Bolting Horse

Maybe you know that I ride horses.  I've been doing so off and on since I was about 10 years old. 

Every Tuesday and Thursday I make a mad dash to the barn to commune with the beasts.

First, I rode my boy, Tango.  He was a little skittish about the newly dampened sawdust inside the barn.

He was fairly certain that the ground was going to kill him because it was lighter near the wall and dark (damp) in the center of the barn.

Once we overcame his stopping, spinning attempts at evading the ground we got to work.

He was really great and we had a nice ride.  Productive training.  YAY!

Then I rode Levi.  He's about a 25 year old American Saddlebred, retired show horse, now lesson horse.

Levi is the best boy ever.  Always predictable.  Unafraid of the ground.

Unless it's muddy outside.  That's not so much fear as resistance to getting his feet dirty.

Today, our lesson consisted of riding without stirrups.  First one and then the other and then none.  

It is precisely as torturous as it sounds.  It's hell on the thigh and posterior muscles.

I remember doing these exercises as a child and being able to complete entire lessons with no stirrups.

Things have changed over the last 30 some odd years.  That's why I restarted these exercises.  Time to combat some of the changes.

We were nearly finished.  Legs ON FIRE!

One more pass at the trot, with no stirrups, and reins tied off neatly, resting lightly on Levi's neck as my plan is to ride with no stirrups, arms airplane style, straight out to the side.

Just then the barn dogs emerge, barking and running from their hiding place, cross in front of Levi and WE ARE OFF!

He breaks into a crow hopping (baby bucks) gallop as I pitch backward at the sudden increase in speed and then pitch forward from the crow hops.

Scrambling to maintain some kind of balance as I grab for the reins that are no longer resting where I put them...in that moment I realized how oddly calm I felt.

I don't think my heart rate increased at all.                                         ^^^^Levi^^^^

I knew that I wasn't going to fall off.  I knew that Levi would never hurt me.  He could have easily dumped me on the ground.  He didn't.  In his "animal" way, he saved us from the charging, barking, excited dogs.

Horses are flight animals.  I've known that for 30 years.  As an experienced rider, I am always mentally prepared for FLIGHT.  Physically, I can be caught off balance, off guard...but mentally, I know what can happen.

When your MIND is prepared, your body will adapt.