an old cowboy ( I mean the kind that shoots the cougar and hangs it in his shower very near the loaf of home made bread behind the toilet) told me once that you are almost ALWAYS safer on a horse than off. Do far, he has been right in my experience. I do believe it assumes a horse who is trained to ride...VBG
On Jan 30, 2009, at 8:41 AM, Ranelle Rubin wrote:
Angie,
I agree with you about 99% of the time. There have been a couple times, however..when courage was NECESSARY. The start of Tevis two years ago Fellow could feel the intense energy of almost 200 horses, hear the whinnying, taste the dust, and no amount of "horsemanship" was going to bring that boy back until I did get on him, feet firmly in the stirrup, and have control of his head with the bit..then he was a gentleman and calmly trotted out of camp..bound for Auburn. There are times when you just can't fight the herd instinct!
I will never forget my friend Deanne trying to hold him so I could mount up, asking.."Are you sure you want to get on?" I said, "No, but I am going to anyway!"
It was the start that had me scared..turned out to be a piece of cake once I got going. But, what a rush!
Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway. ~ John Wayne
If they're hyper or not paying attention, I'm somewhat of a wuss and would rather do this stuff while my feet are still firmly on the ground. =)
~ Crysta
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I don't consider this being a wuss. I consider it good horsemanship. Getting on an out of control horse at the beginning of a ride (or any time really), puts you and all the other riders at risk of an accident.
