Recently, I’ve been thinking about my
childhood passion. Horses appealed to me from a young age; consequently my
parents kindly signed me up for riding lessons when I was a child. Horse riding
continued to be a passion until I was about 13 years of age, spending time
after lessons at the stables. Frequently taking care of the unappealing
but necessary jobs. Climbing up the horse manure pile and jumping up and down
on it to flatten it on a regular basis. Often, the pile was enormous and I'd return
home smelling terrible, to my mum's disgust.
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| KB's First Riding Lesson |
One beautiful, summer day I
rode my favourite horse, Count. Often
high strung but I'd always been able to handle him. Something spooked him and I
could feel myself losing control. Galloping towards the road was terrifying
because there was nothing I could do but hold on. Count raced across two lanes
of traffic before coming to an abrupt stop in front of a red convertible; I can
still picture the driver’s face. The driver shook his fist and swore several
obscenities at me. I don't blame him as it would have been a shock to see a
horse coming out of nowhere.
After I finally calmed down, I
said to myself, 'just give yourself a few weeks and you can get back on the
horse'. Two years later, a family member surprised me with a riding lesson.
Lesson day arrived; I was
terrified until I saw my pony. He was more like a stubborn old mule really.
Everything was going fabulously, I felt confident, and so we decided to try a couple
of small jumps. 'This will be fun,' I thought but the stubborn old nag had other
ideas. Pulling up short before the jump;
I flew over the top and landed on my head.
Consequently, I was finished with
the horses, but lately I’ve been thinking of riding again. Even if it's just
the once, so I can say I got back on the horse.
Post bumped up to share with Saturday Critters
Love KB
x
Perhaps you need to find a very understanding stable with very patient horses and take it slowly. It would be such a pity to leave such a passion entirely behind. Even if you onlt rode a horse ince more you would know that you had literally climbed back on and regained control. Good luck my friend!
ReplyDeleteoh and are you sure it was the bang on the head, I thought you were blonde hehe
Great similarities with my early days, KB. Given me the idea of blogging about it! I particularly remember what you say about the 'dungheap'! At a racing-stable where I worked as a lad, every time I took stuff to the heap, I had to shoo-off the rats first. Yuk!
ReplyDeleteI employ several teenage girls and ALL of them ride! Infact that's all they seem to talk about. It's obviously very addictive .
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletelmao at the bang on head comment Toadee.
ReplyDeleteLook forward to reading about it dickiebo.
I love this pic too Missy.
Yeah, it's almost as addictive as blogging Keith.
Oh KB you can do it. Those are great memories that you will always have okay not all great but you know what I mean it is time to make new ones now get back up on that horse.
ReplyDeleteKeep bugging me about it Jadey and I will do it.
ReplyDeleteAdmit it!
ReplyDeleteYou just like horsing around.
How did ya guess WS?
ReplyDeleteHello KB!
ReplyDeleteSuch a lovely idea to riding again!
Very beautiful picture from your childhood!
Have a great weekend!
Dimi...
Hello, I enjoyed this story. Cute photo too. Your story brought back memories of when my sister and I took riding lessons. I think they lasted a summer but it was fun. I have not been on a horse in a long time, I still love horses. Thanks for linking and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your day and weekend! PS, thanks for the comment and visit.
ReplyDeleteLovely shot - and the motto is: It's never too late to get back up on the horse.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting and commenting today - when I was about 6 years young I was put up on a stubborn old horse called Toe-nails who did his best to knock me off by walking close to the fences and trees. He would stop or go as he wanted. He won. I never had the nerve to try again at that young age. I love horses as wonderful animals but adults should make sure the kid(s)know the basics and are trained to properly ride and look after their mount. Hope you get back to riding.
ReplyDeleteJoy
I do hope you get a chance to ride again and that you fall in love with the activity all over again. I do miss riding horses...
ReplyDeleteMaybe you have just been unlucky. I do love horses (after all my name is Philip) but have only ridden one once but didn't really enjoy the experience.
ReplyDelete...I haven't been on a horse in perhaps 60 years. At this point I'll just watch.
ReplyDeleteThat's quite the story! Wow.
ReplyDelete(ツ) from Cottage Country Ontario , ON, Canada!
I've never ridden a horse, and I think I would be scared being on top of such a big animal.
ReplyDeleteHope you get to enjoy horse riding again.
Nice picture.
ReplyDeleteBest regards, Irma
You can do it. Face your fears & anxieties.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice story to share. I've never been on a horse unless it was a part of a carousel ride. :)
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see how it feels after all these years. I hope you enjoy it (and are able to avoid getting thrown!).
ReplyDeleteGo for it! You won't be satisfied until you try it one more time.
ReplyDeletei went this past summer, fell off...got up, got back on and rode for an hour. do it, you will be glad you did!!
ReplyDeleteI rode horses occasionally as an adult when I was youger. I really didn't know how to ride and the stables always gave me a nag used for inexperienced riders. It was fun and I love horses but am very wary of their size and potential for disaster.
ReplyDeleteYes, life is like that ~ having to 'get back on the horse' again and again and again ~ in order to move on ~ be safe whatever you decide ~ ^_^
ReplyDeleteHappy Day to you,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)