Lady in the field
My friend Calli came down to visit me from Maine one weekend. I thought that it would be great fun to take her riding. We had never been riding together before so it was something we “needed” to do. My horse Lady, I don’t trust her with anyone due to her crazy, flip out moments. But my landlord had a horse, Moe, at the house that I knew was safe for her.
Moe was the type of horse that I could but my five year old sister on and not be worried. He was one big lug. He was a chestnut with a star and was about 16 hands tall; a big horse but with no worries. I had always enjoyed riding him because he never gave me any lip. If I wanted to jump he would jump, if I wanted to canter he would canter. He also had breaks, which is key. He was a great horse to ride, comfortable too. He was so good that when it came to dinner time, all I had to do was open the gate and he would run right into his stall without any problems.
Lady on the other hand, she is a whole other story. She was a rescue and an ex-racer so she came to me with only one thing in mind, to RUN! She doesn’t know much about anything when it comes to commands and keeping things slow and that’s why I don’t trust her with anyone else. I have been trying to train her to jump but when we get up to the rail she rears. Even if the rail is just simply sitting on the ground she freaks. If I want her to trot, it turns into a canter and ears back in I want to run mode. She really needs an experienced rider, someone who has the confidence and knowledge. Now, I’m not saying that that is me but it will be if I keep riding her.
There is a field at the end of my road that I have always wanted to ride in. Just hop on and take off! So, Calli got Moe ready and I got my crazy girl ready. We walked them down, I didn’t want to ride them because I was unsure of how they would be with all of the traffic. The field has a small wooden fence with a couple of breaks in it so that people can get through. There is a base ball field on one side and a soccer field on the other. We walked them through the break in the fence and hopped on.
Moe was great of course! Lady…not so good. She freaked! She was rearing and wanting to run, run home that is! I tried and tried to calm her down but she got so scared that she took off running toward home which involves crossing a busy road. I realized what she was thinking so I made an emergency dismount. The second I hit the ground she stopped, looked at me like she was asking “what are you doing down there?” I was so mad! This was the first time I have “fallen” off of her.
Calli came over to make sure I was ok. I got up all in a huff and got back on. I rode her around a little bit more just to make sure she knew that I was not going to give up. Eventually I really wanted to take off. So I jumped off of Lady, handed her over to Calli and hopped on Moe. When I got on him I knew it was going to magical. He took off running, moving like he was flying! It was beautiful! I had never been that fast and in control before. Having such a big animal under me, I could feel his power. My hair flying in the wind, the breeze on my face, it was amazing! I came back around to where Calli and Lady were and got off of Moe with a huge smile on my face.
It was time to go home. The horses were tired and we were tired. On the way back out of the field I knew there was a little brook in the woods and I thought that the horses would like to get a quick drink before heading home. I walked Lady down to it and she, of course, didn’t like the idea of being there. I turned around and walked us back out of the woods. When we got to the edge of the tree line I stopped just to get my bearings. I stopped, but Lady didn’t. One moment I was looking over at Calli and the next I was looking up at my horse’s feet and belly. It all went in slow motion. I curled up in a ball, trying to get out of the way. Her feet never touched me. I got up, Calli ran over to me to make sure that I was ok yet again. Lady just stared at me again like she was asking me “how did that happen?” I was ok, no cuts, scrapes, bruises, or broken bones. I was lucky! By this time, I was furious with her. We walked back home and I didn’t let her miss one step. I put her back in the paddock and that was it until dinner time.
Tags: canter, chestnut, ex-racer, field, horse, horses, jump, riding, trail, weekend, Whales & Friends, whales blog
