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Re: [RC] falling off the horse-long - Truman PrevattHi Nancy,Sally Swift compares riding to skiing in her wonderful book "Centered Riding." The key to good skiing - and minimize the number of face plants is to look ahead several turns down the trail. She also talks about that in riding - in order to be properly balanced. When I got the Jbird 11 years ago - because he kept dumping my wife with his quick reactions - he dumped me for awhile. Well pain is a good teacher ;-) and I figured out what I was doing wrong. I was worrying more about watching out for where he puts his feet than down the trail. I figured that where he puts his feet is his problem and responsibility. If I were to be "captain of the ship" I needed to act like the captain and look ahead and chart the course. When I started doing that - he stopped spooking as much since I would alert him to what was ahead and if he did I was ready. I've come off him twice in the last 4 years. One was when we came around a 90 degree turn and there was a turkey in the trail who flew up right in his face. It startled both of us. I was up on a post and had no chance as he spun right out from under me. The other time is when we were galloping hell bent for election up a long hill. Top it and there in the middle of the trail was a inflated innertube. Go figure. But normally I see stuff before he does. At times when I get tired, I have to remind myself to "look ahead" and stay alert. But I think it's saved me more than once. Truman Nancy Sturm wrote: That's a very interesting observation, Truman - pun intended. Gabe, who has so much more fun riding Tali than I ever did, sees everything. "Oh look there's a .... " fill in the blank. He sees bears, deer, a cougar, rattlesnakes, a spotted fawn, a lost pocket knife, an unspent shell, lost tack, a dropped whip. He's forever bailing off to pick up his finds. It really makes me wonder at the visual acuity of youth and also just exactly what it is I am looking at. The back of my horse's head, perhaps. -- “It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong” Richard Feynman, Nobel Laureate in Physics =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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