Best moments in the saddle

[JohnnyDingus]

Brings back memories of when I had some horses a while back. Living in So California some do and some don't grow up with them. I didn't. Around age 35 I was living in an area that had horses and was given a real good quarter horse. Well with kids and a wife you need more than one so I bought another. Being a little short of a deck I never worried about riding and willing to try most things I decided to go watch team penning. As the cowboy's would cut across the arena sometimes they would loose their hat. Well when the penning was done they'd ride over to their hat and hang off their horse and pick up their hat without getting off.

Wow I thought. I'd like to try that. So later while riding my Morgan I would drop my hat in our small arena and get where I could pick it up. Well after a while I had no trouble picking up the hat stones or other items that were on the ground. That morgan trusted me and I him.

Well if you can do it on one horse how about another. I was riding a neighbors horse on a trail ride with some freinds one day and they happened to be talking about the cowboys at the penning picking up stuff off the ground. Well being the big mouth that I am I mentioned to them that I had done it too. Well back to cowboys braggin and stuff you know you should just keep that mouth shut some times. Well the freinds wanted to see me pick something up so I agreed to. The horse I was on didn't. I was reaching down to pick up this baseball sized rock and everything was fine. I was doing a great impression of all the cowboys before me hanging off the saddle picking that rock up. Everything was going just fine....untill I tried to pull myself back up into the seat. That grey neighbors horse thought this would be a fine moment to make a quick fake to the right and he left me in mid air between ground and sky. Now mind you 250lbs of cowboy about 3 1/2 feet off of the ground still falls hard. That horse galloped away started grazing and would let me get to about 10 feet of him and gallop away again. He did that for about 2 miles to teach me a lesson. Lesson learned.

Now if you want to hear a motorcyle story that will be another day.

vince

[troy]

Don't know if this experiance will count, seeing as I've only been on a horse 5 times, I live in scotland and my riding rythem is similar to that on 'city slickers'. A few years back the family and I managed a 5 weeker on the west coast (of USA) and amongst other places, we visited rubies inn in Utah where provided us tourist types with day/s out riding with a wrangler.

Went out 2 times taking in the gorgous scenery and ridges of the locality with no problems at all even during the steep ups and steeper downs which amased me. Then on the last occassion instead of riding out into the country we did a ride not far from the hotel with two wranglers, cause some of us wanted to gallop and others not - everything was going honky dory even riding near the bryce canyon, then on the way back we split into the two groups with low branched trees between us.

I was with the slow group to help my son!, the other group had a problem with one of the horses (something to do with order of march thing as I was told later) and our wrangler galloped off towards them to help - it was at this point obviously that our two horses wanted to follow....at full gallop through the tree's.....inbetween trying to aviod the branches and stay on the saddle I was yanking like hell on the reins and shouting....did'nt do a damn thing of course but for 5 or 10 seconds I was on the ride of my life; the horse at some point bucked, I was swaying left and right from the branches and to top it at one point I looked across at my son and he was smiling his head off.

The above is probably not half as bad as most of your experiance - have certainly learnt alot since then like 'to turn left or right' and especially 'applying the brake properly'but hopfully it might make some laugh.

[hidepounder]

My most memorable moments in the saddle where all those that didn't include this moment! To be honest I had much worse wrecks....this is the only one I have a photo of!

Bobby

[Butch]

Ouch! I hope the horse and you came out of it Ok

Butch

[Kani]

Double ouch. Poor horse, poor you.