You would think that the English sheepdog and the great Dane might've been some help well we got ready to go horseback riding, but if you do or you think that you are sadly mistaken. First of all, when we sat down on the floor and tried to pull on our riding boots, the English sheepdog had the impression that one or both of uswere playing with him. So he would try to pull our boots off at the same time we were squeezing or feet and calves into the boots. Then second of all as we walked to the barn with our hard hats in hand and our riding crops at the ready, the great Dane seemed to think that getting between us and the horses was his most sacred duty. This made it very difficult to place saddle, harness and other tack in their proper places on the horses.
Finally we found that if we fed the dogs and shut the, up in the mud room, we would save a half an -hour to and hour and a half of our preparation time.
What a relief!
Of course the next challenge involved how to close the door to the barn and open the gate to the paddock in the right order so that the horses would be willing to head out to the riding path as opposed to surreptitiously scurrying back to their stalls feigning innocent expressions on their long faces as if to say, "Really? You wanted to go riding today? Oh! So sorry . . . I didn't realize!!"
Once there was an ice storm and just getting safely to the barn with mincing steps crunching the ice-enclosed grass blades and small grade stones of the roadway between the house and the barn.
Of course if it was too cold we would just ride ion the exercise barn . . . Round and round . . . Post when you trot . . . Hang on tight if the possibility of a canter presented itself.
And if I had been riding with a western saddle more recently than with English equitation accoutrements I almost always would feel like my knees were much more close to the horse than necessary or safe.
There were two times when the first few walking steps seemed strange and disconcerting. One was after a half day of trail riding and the other was after piloting a light plane.
Do you know what I mean?
Transitions . . .
There is more to write about this, but I need a nap first.
See ya on the flip side.
Finally we found that if we fed the dogs and shut the, up in the mud room, we would save a half an -hour to and hour and a half of our preparation time.
What a relief!
Of course the next challenge involved how to close the door to the barn and open the gate to the paddock in the right order so that the horses would be willing to head out to the riding path as opposed to surreptitiously scurrying back to their stalls feigning innocent expressions on their long faces as if to say, "Really? You wanted to go riding today? Oh! So sorry . . . I didn't realize!!"
Once there was an ice storm and just getting safely to the barn with mincing steps crunching the ice-enclosed grass blades and small grade stones of the roadway between the house and the barn.
Of course if it was too cold we would just ride ion the exercise barn . . . Round and round . . . Post when you trot . . . Hang on tight if the possibility of a canter presented itself.
And if I had been riding with a western saddle more recently than with English equitation accoutrements I almost always would feel like my knees were much more close to the horse than necessary or safe.
There were two times when the first few walking steps seemed strange and disconcerting. One was after a half day of trail riding and the other was after piloting a light plane.
Do you know what I mean?
Transitions . . .
There is more to write about this, but I need a nap first.
See ya on the flip side.
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