#77 Do As I Say - Not As I Do

The title of this blog says it all.  I am always saying how important it is to know your horse and his little idiosyncrasies - be aware of them, respect them, and mold your behavior to them. 

So, I love riding this one particular horse and I absolutely KNOW he has issues - I have done all I know to help to lessen them but in a pinch they do show themselves again  - and I am most always aware of this - as in 99 per cent of the time.  However, alas, there is that 1% of the time that I become complacent and unaware and not really tuned in to him.  Because he has improved so incredibly much I started taking too much for granted.


And, voila, here comes the crash !  Not one, mind you, but two !!!  Two weeks in a row - now, how dumb am I ?  Obviously, pretty dumb.  The first one occurred because I was just having too good a time ramming around and forgot that sometimes when I want to go left, he wants to go right - which is exactly what happened - at a relatively fast speed.  So, I flew right off him, smack on my back, and in front of guests no less!  Talk about embarrassing!   The crash happened simply because I FORGOT that he does this about 40% of the time and I just wasn't paying enough attention.  Duh !


So, you would think that after a good crash like that I would smarten up - but no, I sure didn't.  Like I say, I know his issues, he has improved greatly, but those issues are just buried into him so deep and they do peep out every once in a while - which is why I need to ALWAYS pay attention and not take the improvements for granted. 

 So here we go again - at a nice easy walk, we come upon my husband and two guests and their horses;  I was aware that this might spook him a little and I  was ready for it, which it did, but then he immediately settled right down - and so did I - BIG MISTAKE  - he then decided to get scared and he whipped around so quicly that I flew off him - again - he didn't bolt - he just turned so fast and I, being too darn relaxed in the saddle and paying attention to my husband and not my horse, just went off him.  So, that was crash #2.

So, why did I crash ?  Because I simply didn't practice what I preach.  Almost all accidents are the rider's fault - not the horses.

Hopefully, you will learn and remember what is here in this blog.  I sure hope I do !!!





Adventure Horse Riding in NYS            Smilla13@gmail.com  (Mary Dixon)         www.RideNYS.com

#50 Meanies and Fools

#50  Meanies and Fools

I was reading about Linda Parelli's accident, and then about the death of one of her horses Westie. I could not believe the mean comments I read throughout various forums. They acted as though a Parelli horse should never spook or trip. Are you kidding me?

Which then reminded me of a friend of mine, Jerry, a very experienced rider, who was racing with some others and he crashed into a tree and knocked himself out - well, the consensus seemed to be that he had it coming because he was racing and because he wasn't wearing a helmet.

Which then reminded me of a woman that was lunging her horse, and as she lunged, she let the lunge rope wend its way around her legs. Well, the horse spooked and dragged the woman and I think she died - can't remember - but the response was she shouldn't have been so stupid.

And, 2 years ago, I read about a barn owner that walked into a stall to remove a blanket from a horse, the horse spooked and pretty well smashed up her face with some well placed kicks.

And, my friend who was readying her cow for the county fair, had the lead rope around her wrist as she was whitening her, the heifer got scared and dragged Lori across the railroad tracks and down a dirt road..

And, me, who had spurs on the first time but forgot I had them on and nudged Smokin' Joe over a jump - well, we sure did get over that jump.

And me, again, standing across a creek & holding the lead line to encourage my horse to cross the creek - well, she did cross the creek right on top of me.

And me - lots of other stupid stuff - and, lo and behold - I still catch myself being really foolish.

Stuff happens -  it simply means we were  stupid, ignorant, immature, or simply unaware.  What it does NOT MEAN is that "we had it coming to us."

It doesn't mean we deserved, or our horses deserved, getting hurt. Horse people need to be kinder in their hearts.

Adventure Horse Riding in NYS            Smilla13@gmail.com  (Mary Dixon)         www.RideNYS.com