10 Questions for November

Borrowed from Viva Carlos

How old is the youngest/greenest horse you’ve ridden?
I've been on a couple of two and a half year olds.  I've started some from scratch as well that were varying ages.

How old is the oldest horse you’ve ridden?
Mid to late twenties.  Alex, my auction Arabian is 27 going on 28 in March and I still hop on him.  He's still on crack most of the time.

Were you scared of horses when you first started riding?
Not at all. I'm less confident now that I have had a back injury.

Would you say you’re a more nervous rider or a confident rider? 

Usually a confident rider, but depends on the horse and situation.  For a while, I needed anti-anxiety meds, but not due to horses in general, but life was getting in the way.

Generally speaking, I have most of my mojo back, but still need a pep talk when anxiety takes over.  It does bother me since I've done some bold things with horses in the past.

Biggest pet peeve about non-horse people around horses?
People trying to put their kids up on every horse they come across.  Really, it's a horse.  Don't do it.  If it's on the other side of the fence, it's not yours to touch.  Stop feeding them without permission.  My stuff, your stuff kind of rules

A time you’ve been scared for your life?
I don't think I've ever felt I was going to outright die, but more like "Oh crap, this is going to really hurt."

One time I was riding a big palomino gelding bareback and he had been fairly well behaved while I was helping teaching lessons at a camp.  We were loping back from one side of the field to the other when he started bucking.  He'd buck and I ended up on his neck, I'd push myself back and he'd start again.

Fortunately, I managed to take enough control of his head and got that stopped.  I really thought it was going to be painful though.

I have been bucked off a few times that weren't especially enjoyable.  I also have handled some unpleasant stallions.

Have you ever fallen off at show? What happened?
Oh good grief.  No and let's keep it that way.  I have just recently started showing undersaddle in the past couple of years. 

What’s a breed of horse you’ve never ridden but would like to ride?

I want to ride a bunch of baroque horses like Lippizanners, Andalusians, and Friesians.  I know that too many would drive me crazy by being heavy in my hands, but at least it would be fun to try.

I  have ridden a lot of different gaited breeds, including Rocky Mountain horses, Tennessee Walking Horses, and Paso Finos if that counts for anything.  Nothing too exotic beyond those besides various Warmblood "breeds", but since they have open books, I think that's more complicated.

Describe the worst behaved horse you’ve ridden? 

A lot. I rode a horse that was donated that was pretty spoiled and one of the first times I was riding her, she began alternating between bucking, crowhopping, and rearing.  She just drove me crazy.  A couple rides later she was good and never really caused too many problems again.  I think she just had cowed a few people into getting off of her.

Now that I think about it, I've ridden a few other horses like that.  They just needed to be pushed through their stupid attitude and realize that I (or whatever other) rider wasn't coming off.  Wet saddle blankets are good things for those spoiled critters.

The most frustrating ride you’ve ever had?
I once got bucked off at a halt by a Quarter Horse that didn't want to work.  I got on, thought about asking her to move, and got launched into the dirt.  It was the shortest ride I've ever had as well.  ;)