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This is a subject on which I have dwelt a lot
lately. I am now of "a certain age" and can tell you absolutely, old
ladies do not bounce like we used to.
When I was 16, I didn't have a horse because we
moved a lot, but I took tons of lessons at various riding stables. At one,
I used to ride a young arab gelding with a very thick neck (probably had been a
stallion for awhile). I have seen this horse run away from a member of the
President's Body Guard (Pakistani elite mounted military group) and break the
curb chain doing it. He also had a roached mane because they played polo
with him. I used to ride him bareback with a snaffle because I figured he
wasn't ever going to stop anyway, no use worrying about it. He once bolted
with me and headed back to the stable. When a horse is really galloping,
it's like riding a glass horse, you can't grip at all. It's all
balance. I was lucky and stayed on and probably did become a better
rider for it.
On the other hand, I have fallen off millions of
times. Good ole tuck n roll, I never got hurt until I got my middle
horse....
Second time I rode him, I ended up behind the
saddle and headed straight for a block wall. I bailed for the first time
in my life (reasoning that my other choice was to be painted on the wall when he
made his obligatory sharp right turn). I still have the hematoma to show
for it (ten years later).
Next time, he shot out from under me, I fell
backwards and broke a shoulder blade and three ribs.
Last time I fell, I broke another shoulder blade
and four ribs and my thumb.
Understand, I took him to three Harry Whitney
clinics between the first broken bone incident and the last. I rode him
often, including across the rocked creek on a metal railroad bridge. This
horse was dead quiet. But, when I got on and he started crow hopping, I
froze. I fell off because I was so afraid (of nothing, anyone could have
ridden through these tiny, half-hearted bucks). So fear is a difficult
thing to conquer, because, like Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, it appears out
of nowhere almost, and it disables you.
I finally decided that I have to ride this guy a
lot in company, so that next time anything happens, there will be someone there
to talk me through it. Actually, I did ride him this spring in the
mountains, over a hillside paved with lava rock, but, he was good and I was
cool. We really haven't had a fair test yet.
Dyane
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