[RC] bells-what better time of year to use them! - Kathie Ford
Bells on horses and or bikes, not a bad idea. And! What a nice
time of year to try them out!
Hey, I've got a funny story about bells first time I used them!
Actually, I felt bad as I was a green rider and didn't think of the other
riders/horses response. Which I should have.
Anyway, I entered my TB/cross mare whom I'd only had for about 2 years in a
local horse trials in October. Because it was October, they had mentioned
they'd have a fun award for a horse/rider costume! So, my highstrung mare
was actually pretty good with noises, so I chose to be a Jester!! I
dressed us both up as one, complete with jester hat with bells!
I even put bells on her purple breast collar! We were not only
"jingling" but we were also very colorful too! Purple, red, yellow, blue,
green! We were the rainbow! lol
What I didn?t think about was the other horses reaction to us! Not
until warming up for the cross country portion of the horse trial. This
was my first event ever and I really didn't know any better at the time. Anyway
I was trying to warm up AND settle my mare, as this was a first for her as
well when I noticed that some horses were jumping around all over the
place! Then, a rider came up to me and asked if she could ride her horse next to
mine to get him/her used to "The Bells!"..It was then I thought "Opps.."
I apologized to other riders once I knew we were quite the spectacle, but
most thank goodness chose to ride with us to help them get used to us.
At one point, here I am, dressed in this outlandish outfit, my horse as
well (actually she looked pretty cool), and we had a large string of riders
behind us all in a line wherever we went! hehehe...Many of us in costume
as well. Looked like a parade! I couldn't help chuckling as my horses
Jester hat (yes, I put one on her two) was flopping around along with her
ears. She was such a good sport about it thank goodness.
Well, the day ended up okay. I messed up on the cross country course
by jumping two novice jumps by accident instead of the elementary ones I was
signed up for, but I WON the costume contest!!!!!! lol
To my surprise we also got 4th in our dressage test too. But I bet
nobody ever saw dressage ridden by a colorful jester before! I did catch
the judges smiling a bit as Spirit would really jingle as she went into a nice
working trot!
It turned out okay and all the horses got used to the bells!
