dog-shrink
278 posts
Jun 24, 2008
11:20 PM
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Yestreday I went to my lesson only to be told we were going out (they call it a "balade" here. I had asked about it before but I wasn't expecting it (just as well I think). My instructor said I had to have a different horse as the others I've ridden are far too fast outside the school.OMG! I was put on Galy a 15h. He seemed very sweet and we set off with another girl. I was suddenly faced with lots of downhill on gravel type surface. I was very scared but there was no way out. I held onto a little strap I put on the english saddles (I really don't like them!) and leaned back. All went OK till we came across irrigation in a field. The sprays which turn round in different directions. All three horses refused to go past. Fanny said I had to go first as Galy was the least spooky of the three! Me? But I'm the scared one! OK so after circling round and nearly jumping in the hedge I got him past. Then she said did I want to trot. Well this was 90 miles an hour!!! I only did a bit and then asked to stop. He was so fast he kept overtaking her horse and there didn't seem time to rise in the trot.
Added to this Fanny said to keep him away from the rear of her horse as he kicked and to keep the reins really loose as if not he stressed out. Also he was bitted (well you know how that makes me feel)She said "don't let him overtake me". But how to stop that if I wasn't meant to pull back on the reins!!!!
We turned round and headed for home at a very fast walk. I can honestly say that it was not a pleasure. We had to face the irrigation again on the way back. I was so worried he was going to take off.
Wow, was I glad to get back and get off.I was really wobbly!
I'm glad I did it and want to do it again even though I was scared. It was the most frightened I've been for some time.
Still, nothing bad happened, I didn't fall off.
Wow! Getting on my pony will seem like a piece of cake after that!
I was still wound up by the time I went to bed!----------
Bitless - not witless!
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PB
652 posts
Jun 25, 2008
5:03 AM
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You know dog-shrink... You climed a huge mountain! You faced scary gravel hills and monster irrigators! You got your horse, one you weren't used to, to face the lions, tigers, and bears, to trust you and go on. No it wasn't the nice quiet toe dragging, nose on the ground trail ride you may have been comfortable with, but you know what? YOU FACED YOUR FEARS! Next time will be even better! On to the next adventure! Well done!
PB
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scooter2
93 posts
Jun 25, 2008
5:13 AM
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Good for you! Funny how that made riding at home sound less scary. It's a shame you did not ride long enough to relax, but you were still very brave.
Kathy
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LC
65 posts
Jun 25, 2008
5:37 AM
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Hi Dog-Shrink,
I think you did amazingly well, and I think you should be extremely proud of yourself.
My biggest problem at the moment is MAKING myself stay on when Zack starts to dither. Since my last fall (when he stopped, thought about it for a few moments - then decided to run for his life) the minute he starts to THINK about wether or not he's going to go past something, instead of making him go past it - I get off straight away - because I am terrified that he will turn round and run again!
In your shoes I'd have been WALKING the horse in hand past the scary water sprinklers.
You did brilliantly!! :0)
Bye for now
Megan
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Determined
245 posts
Jun 25, 2008
9:19 AM
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Wow - I am really impressed! I don't know if I could jump on a horse that I had never ridden before and take him out on the trail??!!!! No way!!! That was fabulous. I think you handled it all brilliantly, and it will go a long way toward helping you rebuild your confidence.
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demelza
45 posts
Jun 25, 2008
10:52 AM
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Sometimes you just need someone to say "lets do it now". You dont have time to agonise over it for hours. I had a simular situation. I got to the point of hardly riding my horse. When asked I told people I would be happier to ride out with someone else as I no longer felt happy to ride out alone yet I knew full well I didnt know anyone I could ride out regualary with. One day I was in the paddock stroking my horse when a woman came striding down to me. I'd only said hello to her in passing and had a small chat with her hubby once about my lack of riding and why. She asked if I would like to go out riding with her in half an hour. I could hardly say i was busy so I said yes. Shes been a great riding partner ever since. Riding out for the first time (and still is) is how I would imagine an army training range is like, with cardboard "enemies" popping up behind houses, parked cars etc and you have to shoot them down. Not relaxing at all....and if its not been relaxing the whole thing goes over and over in your mind afterwards. I guess what I'm saying is..I feel exactly the same and glad to get home in one piece too!
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DixieMom
386 posts
Jun 25, 2008
12:15 PM
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You did great! It's just too bad you didn't have a calmer horse. A good trail horse is so much fun - each ride is a fun adventure instead of a stress filled disaster-waiting to happen. It would have been nice if the instructor would have used the irrigation stuff or any other obstacles as training "arenas" to desensitize all the horses. You can do your arena exercises next to the monsters, circling closer and smaller from both directions. Or you can practice backing, sidepassing, flexions, whatever to make it into a training sessions with stuff the horses already know. The monster is just an added distraction to the training, and you could kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Anyway, you did well, and I hope your next ride outside will be more fun. I rode Dixie today by myself for the first time since my knee injury. We went on a familiar route, but it was garbage pick-up day, so there were trash cans in odd places, tipped over, etc. Not real big monsters, but she doesn't like them, especially when they are not in usual places or tipped over. So I did little training exercises around them, made her walk up to them, stop and back beside them, move off shoulders or hips beside them, walk straight past but close to them, etc. It was like a little trash can obstacle course and gave her something to think about (ME!) rather than worrying that a trash can might eat her. So it was a good ride, but way too hot to ride for long. She got a bath and I got a big diet Coke afterward. I sure need to work out a deal with Snickersmom. I'll go up the Montana for the summer and she can come south for the winter. Oh to be rich and famous!
---------- Dixie Mom
"The art of riding:
Keeping a horse between you and the ground!"
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SnickersMom
139 posts
Jun 25, 2008
3:03 PM
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Dixiemom.....sounds good to me. Though it's been pretty darn warm up here too!! I don't do real well in the heat....if it's over 90 like it's supposed to be this week-end I have to ride either early in the morning or late in the evening. I don't like cold either........geez I need to move to Hawaii perfect temps 75 to 85 degrees ALL year round. I'm going in December for two weeks to the Big Island.....yesss...I'm already signed up for a four hour ride that includes a stop at a beach with lunch and one hour of snorkeling.....now that's heaven!! Snickersmom :)
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DixieMom
395 posts
Jun 25, 2008
3:19 PM
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AAAAGGGHHHHHH I want to come!!!!!!!!
Sylvia, these past 2 weeks have been so oppressively hot. We are having the coolest day so far today at 103. It was 110 a few days ago. I DO NOT LIKE SUMMER! Dixe is struggling with her allergies, and I just wish I could take her to the mountains for the summer.
Like you, I ride early or right before sunset. Gas is so high that hauling up to the mountains on the weekends is not even thinkable, but maybe we can get away for a weekend sometime.
Then I have these 3 stupid turkeys!!! The tukeys have a mister system and now an evaporative cooler to keep them alive. I told my family to never let me get turkeys again! It's way too stressful. These are going to be the most expensive Thanksgiving turkeys in the America! First a predator proof pen, then misters (and water bill) and now their own cooler! Brother! The last option is to keep them in the house during the day. The real stink is that we'll probably get so attached to them by Thanksgiving that they'll never get eaten!Dixie Mom
"The art of riding:
Keeping a horse between you and the ground!"
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SnickersMom
140 posts
Jun 26, 2008
10:23 AM
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I had two turkeys that I got as day old chicks, one lived to be 7 and the other 9 years old. They gave us a lot of laughs but there were also many times where I pictured them on a Thanksgiving Day platter...LOL They were never penned and we didn't have to do the misters though I remember them panting in the shade during hot weather. They were both males and used to vie for our attention. Sometimes, they were like "dirty old men" pressing against our legs and grunting, breathing heavily in a most disgusting manner LOL. But....all in all....they were real characters and would come along with us on our walks along with our two dogs, two cats and a goat. The neighbors got a big kick out of that procession. But......never again for me. And....you're right, you probably won't be able to make dinner out of them because as big as a pain in the butt they can be....they can also be quite endearing. Snickersmom :)
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PB
653 posts
Jun 26, 2008
12:20 PM
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Ummmm.... you may as well be on the lookout for Butterball coupons.... You won't be able to eat your turkies!! Once we had bottle baby holstein steers. Told hubby I would bottle raise them, but I wouldn't eat them after I had been their mama. We raised herefords, but they had cow moms and I just didn't pay attention to the steer babies.
When the holstein steers got big enough I put an ad in the paper and sold them. Took the money and went and bought a steer I didn't know to put in the freezer!! How crazy is that? PB
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DixieMom
396 posts
Jun 26, 2008
1:14 PM
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What a bunch of softies we are! My neighbor "rescued" a Holstein steer that was being backyard raised for the freezer. "Moo" is now huge, with huge horns and tries to play with everyone and everything. My friend states that "Once I meet, I can never eat." Ha! We should all be vegans.
So the lastest chapter on the turkey saga is that the evaportive cooler shorted out with a little rain last night. So this morning I turned the misters on and dragged a house fan out and plugged it in. So now we've got water and electricity going. I'll probably get home today and find them all electrocuted.
----------Dixie Mom
"The art of riding:
Keeping a horse between you and the ground!"
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PB
656 posts
Jun 26, 2008
6:00 PM
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Dixie mom you have me rolling in the floor!! I can just see you grumbling about those silly thanksgiving turkies! All the while dragging out the fan! Plugging it in and making sure your lovies are comfy! Course I have done it too!! Thats why I am laughing! We used to raise rabbits to eat. One of the bunnies got an eye infection. I took it to the vet and had a $100 bill! Hubby said why didn't I just wait till he got home and he'd "take care" of the bunny. I just shrugged, smiled and mended bunny, then gave it away as a pet. Don't think I could be vegan, but I can't see my animals not happy and comfy. PB
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DixieMom
399 posts
Jun 27, 2008
5:41 PM
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We used to raise rabbits, too! Easy to do in a cool climate, but very hard in a hot one. I won't do them in Tucson. I had a pet bunny here, but he had a house cage for summers.
Talking about caring well for our animals - it's deplorable how many people around here have no shade for their horses. It's 110 out and the poor horses are trying to stand behind cactus or whatever they can find. There is a grassroot movement locally to get some legislation passed to require shade.
Then again, I have to wonder when it is 110 and I have the breezeway misters turned on and there is plenty of shade. I go to check on the "kids" and they are all out laying in the sun! The water company loves me!
----------Dixie Mom
"The art of riding:
Keeping a horse between you and the ground!"
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PB
657 posts
Jun 27, 2008
6:33 PM
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Thats bad about the horses not having any shade. In NC you have to have at least a 3 sided something for your horse to get in out of the weather. I know what you mean about wondering about their choices in where to rest. Sometimes in the winter when mine have a nice stall to get into with hay to eat they are out in the pasture with icicles hanging off their chins! Here I have been putting Libby's hay in the shade so she isn't so hot just trying to eat. PB
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dog-shrink
280 posts
Jun 28, 2008
2:19 AM
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Thanks for you lovely words. Yes it was scary but I did it. The next day I rode mine with my friend and I was the best I've ever been. After the huge scare of the day before, riding Iro was so easy, even the slopes weren't too bad at all!!!! I'm now starting to think about another field or further away we can ride.
Love the turkey chat!!! (being a veggie I wouldn't eat them anyway but the stories were so amusing)
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Bitless - not witless!
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FreshStart
15 posts
Jun 29, 2008
10:40 AM
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Good for you, dog-shrink. That's what they call the saturation approach, I think, and I can imagine your rides on Iroquois will seem easy-peasy now. I just asked in another post if you are in the UK, but maybe it's France?
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Fresh Start "Safety First"
Last Edited on 29-Jun-2008 10:41 AM
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DixieMom
406 posts
Jun 29, 2008
2:17 PM
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Dog-shrink, I know what you mean! I used to be so scared of downhills, too. They don't look bad from the ground, but from the saddle, they are REALLY scary! Then my son and I went to a trail riding clinic. Oh my goodness!!! I thought I would DIE! We were riding up and down dry rock waterfalls, along cliffs, up and down stuff so steep and rocky and really did think I would die! On one hill, I couldn't even see Dixie's head - just the tips of her ears below me! Well, that was a life changing weekend as far as my trail riding went. I learned so much trust in Dixie, and she never missed a step, even when my saddle almost slid off sideways (girth had loosened and she hopped sideways to get around a ditch and boulder.) I have never ridden on those kinds of trails since, but I know now that there is no trail of my choosing that she can't handle. It's all a matter of perspective! Keep on! You're so brave!!!
----------Dixie Mom
"The art of riding:
Keeping a horse between you and the ground!"
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