Ah, there was a time when the particular riding school I helped out at on a rides-for-work basis used to pair me up with 'volatile' because they had a number of horses they couldn't put the paying learners on. Major was the event horse, very hot. Star was the 25 year old pony that had never learned to slow down and ran away with beginners on a regular basis just for the fun of it. Kestrel was an appaloosa stallion kept for breeding. A bit of a bastard in the stable, but well schooled if pushy on a ride. Tamarisk was the youngster who gave me a bad back. But the scariest could be the smaller ponies. You knew you were in for a rough ride when MH, the stable owner, said things like, 'Will you take Sparrow out today, Jacey, he's been bucking the little kids off...'
I was actually a bit too big for Sparrow, which makes it more difficult to stay on board. He was one of those ponies who could whip round on a sixpence and be halfway to town while you were still travelling in the original direction. On this particular occasion the ride-leader (same girl who decided hunting pace was a good idea when I was riding Tam) took the ride over some old claypits with terrain more suitable for mountain bikers or skateboarders. One of the downhills was more like a bank - virtually a slither which the horses needed to go down almost on their hocks. It was something like a 45 degree angle ending in a steep downhill track. I was bringing up the rear of the ride and because she'd got all the learners down safely they started to move off while Sparrow and I were still at the top. Sparrow decided that the others were getting too far ahead, so he launched himself off the top without warning, touched the slope about halfway down and bounded to the bottom. It was pure good luck that his saddle happened to be in the place where my backside landed because I don't actually think we were in contact for most of the descent.
MH had some super horses, though. Not at all your typical riding school nags only fit for nose-to-tail equine crocodiles. She had a fabulous Fell pony and some Dales ponies that were class winners in mountain and moorland showing at quite big shows, plus many of Kestrel's offspring with a variety of mares. All bird names, Peregrine, Kite, Robin, Eagle etc. Will dig out some old photos and scan them for my LJ at some point.
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Date: 2011-01-06 11:49 pm (UTC)I was actually a bit too big for Sparrow, which makes it more difficult to stay on board. He was one of those ponies who could whip round on a sixpence and be halfway to town while you were still travelling in the original direction. On this particular occasion the ride-leader (same girl who decided hunting pace was a good idea when I was riding Tam) took the ride over some old claypits with terrain more suitable for mountain bikers or skateboarders. One of the downhills was more like a bank - virtually a slither which the horses needed to go down almost on their hocks. It was something like a 45 degree angle ending in a steep downhill track. I was bringing up the rear of the ride and because she'd got all the learners down safely they started to move off while Sparrow and I were still at the top. Sparrow decided that the others were getting too far ahead, so he launched himself off the top without warning, touched the slope about halfway down and bounded to the bottom. It was pure good luck that his saddle happened to be in the place where my backside landed because I don't actually think we were in contact for most of the descent.
MH had some super horses, though. Not at all your typical riding school nags only fit for nose-to-tail equine crocodiles. She had a fabulous Fell pony and some Dales ponies that were class winners in mountain and moorland showing at quite big shows, plus many of Kestrel's offspring with a variety of mares. All bird names, Peregrine, Kite, Robin, Eagle etc. Will dig out some old photos and scan them for my LJ at some point.