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[endlessrarities]

Diva had an Interesting Episode this afternoon. 

I decided to work without stirrups again - yes I'm still trying to get that elusive perfect leg position - so I ditched them at the very beginning of the lesson.  Now, Diva starts every lesson with five minutes' worth of storming around the school at a very brisk walk.  It seems to be her way of chilling out before she starts work, so I'm quite happy to let her do what she likes as long as she settles down later.

I seized the opportunity to cross my stirrups.  Unfortunately, Diva's very sensitive to people sliding around on her back at the best of times.  Add to that a very loud CLANG!!  as metal hit metal, and WHOOSH!!!  She was away.

There's several courses of action in such circumstances.  You can a) sit there screaming 'We're going to die!!!' ( in which case, you probably will), b) freeze in the hope the horse will get tired and bored before you do (a natural recipe for meeting terra firma) or c) hold your nerve and think your way through the problem.

I opted for the latter.  There's a very delicate balance to be maintained.  You cannot bump around like a sack of potatoes on the horse's back, because in its traumatised herbivore state it will naturally assume you're a lion and try and get rid of you.  Nor can you pretend you don't actually exist -  the knack is, I think, to try and keep perfectly in balance and give sufficient weight to remind your idiotic equine friend that she's supposed to be listening to her rider.  The same goes for the reins.  If you keep hauling, the horse will haul back, because it hurts.  Likewise, if you throw the reins away, she'll trip over her big hairy feet and end up on her nose.  So it's a good idea to keep reminding her gently with the rein, somewhere along the lines of 'Earth to Diva, Earth to Diva, Come in, please...'

It worked.  And I didn't fall off.  Perhaps because I determined NOT to fall off.  Not because it would've hurt, but rather because I didn't want to look like a complete eegit!

And after that, she was fine...

Comments

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

I'm amazed you went back for more after that! If that had happened to me at that age, I'd have chickened out soon after.

My first unscheduled dismount was in a riding school when I was ten or eleven, and the horse 'took off' (i.e shot off in a canter} when a workman put his radio on in the adjacent stables. I did go back after that, though - usual story of instructor saying, "You're a real rider now. Congratulations."

I am a Natural Born Coward!!

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

I'm a natural born coward, too. More so now than I used to be, I guess, which is one of the reasons I don't ride any more. Mostly it's because life (children and work and lack of money) got in the way and before I realised it had been a few years without any riding. Then I managed to get a little bit of riding in when a stable opened up very close to home, but it wasn't open for long and that was it, really. I'm just not fit enough now and, frankly, too old for anything much more than a very safe amble on something very staid - which is not where the fun used to be for me. Old riding injuries don't help either (still the intermittent bad back and some soft tissue damage to one leg which now gets swollen as the day progresses). I'm realistic enough to admit my riding days are over - but I'm putting it all to good use in the WIP, a book for 9s - 12s called 'Your Horse Sees Dead People' - a story about horses and magic.

Tell me more about your books.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

You don't sound like a Natural Born Coward to me...

I find it very difficult to adapt to the stresses and strains the sport puts on my body now. If I'm not careful, it triggers off sciatica. I've been able to build up my muscles this year and I'm finding things a lot less painful. But I can't jump anymore and I've got to moderate my cantering, particularly without stirrups.