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coraaToday, I rode a horse!
This is the part where I get embarrassingly dribbly about horses, because I am one of those people who never grew out of her 'horse period.' It's also me trying to capture the way it feels to be with the horses now, while it's fresh in my mind, so it's probably a bit self-indulgent. If someone being dribbly about horses is going to bore you, this is the part where you're invited to skip on by. ;)
(I also took pictures of the horses, but since I forgot to bring my USB upload cable, those will have to wait until I get home.)
Because it's been raining here and the arena is, basically, soup, we did a "pony ride." First![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dancinghorse groomed and saddled Capria, and then took rachelmanija around on her. Then tcastleb brought Pandora out, and I got to help groom her.
(Side note: I love Pandora, who I rode in my lesson last time. The best word to describe her is 'magnificent:' she's the tallest horse on the farm, with impressive withers and a long face with a beautiful roman nose;dancinghorse says she's a horse along the old Baroque model, and I can easily believe that, because I could see her as a warhorse or a horse of kings. And of course, being a Lipizzan, she's snowy-white with enormous dark eyes. But even more than that, she's a pleasure to be around: she seems very... I don't know, solid? But still with obvious spirit and emotion. Being near her makes me feel both calm and happy. Yes, I'm talking like someone who's smitten, but that's because I am.)
Then we saddled her up, andtcastleb led sartorias on Capria, and dancinghorse led me on Pandora.
dancinghorse says that the world looks different from between the ears of a horse, and it's absolutely true. The desert looked very different from there: I could see more, and I could feel the rhythms of the path and the ground through her hooves. When you're on the back of a horse, of course, you don't really see her (or his, but I was riding a mare, so her) face, or the whole of her body. Instead you see the long line of her neck, and her ears, and you feel the motion of her body. I'm still horse-deaf in the sense where I can't figure out half of what Pandora's communicating to me, but even so it does feel like communication to feel her gait and watch her ears perked forward and flicking sideways and back to track what's going on around her. In the (few) moments where she got distracted, I'm pretty sure I could feel it in the way she moved before that happened (although, of course, being both horse-deaf and not an experienced rider, there wasn't anything I knew to do about it—which is why it was good dancinghorse was holding the reins!).
The other thing, something I remembered from October when I was here last: it's amazing how quickly I forget how high up I am. As I mentioned, Pandora is not a small horse; she's magnificent in scale as well as build. And at first, when I get up on top of her, there's a moment of 'wow, high!' But as I ride, that moment passes, and it's just like the horse and I are doing something together rather than it being me sitting up really high. Of course, I still have definite moments of 'wow, high!', but that's not the whole of it. It reminded me of somethingozarque said once, that in Navajo, the equivalent of "I rode a horse" is more accurately translated "A horse was animal-ing about with me."
Let's see. So then we brought the horses back in and I went back to the house to get my camera and took a bunch of pictures. I got several of Pandora, who posed very beautifully for me; several of Tia (who I also love; I'm fond of her partly because I 'sponsored' her last year, and partly because she's got beautifully inquisitive ears and a nosy manner that makes me smile); Carrma, standing quietly and patiently a little way away from the rest; and Khepera, who's just full of personality. (I also got some of the other girls, but I confess I'm not as good at telling them apart.)tcastleb told me a little about their relationships with one another, which was fascinating, and I got to see it in action.
Then it was time to blanket them, andtcastleb very kindly lent me her big mud boots so I could help. I helped feed the horses, and then she demonstrated on Pandora how to put a blanket on. Then Capria stood very patiently while I fumbled my way through it, even though it took me a couple of tries to get the blanket up over her back, and some fumbling around to find the straps and secure them. She was very sweet and patient, and even put her head up for me to get the neck-hole over her head without any prompting. (It probably helped that she was happily munching her dinner while I did all this.)
Anyway. I ♥ these horses. And tomorrow, if the weather's good, we'll get some information on horse communication, which I can't wait for.
This is the part where I get embarrassingly dribbly about horses, because I am one of those people who never grew out of her 'horse period.' It's also me trying to capture the way it feels to be with the horses now, while it's fresh in my mind, so it's probably a bit self-indulgent. If someone being dribbly about horses is going to bore you, this is the part where you're invited to skip on by. ;)
(I also took pictures of the horses, but since I forgot to bring my USB upload cable, those will have to wait until I get home.)
Because it's been raining here and the arena is, basically, soup, we did a "pony ride." First
dancinghorse groomed and saddled Capria, and then took rachelmanija around on her. Then tcastleb brought Pandora out, and I got to help groom her. (Side note: I love Pandora, who I rode in my lesson last time. The best word to describe her is 'magnificent:' she's the tallest horse on the farm, with impressive withers and a long face with a beautiful roman nose;
dancinghorse says she's a horse along the old Baroque model, and I can easily believe that, because I could see her as a warhorse or a horse of kings. And of course, being a Lipizzan, she's snowy-white with enormous dark eyes. But even more than that, she's a pleasure to be around: she seems very... I don't know, solid? But still with obvious spirit and emotion. Being near her makes me feel both calm and happy. Yes, I'm talking like someone who's smitten, but that's because I am.)Then we saddled her up, and
tcastleb led sartorias on Capria, and dancinghorse led me on Pandora.dancinghorse says that the world looks different from between the ears of a horse, and it's absolutely true. The desert looked very different from there: I could see more, and I could feel the rhythms of the path and the ground through her hooves. When you're on the back of a horse, of course, you don't really see her (or his, but I was riding a mare, so her) face, or the whole of her body. Instead you see the long line of her neck, and her ears, and you feel the motion of her body. I'm still horse-deaf in the sense where I can't figure out half of what Pandora's communicating to me, but even so it does feel like communication to feel her gait and watch her ears perked forward and flicking sideways and back to track what's going on around her. In the (few) moments where she got distracted, I'm pretty sure I could feel it in the way she moved before that happened (although, of course, being both horse-deaf and not an experienced rider, there wasn't anything I knew to do about it—which is why it was good dancinghorse was holding the reins!).The other thing, something I remembered from October when I was here last: it's amazing how quickly I forget how high up I am. As I mentioned, Pandora is not a small horse; she's magnificent in scale as well as build. And at first, when I get up on top of her, there's a moment of 'wow, high!' But as I ride, that moment passes, and it's just like the horse and I are doing something together rather than it being me sitting up really high. Of course, I still have definite moments of 'wow, high!', but that's not the whole of it. It reminded me of something
ozarque said once, that in Navajo, the equivalent of "I rode a horse" is more accurately translated "A horse was animal-ing about with me."Let's see. So then we brought the horses back in and I went back to the house to get my camera and took a bunch of pictures. I got several of Pandora, who posed very beautifully for me; several of Tia (who I also love; I'm fond of her partly because I 'sponsored' her last year, and partly because she's got beautifully inquisitive ears and a nosy manner that makes me smile); Carrma, standing quietly and patiently a little way away from the rest; and Khepera, who's just full of personality. (I also got some of the other girls, but I confess I'm not as good at telling them apart.)
tcastleb told me a little about their relationships with one another, which was fascinating, and I got to see it in action.Then it was time to blanket them, and
tcastleb very kindly lent me her big mud boots so I could help. I helped feed the horses, and then she demonstrated on Pandora how to put a blanket on. Then Capria stood very patiently while I fumbled my way through it, even though it took me a couple of tries to get the blanket up over her back, and some fumbling around to find the straps and secure them. She was very sweet and patient, and even put her head up for me to get the neck-hole over her head without any prompting. (It probably helped that she was happily munching her dinner while I did all this.)Anyway. I ♥ these horses. And tomorrow, if the weather's good, we'll get some information on horse communication, which I can't wait for.
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no subject
Date: 2010-03-11 01:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-11 02:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-11 02:14 am (UTC)Why are all the horses mares?
no subject
Date: 2010-03-12 12:37 pm (UTC)In a pure riding stable, and particularly a competition stable, you would find a much greater portion of geldings, fewer mares (many people are prejudiced towards them, which puzzles me), and only the occasional (non-breeding) stallion.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-11 02:57 am (UTC)What a great way of saying it! I love that.
Glad you guys had such a good time. Horses are wonderful.
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Date: 2010-03-11 05:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-11 01:55 pm (UTC)The one thing I wonder about riding horses is, does the horse really want you to ride it? Or does it just want to run around? I guess it is kind of like working dogs. There are definitely sled dogs who just cannot wait to pull a sled, and would much rather be pulling a sled for a human than just hanging out being a dog. I suppose it is because of the long history of domestication.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-11 02:36 pm (UTC)It certainly depends on the horse, and what sort of experiences the horse has had with its people, but I've known a few horses who, when you appeared out of the tack room carrying a saddle, would rush to the front of their stalls and bump the door and basically carry on in a "Me! Pick me!" way.
I've had back trouble over the past couple of years and haven't ridden much, but as a result I've gotten a few other people to ride my mare. As soon as Mitzi realizes "that person, that one right there, is coming to take me from the paddock and ride me," she reacts by leaving the other horses and meeting the expected riding person at the gate. (Which is flattering to the nice teenagers who've ridden her.)
For a lot of horses it's an interesting change in the day. I'm sure people who take their horses on trails a lot find an even more marked "Let's go!" attitude in their horses.
And of course, some of them really do just put up with the job.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-11 03:01 pm (UTC)There are some dogs who, if you open the door and don't leash them, will run off for hours or days before coming back, if they come back at all. I imagine there must be some horses who are similar, and who only are excited to be ridden because it lets them get out of their paddock, and they couldn't care less about the human and would be happy to run off alone. But now that I think about it they have probably been bred as much for temperament as dogs have, and have been bred to like people and like being ridden.
I feel like I just learned something important here about domesticated animals. Why did I never think of horses like dogs before? Hmm.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-11 03:26 pm (UTC)When I was a kid we had Siberian huskies, speaking of breeds that will not hang around. Sweet, affectionate dogs, but they would just as soon have the adventure and then tell you all about it later!
no subject
Date: 2010-03-12 12:46 pm (UTC)Not all horses lead lives like that - a horse that comes back from a workout exhausted and hurting is not going to want more of that - but if you treat them as members of your tribe, they'll enjoy hanging out with you.
It's a very satisfying sight to have a horse leave its mates and food and all the good stuff so you can have some fun together.
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