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glenatronToday was another day riding out in the wider world at Martin's friend's ranch.
Kay getting started with her little haflinger ( with the less experienced horses we mount up in the round pen. )
I started out riding a horse called named "Bald", a little cow horse who was pretty calm until asked to go quicker, at which point he would accellerate quickly to flat-out and get a bit anxious while doing it. We got a bit left behind on the way down the drive to the trail and when I asked him to trot on to catch up we found ourselves going pretty quick. I didn't have my hand far enough down to double him so I ended up nearly bouncing out of the saddle before we got ourselves stopped, but it was fine. We split the ride because we had two ponies who were very herdbound and we wanted them to get to split up a little to make everyone's ride more enjoyable.
I was with Martin's group and we met up with Carolyn Hunt and the students from Ray's course, which is a larger group and so we travelled around with them for a while. They were quite keen on zipping around the place ( as is Martin ) so I got to spend a while getting used to little Bald's must-go-flat-out canter, going with it and maybe bringing it back towards something easier to sit to. Except at the point where we were racing across some of the open ground of course, that was more speedy.
In between sets, horses that are either waiting to be ridden or that already have been.
For the second set of horses I was riding little Daisy the Apaloosa ( she's not actually that little in that she's over 16hh but that is mostly long elegant legs ) who is on about her fifth or sixth ride now in total. What a star that horse is- she was brave, striding off to the front of the group with her ears forward and her eye on the trail ahead and although we had a few places we had to turn circles on account of her wanting to go a little quicker than necessary she was generally just as sweet as you could wish for and she canters like a rocking horse, which is a real pleasure to be sat on.
The only slight incident was when Martin lead us through a dried up stream bed and we ended up taking a slightly different route out of the ditch to him,which allowed Daisy to go under an inch thick branch that came across just above the saddle horn. We got tangled a bit, the rein caught on the branch but I stayed with her and the branch bent enough that we could get round without having more than a little anxiety on her part and some scratches and cuts on mine. It was pretty unlucky for Fred though, whose horse was following us as I got around and the branch swung back. Everyone stayed on and after a bit of scampering everyone was fine but I felt a bit bad about that,although I guess he could have steered. Then again, so could I...
Jake, one of the other students, a little tired after riding the second set with two more of his own horses still to go. I like this picture, it makes me feel like a portrait photographer. Also it's a lot more funny when you realise, as Jake did a minute or so later, that the tump of earth he's sat on is an ant hill.
In the evening Jake was practicing his roping as the sun went down and there was some amazing light in the arena with the sunset and the dust that I couldn't resist trying to capture. More into-the-sun photography. I am my own cliche.
Kay getting started with her little haflinger ( with the less experienced horses we mount up in the round pen. )
I started out riding a horse called named "Bald", a little cow horse who was pretty calm until asked to go quicker, at which point he would accellerate quickly to flat-out and get a bit anxious while doing it. We got a bit left behind on the way down the drive to the trail and when I asked him to trot on to catch up we found ourselves going pretty quick. I didn't have my hand far enough down to double him so I ended up nearly bouncing out of the saddle before we got ourselves stopped, but it was fine. We split the ride because we had two ponies who were very herdbound and we wanted them to get to split up a little to make everyone's ride more enjoyable.
I was with Martin's group and we met up with Carolyn Hunt and the students from Ray's course, which is a larger group and so we travelled around with them for a while. They were quite keen on zipping around the place ( as is Martin ) so I got to spend a while getting used to little Bald's must-go-flat-out canter, going with it and maybe bringing it back towards something easier to sit to. Except at the point where we were racing across some of the open ground of course, that was more speedy.
In between sets, horses that are either waiting to be ridden or that already have been.
For the second set of horses I was riding little Daisy the Apaloosa ( she's not actually that little in that she's over 16hh but that is mostly long elegant legs ) who is on about her fifth or sixth ride now in total. What a star that horse is- she was brave, striding off to the front of the group with her ears forward and her eye on the trail ahead and although we had a few places we had to turn circles on account of her wanting to go a little quicker than necessary she was generally just as sweet as you could wish for and she canters like a rocking horse, which is a real pleasure to be sat on.
The only slight incident was when Martin lead us through a dried up stream bed and we ended up taking a slightly different route out of the ditch to him,which allowed Daisy to go under an inch thick branch that came across just above the saddle horn. We got tangled a bit, the rein caught on the branch but I stayed with her and the branch bent enough that we could get round without having more than a little anxiety on her part and some scratches and cuts on mine. It was pretty unlucky for Fred though, whose horse was following us as I got around and the branch swung back. Everyone stayed on and after a bit of scampering everyone was fine but I felt a bit bad about that,although I guess he could have steered. Then again, so could I...
Jake, one of the other students, a little tired after riding the second set with two more of his own horses still to go. I like this picture, it makes me feel like a portrait photographer. Also it's a lot more funny when you realise, as Jake did a minute or so later, that the tump of earth he's sat on is an ant hill.
In the evening Jake was practicing his roping as the sun went down and there was some amazing light in the arena with the sunset and the dust that I couldn't resist trying to capture. More into-the-sun photography. I am my own cliche.
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Date: 14 Feb 2009 04:44 (UTC)no subject
Date: 14 Feb 2009 04:57 (UTC)no subject
Date: 14 Feb 2009 21:16 (UTC)Will you get to ride the Haffie?
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Date: 15 Feb 2009 03:41 (UTC)no subject
Date: 15 Feb 2009 14:04 (UTC)So I guess that he probably grew up in a flat bit of Belgium, and probably never saw hills until he came here.
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Date: 15 Feb 2009 02:18 (UTC)Lovely photos, hee about the ants...its funny but I think I would be quite nervous about riding horses that green. I was the first human ever to sit on Sage's back and put some of his first ten rides on him (God that sounds so...objectifying...to say it like that) but we knew one another. We knew where we stood.
To walk into a strange situation and hop on a horse with that little a history...I imagine it requires a great deal more skill in being centered, present, and soft than I currently possess. Not to mention the ability to stay fluid. In theory I understand all the principles of riding horses as green as that, but in reality I find it impressive you're handling as many situations as you are...certainly quite the education isn't it?!
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Date: 15 Feb 2009 03:37 (UTC)Fortunately Martin is pretty good at getting one up to speed on that stuff.
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Date: 15 Feb 2009 03:04 (UTC)- Crump