...Horses!
But too bad, this is my blog, so you're going to get horses.
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Anyway.
I rode bareback.
Just grabbed Allan's mane and got on.
My balance isn't great in the saddle, so I was a little worried, wondering if this would precipitate a fall. 59 isn't a great age to fall off a horse.
Get this.
My riding was good.
Better.
I don't fully understand.
Maybe the saddle gets in my way. I slip and slide. The thick stirrups keep me from really feeling the horse's balance. In a saddle the horses' movements are too subtle. Is he shifting to the right? The left? Bending into the middle?
(lazy horses bend into the middle of the arena...they want to cut corners)
But on bareback, I get it.
Allan steps with the left leg and I know it.
He leans to the right and I know it.
We balance together.
I grip tight onto the horse, not on a heavy leather saddle, but onto the horse's sides.
I really know where he is going.
Many riders are afraid they'll fall off without a saddle.
I feel more secure.
I know where I stand.
Or sit, as the case may be.
I remember my first riding experiences at 15.
Bareback.
Just grabbed the mane and got on.
Rode roughshod all over Mount Tam.
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That's enough about horses.
...
How about historical diagrams?
The following is a diagram for rodeo judges.
Some kind of referee type signal.
Maybe the cowboy fell off.
Maybe he won.
Who knows.
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2 comments:
how exciting!
hanging on to the horse's mane - it doesn't hurt the animal, does it? if someone pulled on (what's left of) my mane - it would certainly hurt. But then - I wouldn't want anyone riding for miles on my back either...
anyways.
what i mean to express here again is that i think you must be a natural rider, and bareback is the way to go.
good for you, friend.
No, horses have tougher skin than we baby human animals.
We brush them with a curry comb! A metal curry comb!
Ow for us.
Nice for them.
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