Horse Therapy

Noosa, Queensland

Australia

Hello friends! SO I went horseback riding today. OH. MY. GOD. First of all, I got a charming horse named Ollie, who they affectionately called “the wanderer.” I thought nothing of this because I was so glad I didn’t get “Frenzy.” Like seriously, who names a horse “Frenzy”? Why not just cut to the chase and call him “Bone Crusher” or “Human Slayer.” Anyways, as it turns out, riding “the wanderer” was a challenge, to say the least. See we were on a trail through a forested area, and having a horse that wanders off the trails means that you get smacked in the face by a lot of branches. Face, arms, the best gash is across the top of my thigh.

And that was with pants on. The horse of coarse (haha) isn’t thinking about you sitting on top of it, so while it’s not like it's going to run smack into a tree, THE HORSE will happily duck under a branch leaving YOU to be helplessly carried into it.

Another note about horseback riding, you’re RIDING A HORSE. A real live animal, and a big one at that. Oh yeah, and they run. First of all, this is for the ladies, when riding a trotting horse wear a sports bra. Heck, wear two. In addition to being bruised and battered I thought I was going to have black eyes. So this trotting horse situation, so SCARY. A trot is kind of like our jog for a horse.

Horse to Human Terminology

Walk = Walk

Trot = Jog

Canter = Run

Gallop = Sprint

I was literally bracing myself for the fall the whole time. Like we’d be walking and all of the sudden the horse would break into a trot; fire the pistol, we were off.

It’s insane, you’re flying all over the place – everytime my feet flew out of the stirrups, and I lost the reins a couple of times, and then I cried. The thing you need to understand is that when riding upon the back of a horse, is that your instinctual reactions are completely wrong.

So when the horse broke into a trot, instinctually I would tighten my legs around the horse and lean in towards the horse. The same way a jockey sits to get a horse to gallop.

A Jockey

A Nichole Kristen

(not a jockey)

In the future:

• Step 5: Slowing Down and Stopping

  
  

  • No matter how much fun you're having riding a horse, eventually you're going to want to stop.

  1. Most horses are trained to slow down and stop when the reins are pulled backwards.
  2. Even if you want to stop quickly, never jerk back hard on the reins. This could cause the horse to rear up.
  3. Release any leg pressure on the horse before you ask it to slow down or stop.
  4. Make sure you have a solid seat on the saddle before pulling back on the reins.
  5. If the horse stops abruptly, you might need to lean backwards and push on the stirrups with your feet, heels forward, to keep your balance.
  6. Once the horse has come to a complete stop, remember to release the pressure on the reins to let the horse know its finished obeying the command.

Now this is all good and fine when you're practicing on a horse that is standing still with the instructor coaching you by your side, but a whole different story when your horse is in motion.I hung on until the half way point when we stopped for a break and snacks, but I swore I was not getting back on that horse. I’m like crying and shaking, plus I’m bruised and in a chipper voice, our instructor's like, “Water or orange juice?” Surely you jest. Then the guy suggested that I just let myself fall off the horse so I would see it wasn’t that bad. I smiled and laughed, not sure if he was joking as visions of Christopher Reeve came to me.

During our break the woman said that we could go a different way and have the horse just walk, which didn’t sound too bad. So I climb back on the horse, and the woman asks if I’m sure I don’t want to go for a trot, and I was like, “Dude, it’s all I can do to get back on the horse,” and then I had a chuckle to myself for using the expression in such a literal manner, not surprisingly it phased her less.

Me "getting back in the saddle"

And yeah, I know I should stop calling women “dude.” Sorry Grandma.

So the ride back was nice, although really it was more of a nature walk than a horse ride, but that was perfect for me. She was like going on about the different trees and birds and I’m on my horse like ”yeah” every five seconds in between getting slapped by branches. But that part was most enjoyable to me.

While the guy was driving me back to my hostel, he was like, “So you’ve realized horse riding isn’t for you?” And I mean, it was definitely a character building experience. And the trails were really cool and we rode through a lake which was sweet, and wet. It was a challenge, but I made it through and it was still a good experience. Then he asked me where I was from and of coarse I was like, “From the States." And he was like, “Oh ya, the Americans always say that they don’t do horse trotting in America.” I was thinking, SERIOUSLY?!?! I know he heard my accent before I strapped myself to a huge running beast! Like, YA! The only horse riding experience I had was when I was like nine sitting on a walking horse while some dude in a cowboy hat held the reins. They definitely do it different in Oz.

So it looks like I’m off to horse therapy tonight, hope you all are well!

XOXO