Complete new rider's misconceptions

[Bruce]

I thought you may be interested to know that before I found this site I thought riding a horse involved the following:

1) Getting a horse and strapping some complicated leather things to it.
2) Getting up on the horse
3) Jabbing it with your heels to put it into first gear. Jabbing it again to put it into second, and again for third and fourth.
4) Pulling the right rein to go right and the left to go left.
5) Shouting "whoa" and pulling on both reins when you want to stop.

In essence that what I thought it was. Now, last night I spend reading through some of the information on this site and discover there are all sorts of things to do with your legs and your bum and almost every other part of your body.

Mein Gott im Himmel! I would have shouted if I was German (but I'm not). This is truly, truly fascinating. It's almost as though you have to learn to become part of the horse. It's so freaky and far out I'm not sure I can cope. I might have to go and lie down.

Ciao for now.

[Showjumper]

It does help if you can think like the horse, that way you can anticipate "scaries" and even regain control before you even lose it!

The best thing about riding is when you find one horse who you just click with. For me, that horse was Mickey. Once I got onto him, we were a pair - not horse and rider anymore. It was as though we both knew what the other was thinking, we had total trust in each other, and were invincible, so long as we didn't try anything stupid.

http://www.geocities.com/chloeshorsiesite/Mickey.html

[Maci]

Originally posted by Bruce
It's almost as though you have to learn to become part of the horse.

Exactly! In "true riding", your body does become part of the horses, and you flow as one, and can achieve no end!! Of course that takes lots of practice, and I'm not there yet, and I've been riding for a while. It is overwhelming when you think of it, and a lot of hard work, but you're getting a 1,000 lbs. beast to work and listen to you- how cool is that?! :cool: Good luck with your riding!

Maci :)

[saddlesore]

now you've got it, good luck with your ridng experiences...

[galadriel]

You want to learn how to own your own horse, right?

Several people mentioned stable management, and you asked why. Well, the reason involves all those fifty billion things that whn I go to do them for my horses, my husband asks me "How do wild horses SURVIVE without this??"

You see, hen we domesticate a horse, we take it out of its natural habitat and it needs a LOT of care. For instance, without miles of grazing a day, horses must be provide with proper food. Without miles of ambling and stones to rub their feet on, they need to have their hooves trimmed regularly. Since they're in an artificial environment, there's a lot they can be exposed to that might hurt them if they ate it--and unlike dogs, they CAN'T THROW UP! if they eat something unpleasant. A minor tummyache can kill a horse.

It is for this reason that stable management is a good thing to look into. You learn to look for danger signs, you learn what horses should & should not have available, you learn to figure out how much to feed a horse and how much can make them sick, and so on.

I've been reading many of your posts (and the responses!) aloud to my husband across the room. I think he sympathises. Until I got our horses last year he felt much the same as you... Now he comes running if "his" horse gets a little scratch, and spends much more time playing with her than riding her.

Hm, I think your height/weight are similar to his. Our horses are tatl, but not cart horses! They're Thoroughbreds. Pretty even. Dosn't have to be a huge-o draft horse, but you'll probably feel a bit better if it's tallish. Tho the distance to the ground may be a touch daunting once you figure out that you're not driving a car, you're trying to convince a creature with a mind different from yours to do what you ask...and sometimes they disagree!

[Wally]

Now you have had your appetite whetted about what riding is really about you should do well. Instead of the attitude of "Oh I don't need to do all that stuff, Kicking and pulling will do" you seem to be interested in the subtle art of riding which is so much more rewarding than the kick and pull school.

Not only do you have to become a physical part of the horse, you have to start thinking like a horse and throw off the predator mind and try to think like a prey, herd animal.

It is a good exercise, more business managers should be made to do a course with horses it would make them better people managers.

[Kerry's Partner!!]

How DID you manage to catch on so soon?? Riding and horses are truly wonderful really - but I think I "caught on" to the real insights quite a few years later than you have. I'm impressed. In my defence I'd say I didn't have a computer when I started out and Heather's site most certainly didn't exist then!!