so much confidence that a horse stomping flies while I was in the saddle was enough to make me melt down into tears.
And despite that, I still showed up every week at the barn. I groomed horses, I fed horses, I worked my instructor's summer camp, I did stalls, I cleaned tack...
Even during the brief periods where I didn't have anywhere to ride, after my instructor decided she was getting out of the business and the first place I rode at fell through - I was still the person that can find and pet a horse anywhere.
No lie. We went on vacation to Alaska, and I found a) the Kentucky Derby on TV at our lunch place, and b) a horse-drawn carriage that let me pet their horse. lol
I mean, I'm the person who went for a good five years without even sitting on a horse after I lost so much confidence that a horse stomping flies while I was in the saddle was enough to make me melt down into tears.
And despite that, I still showed up every week at the barn. I groomed horses, I fed horses, I worked my instructor's summer camp, I did stalls, I cleaned tack...
Even during the brief periods where I didn't have anywhere to ride, after my instructor decided she was getting out of the business and the first place I rode at fell through - I was still the person that can find and pet a horse anywhere.
No lie. We went on vacation to Alaska, and I found a) the Kentucky Derby on TV at our lunch place, and b) a horse-drawn carriage that let me pet their horse. lol
 |
| Different city, different state, different trip... yep, still found a horse. |
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
NaBloPoMo Day 21 - Your perfect schooling outfit
Ooo. I remember schooling outfits!
lol
As a kid, I always had riding tights, a stable of t-shirts that were thirteen kinds of screwed up by the time I grew out of them, and a french braid. In winter, I had the lined riding jeans.
These days... yeah, um, since I'm not elbow-deep in neon pink Swat for three months of the year and can pick and choose when I clean tack, I'm not nearly so hard on my clothing. That tends to mean I wear whatever rises to the top of the laundry basket that morning and yesterday's jeans, because the horses aren't gonna care.
Really, the only thing I want is a good pair of half-chaps that doesn't cost an arm and a leg... and the other leg... and three fingers... In my much-thinner-than-now days, I was a M in calf height and an XL or XXL in calf circumference; it hasn't gotten smaller.
lol
As a kid, I always had riding tights, a stable of t-shirts that were thirteen kinds of screwed up by the time I grew out of them, and a french braid. In winter, I had the lined riding jeans.
These days... yeah, um, since I'm not elbow-deep in neon pink Swat for three months of the year and can pick and choose when I clean tack, I'm not nearly so hard on my clothing. That tends to mean I wear whatever rises to the top of the laundry basket that morning and yesterday's jeans, because the horses aren't gonna care.
 |
| Witness my stunning couture. And a variety of faces ranging from "laughing" to "concentrating" to "I'm going to murder you for making me stand in the heat because you forgot how to walk on lead." |
Really, the only thing I want is a good pair of half-chaps that doesn't cost an arm and a leg... and the other leg... and three fingers... In my much-thinner-than-now days, I was a M in calf height and an XL or XXL in calf circumference; it hasn't gotten smaller.
Monday, November 20, 2017
NaBloPoMo Day 20 - Your favorite horse show
Oh, jeez. I remember my least favorite show pretty clearly - makes an impression when the horse you're riding has a complete freak-out because something is new and you manage to disqualify yourself because you misheard the instructions from the judge - but the ones that weren't utter failures are... fuzzy.
...Probably because they're like 15 years ago. I'm guessing. lol
On the other hand, I have been to a show recently; I just didn't participate. Unless 'manning a camera' is participating? Because I did that.
We took the three babies from that year to a local schooling show for some exposure. There were varying levels of enthusiasm...
But it was a good day. :)
...Probably because they're like 15 years ago. I'm guessing. lol
On the other hand, I have been to a show recently; I just didn't participate. Unless 'manning a camera' is participating? Because I did that.
We took the three babies from that year to a local schooling show for some exposure. There were varying levels of enthusiasm...
 |
| WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! |
 |
| I got this. |
 |
| Trotting is icky and you're gonna get like two more steps out of me before I decide I'd rather walk, thanks. |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)