Straight from the Horse's Mouth, errrr or Mine!

This last weekend was filled with fun activities and I tried something for the very first time. I am quite surprised that I made it 26 years without doing this, but I rode a horse for the first time last weekend. It almost seems unnatural that I haven't ever ridden a horse because 1) I am a major animal lover and 2) humans have used horses throughout history, but since our culture is so modernized I have successfully, but not purposefully, avoided riding a horse.

I was really excited as John and I drove to Schooner Valley Stables (if you click on that link be prepared to hear a horse "Neigh!"), but started to get a bit nervous when I was standing outside the stable gate. I saw all the impressive horses walking around and checked out the one week old horse. We found out that horses can walk within the first 30 minutes of life! I was focused on the fun of riding a horse, that I really didn't take the time to think about how scary it may be too...until about 60 seconds before I mounted the horse.

John and I stood around with another couple who showed up to ride horses as the trail guides got our horses ready. We spoke with the other couple and the woman was studying at IU from Mongolia and her fiance was from Tibet. Later, I learned that John asked the woman if they had ever seen the Dali Lama in Bloomington, she smiled and said yes. John felt like her reaction was a bit odd, so he asked if they had seen him more than once and she confirmed so. Later, John told me while he was on the trail, the trail guide told him that the man on the trail with us was the Dali Lama's nephew! We both thought was very interesting. (Side note - Bloomington has a large Tibetan culture, the Dali Lama's brother owns a restaurant in Bloomington, and the city also houses a large Tibetan Cultural Center.)

I was told to enter the stable because my horse, Big Bandit, was ready. Big Bandit! What?! I thought I would ride a horse named Sugar or Brownie, not Big Bandit! When I heard his name, I got a bit scared. What a name. I mounted up on the horse and felt like I was up really high. It was hard to wrap my mind around the fact that I was riding an animal. I should have known from Big Bandit's first action what the rest of my ride would be like, as he headed quickly into the barn for some hay. I was separated from everyone who knew anything about horses within seconds of mounting Big Bandit. I quietly panicked.

Soon we hit the trails and Big Bandit continued his feast on everything in sight. We would walk 3 inches and then he would stop and munch on grass, some leaves of a tree branch, or anything on the ground. As a group, we had a trail guide leading us and one as the caboose. I started out behind John and his horse Shawnee, but soon my horse fell behind (probably because he was too busy eating) the other woman on our trail ride. Her fiance was behind me. We learned that horses get pretty territorial about their trail order, so we were stuck in those positions. My horse did exactly what Spitfire, the horse in front of him did and Spitfire loved to eat as well. I spent a lot of time saying, "C'mon Big Bandit, stop eating." I felt bad pulling him away from his endless buffet of food, but we had a trail to ride! Every once in a while, the trail guide up front would shout, "Are we ready to trot?" Within seconds, Big Bandit was trotting along and this was no easy trot - it felt like the horse was running. I was laughing so hard the first time Big Bandit ran and I could not stop until he slowed down. All I had to hold on to was a small saddle horn and try to use my stirrups as support. I thought I was seconds away from falling into the mud (or worse) along the trail and breaking my arm. It was a "I'm having fun laugh" but also "I am totally freaked out and feel like I am seconds from disaster" laugh. All that trotting definitely lead to my immediate soreness. When our ride was over, I felt like both my legs were broken, but I guess that truly means you got the true experience of riding a horse.

(Side note: I pushed for John and I to go horse riding. He thought these animals were like party ponies or something and felt bad for them. I told him these people love their animals and take good care of them. I told him he didn't have to go, but I would really like to go sometime and could go with someone else, but he reluctantly decided to join me. He realized the horses lived a good life as soon as we got to the stables.) In true, but lovable John fashion, we pulled away from the stable as he told me he wanted a horse.