June 19th 2013: Learning to Ride a Horse in Grafton

Today after work, I had an appointment to learn how to do horseback riding at JH Eventing in the town of Grafton.The last time I kinda did this was when I was still a kid riding a pony in the zoo.

Before that, I decided to go grab a quick bite at the Art Bradish Snack Bar, a takeout hot dog stand/shack at 39 Shrewsbury Street in town, getting a Long Dog and a Chilli Cheese Fries. Pretty ordinary stuff, nothing to write home about.

Heading to the stables, located within a residential area, I had a little trouble finding parking, and the instructor had to direct me where to go.After I parked, the instructor soon came and directed me into the barn, where she introduced me to Jasmine, the beautiful horse I would be riding today. After leading her out of her stall, I proceeded to brush her hair to clean her of any residual mud on it. When walking behind her, I had to touch her in order to inform her of my presence and not startle her into kicking me.

Next, I had to scrape out her hoofs of mud and stones, by lifting her legs up one by one. Thankfully she has been trained to do so, otherwise I would be having a hard time here.

Now it was time to put on her bridle and saddle.

The saddle has several parts. The saddle pad is put on first to minimize chafing from the saddle, and the belt around its belly has to be attached tightly to prevent the saddle from moving around.

The bridle was a little chore to get over her head as well.

Finally, it was time to lead the horse out to the shed, leading her by the reins on her left, holding it up to ensure she did not trip on it. My instructor made it easy for me to mount the horse after letting down her stirrups, letting me get onto a platform first.

After getting onto the horse pretty easily, it was time to learn how to put my legs in the stirrups, and how to hold the reins. Then it was time to ride within the confines of the shed.

Getting her to go was easy, by squeezing my legs against her tummy and holding the reins such that it hung loosely. After she starts moving, I controlled her direction of motion by pulling the reins in the desired direction while the other side hung loose. Easy enough, especially with the piles of horse poo lying around the shed. Stopping involves pulling back on the reins and saying "whoa"

Next was learning how to stand up and ride, holding onto her mane to balance myself while doing so, which is what jockeys do during races. Not too hard either, although it was a little harder to balance while in this position.

Even harder, was when she started to trot at a faster pace after I squeezed her tighter with my legs. According to my instructor, even she still can't balance herself at times when the horse trotted. That's a comfort, even though I felt like I was going to fall off the horse at any time.

Thankfully, the lesson ended soon after, and the reverse of everything we did was performed to lead her back into the stall.

Some things to note are that horse handling directions are not standardized across the board, and different horses have different temperaments, some being naughtier or nastier than others.; Thankfully Jasmine was a nicer one.

After a nice horseback riding experience, it was time to head to dinner, with me heading to the John Henry Tavern, a western bar restaurant located within the Highfields Golf and Country Club in town.
The views from the parking lot of the surroundings was pretty nice, although the sun marred my picture taking a little.

Being in a country club, the restaurant decor was pretty decent, although there wasn't much variety to the menu, and the Grilled London Broil I finally decided to get was very overcooked even though I ordered it rare, but overall it was still palatable and not too bad.

By the time I left the place, the sun was just about to set, so I took one last picture before heading home for the day.

I had a really fun time learning how to ride a horse today, although my meals were a little disappointing. Next up, going on a mini-speed boat ride next week and looking forward to it.