Horseriding

I know there's already a horse thread in the hobbies section, but nobody's commented in three years and I figure it's dead... and I'd love to talk to some like-minded horse people. :') I wanna hear about how you got into riding, if you have a horse, if you're still riding, your worst/funniest accidents...

I started riding when I was eight and my dad bought me two lessons for Christmas, and I attended a riding school called Home Farm in Scotland. I rode there for a good ten years until my teacher retired and as of right now, a year or so later, I'm yet to find somewhere new. I never had my own horse or pony but I remember all the horses at the stables and I rode them all: Dream, Whiskey, Topaz, Mickey, Fancy, Minnie, Velvet, Teddy, Oliver, Simba, Dylan, and there was also Josie the donkey.

I've had about ten falls in ten years which really isn't too bad, I think. The funniest was probably doing a forward roll down a pony's neck after she halted mid-canter and threw her head down, or falling off the same pony when she skidded sideways to a stop and I flipped over and landed on my feet still holding the reins and my crop. That was Minnie. I helped break her in but she was a ridiculously misbehaved and spirited girl so I was thrown from her the most. She was sold about a year before my teacher retired and I was heartbroken because she'd always been my favourite to ride. Small ponies are more fun, I think! Especially if they're a bit of a rule-breaker, to be honest.

My worst fall was two years ago, off of Whiskey, who's part thoroughbred. His sire was a racehorse. He looks like a racehorse himself but at the time, kind of a mongrel. He could be seriously grumpy. I was cantering with him and the girl that was riding Dream, and Whiskey was chasing her rather than cantering in harmony so I slowed him to allow half a track between the two horses. But he seemed to think it was a game and sped up until he caught up with Dream, at which point he also swung his head and yanked the reins right out of my hands. I lost my balance and began to topple sideways, and there was a wall coming up and I didn't really feel like getting my face turned to jam, so I let myself fall off. My hip and head took most of the impact, and despite wearing a helmet, I got a minor concussion and the impact my hip took fractured my tailbone. Two years later and I still have bother with it. I don't think I ever got given Whiskey to ride again, haha. He's also the only asthmatic horse I've ever met, so he sticks in my mind for two reasons.

But now it's your turn! Tell me some crazy horse stories.

I had a horse named criket when I was learning to ride, they were all like oh he's fine! Three time, THREE TIMES! He tried to throw me off in a row, but I'm a hard ass and stayed on. Lol been nervous since though.

Wow, you've had some scary experiences!

When it comes to horses, I've never been able to apply the assertive confidence needed. I was never a fan of using the whip, and frankly felt that the riding facility I went to were purposefully refraining from teaching my friend and I at a progressive level because they needed money - the fee for a riding lesson steadily increased until, unfortunately, they went bust. Still, there is always something to be learned from a experience; especially one lasting several years.

Personally, I think I'd only consider going back to horseriding as a hobby if I had my own horse. I disliked having to ride a horse that had already been ridden by several others on the same day and was clearly tired and ready for a rest. I remember poor Ralph visibly steaming with sweat when I entered the arena for our half hour ride.

I think that learning and understanding the behaviour of one horse over several years would be far more beneficial to me. Then I could allow more focus on improving my ability due to having learned the temperament and predictability of the horse. I never felt that I had enough time to bond with or attempt to understand the horses I worked with while at the riding stables.

I much prefer hacks to rides/lessons in an arena, yet I understand that it is sensible and necessary to learn valuable horsemanship skills in the arena so that they may be successfully applied in the field.

I have been very lucky in that during my several years of riding I have never fallen off. However, I believe that this is because I didn't progress or practice enough; I only ever reached cantering - no galloping or jumping.

The closest moments I probably had to falling off were:

. Another volunteer worker and I were riding two film horses in an arena for a bit of exercise. The arena was unfortunately situated right next to a main road. We were walking but as a lorry passed her horse spooked, she fell in the process, and my horse followed suit but because I had slightly more warning I managed to pull back on the reins and use my voice to slow my horse.

. My friend and I were hacking with an experienced rider and worker of the facility that the horses came from. We cantered across Windsor Great Park (which was exhiliratingly fun) but I lost one of my stirrups which almost caused me to lose balance. I definitely could have done with a pair of goggles during that canter! My eyes were streaming tears because of the wind.