Ashara Morris posted: " This may seem like not a big deal to you, especially if you're a horse person and ride a lot. This is a very. Big. Deal. I've loved horses my entire life, and I've been nervous about getting on them for just about that much time too. I don't know what"
This may seem like not a big deal to you, especially if you're a horse person and ride a lot. This is a very. Big. Deal.
I've loved horses my entire life, and I've been nervous about getting on them for just about that much time too. I don't know what it is. I do better on little horses with short choppy trots.
LiLi is BIG, and for many years she was a cat in a horse suit, which means not only was she big, but she had opinions that lesser horses don't even think about. Now that she's figured out she's actually a horse in a horse suit, the cat attitude has left (a whole other story; maybe we'll get to it some day), but she's still BIG. To me. To people who ride 17 hand Thoroughbreds and Warmbloods, she probably looks like a peanut, at 15.2 hands on tippy toe. She's got that wide Friesian body, though, and enough presence for three horses. For those who are wondering, a "hand" is 4 inches, so 15.2 hands is 62 inches (or 5'2") at the withers, right behind the base of the neck. Which means 17 hands is - a lot taller than me.
LiLi doesn't have a short choppy trot, but it's also not that wide sweeping kind of trot that has you in the up position of the up-and-down (called posting) for six seconds (this is so our teeth will stay in our heads - a trot can be rough). Her trot looks like something I can deal with - but wait, I don't know for sure; we haven't trotted together yet since she just learned how to do it not long ago and is still pretty wonky going faster than a walk with someone on her back.
So here we are - green horse, experienced but old, scaredy-cat rider. Better than green-on-green (ooo, a lethal combination), but not so good as green horse/experienced brave rider.
I've discovered that half the battle is getting into the saddle. I make up these STORIES about LiLi and how she's going to spook, or do something equally weird, simply because she's a button pusher and she's been pushing my buttons for a lot of years.
She's teaching me a ton. Like - get out of my head. Have no expectations. Leave the agenda at the door. Keep it fun. Assume the best. Listen. Listen. Listen.
Wow. What if I lived my life like that?
So here's the good news. Now that's it's warmer out (I am definitely a fair-weather rider - you're not going to see me out there in single digit weather, wearing my boot and hand warmers and riding no matter what - nope, LiLi and I get the winter OFF), I've been spending more time in the barn. I hang out with her and her pal Emma. Sometimes I play with the other two horses. And I'm noticing that every second I spend out there is a gift. I LOVE being in the barn. I'd forgotten how much I love it. It's not so much about riding as it is breathing in horse and barn and saddle soap. It's zen.
Today, after spending many days on the ground getting reacquainted, I got on my horse. She was a total champ. She stepped carefully, making sure I stayed balanced. She was thinking hard, I could tell. And it was great.
She got a "cookie" at the end (a piece of horsey peppermint candy, which she loves). We'll do it again. No pressure. Just fun. I love my big, wide-bodied horse!
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