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I have, or had, lots of pictures of horses, including with me on them (and most of them I didn’t own. Here are just three of Ky, in age ranging from 18 to 20 or 21 (not sure now). He was bought off a ranch in New Mexico as a youngish (5 or 6 year old) horse that had a habit of jumping out of corrals, and became a show jumper in Texas before I’d ever been in a flat saddle. We intersected in his older age (16/17) after a career-ending injury to his stifle, but he could still jump up to about 4’3″. At that time, I was just becoming comfortable with 3′ jumps. I leased him for about a year before buying him, and moved him to our present home when we moved here.
Here he’s trucking me through my first-ever horse show (we also did a flat class) , and this was my first time to jump a triple combination. It’s not high, but it was challenging enough for me.
My weird position here is due to having put him in a near-impossible position to jump this…coming into the fence at a sharp angle, without room for another stride (I was avoiding a mud patch). Having been told he could jump anything in the ring from any angle, I closed my legs and spoke to him. The rocket assist came on, he shot up in the air, twisted to square himself to the fence, and landed like a marshmallow. I hung on. Obviously. He was a dead honest horse to ride; he loved to jump, was amazingly fast for his breeding, and aside for the stifle injury that ended his career as an open jumper, the soundest horse I’ve ever owned except for the Arab mare.
Once we moved him up here, I could ride him around town bareback, or under saddle in the local festival parade (in which he pranced like a youngster and showed off–he loved an audience.) But he died at 23, when a maximum dose of Bute wasn’t enough to keep him comfortable (re-injury of his stifle, thanks to a kick from the same TB mare) and the vet and I agreed that putting him down was the only humane thing to do. So, though I had initially thought Paks would have a golden-colored horse (not palomino–one of those golden chestnuts), when the horse ran out of the hills and to her…it was this one.
I have no pictures (at least not that I can find right now) of the horse I bought for Michael (the one that came with a history of past founder, and foundered again, fatally, later. This is also the horse that bucked me off spectacularly–sunfishing–and then kicked me in the rear while I was still up in the air. )
Pictures of the Arab mare looking her best, at the trainer’s.
Pictures of Cricket (another rehab case, bought for Michael) right after she arrived, hundreds of pounds underweight and full of worms (that’s not a hay-belly), and then later when he was riding her.
Pictures of Illusion (inherited from Kathleen, who trained him to upper levels of dressage–I can’t ride at those levels.) He’s half warmblood, one quarter Pryor Mountain mustang, and one quarter mystery.
And now I really do have to go Deal With Mac.
Comment by Kip Colegrove — April 19, 2012 @ 12:31 pm
There’s something so naturally attractive to us humans about horses and the idea of being mounted on one.
I wonder how long our ancestors dreamed of or imagined riding a horse before someone actually got up the nerve to try it.
Comment by Chuck — April 19, 2012 @ 12:58 pm
Great pictures of the horses. I notice that sometimes you are wearing a helmet, sometimes not. It doesn’t appear to be strictly a function of which horse you’re riding, since in the bluebonnet picture of Ky you are helmetless, unlike the jumping pictures. Different contexts (competition/training, instructing the young), change of heart after being bucked off, or even more complex decision?
The stuff in the current novels about horse color and cultural assumptions/myths has been very interesting.
Comment by elizabeth — April 19, 2012 @ 1:01 pm
I’ll bet on kids. Kids are more fearless–they don’t yet know they’re breakable–and they bounce better when they land. Climbing on a horse with no saddle usually leads to uncomplicated falls…you can’t get hung up in gear you don’t have. The first domesticated horses were pretty short–12-13 hands–so the fall wouldn’t be that bad. Kids would make friends with a horse…get to where they could pet it, where the horse tolerated them, and then some kid would think of hopping up there. Once one kid was able to stay on for a little while, another kid would want to try. Next thing you know, it’s “Look Ma, look Dad, I just found him wandering around…we can keep him, can’t we?”
That’s pure guesswork, of course.
Comment by Moira — April 19, 2012 @ 2:02 pm
I love the one in the bluebonnets – he looks so noble there. “You may now take my portrait, human. He That Is Perfection In Equine Form is posing for you!”
Mac may love drama, but I think all animals have a sense of the theatrical when it comes to dealing with their humans. And wouldn’t our lives be sadly impoverished without it?
Comment by elizabeth — April 19, 2012 @ 2:04 pm
Chuck: I grew up “western”–nobody wore helmets, but most people wore hats. When I started riding “English” (hunt seat, initially) I had to buy a helmet, but at that time a plain black “hunt-type” helmet was considered adequate protection and used primarily when riding over jumps. That’s what I’m wearing in the pictures with Ky…and that was in a show. Wearing a helmet for casual riding was not common (still isn’t common among western riders) at the time of the “bluebonnet” picture (about 1980.)
By then I’d already had one concussion, 3-4 years before I met Ky, coming off a horse in a triple no-stride or bounce jump. Wearing the same black helmet or hunt cap. The thing is hard, but not well-cushioned–it’ll somewhat protect your head from hitting small limbs while riding fast through brush but it’s no protection against “sandbagging” on the arena.
Later, I learned about the new safety helmets, and got one–they have a suspension system inside and some foam padding. They’re also bigger and were often called “mushroom heads.” These began to be required by stables where I took lessons, but at first were not accepted in shows. Some trainers still considered them necessary only for jumping. Gradually attitudes changed, and the generally accepted rule now is that you should wear a helmet any time you’re on a horse. Most people break that rule occasionally–including me. On a gentle horse in a familiar setting, it’s more comfortable to ride without one. It’s definitely more comfortable to ride with a hat in summer Texas sun than in a helmet. They now make a western-styled safety helmet that looks about as authentic as a shiny tan plastic hat can. Some people (esp. in the west) sneer at people who wear helmets as sissies.
Like most people, I’d rather ride without a helmet. More comfortable until you hit the ground with your head. Both times I’ve gotten a concussion from a riding accident, I was wearing a helmet, the original black kind. Other times I’ve come off without wearing a helmet, I didn’t hit my head. This does not encourage me to ride without a helmet, however.
Comment by elizabeth — April 19, 2012 @ 2:05 pm
Moira: he was of the clan of “noble” horses, indeed. And he’d been a show horse–admired and praised for his jumping ability–and he really loved an audience.
Comment by Daniel Glover — April 19, 2012 @ 8:04 pm
Having had one friend die after being thrown off head first into a fence post while bareback I think helmets are a good thing for horse riding.
Comment by elizabeth — April 19, 2012 @ 8:22 pm
Unfortunately, even helmets don’t prevent all injuries, or even all deaths from head impact. They do prevent or mitigate serious injury in many, however, and for that reason are worthwhile.
Comment by Elizabeth D. — April 19, 2012 @ 9:44 pm
Ky seems like Paks’s horse, a very nice animal. There are just some special ones. I loved a horse named Penny that was always patient and follow directions that children gave.
I learned to ride with no helmet too, in New Jersey. It was just what was done. My daughter grew up with the requirement of the “mushroom head” helmet, and I admit, it made me feel a bit better. We lived in Brooklyn, NY then, but there is a riding stable by the beach where the police mounts are kept, and she and a friend would take lessons there. The only horse that misbehaved was a small horse that would try to scrape her off on the fence; the larger horses were nicer. She and her friend would comb down the horses and clean their hooves.
Her teacher was always safety conscious; I knew his mother from church (coincidentally), but his brother had a severe mental disability that he had gotten after a motorcycle accident, not from a horse, and was learning to talk again.
Comment by ellen — April 20, 2012 @ 5:10 am
As we say “Down Under” : if you don’t need a head, you don’t need a helmet.
Comment by Iphinome — April 20, 2012 @ 6:45 am
No unicorns, no rainbow manes. My Little Pony lied to me!
Comment by elizabeth — April 20, 2012 @ 9:23 am
iphinome: I knew the country was headed for trouble when My Little Pony and cartoon horses replaced real ponies and horses (and books about them) for little girls. Rainbow manes and sparkly unicorns send all the wrong messages.
Comment by Kathie G — April 20, 2012 @ 11:18 am
Years ago, when I was in my late-teens and early-twenties, I was living in Montana. For 4-5 years I always bought a three-day pass to the local Horse Show. Loved to watch the horses go through their paces — especially the Tennessee Walking Horses. But I had no overwhelming desire to ride — the only time I ever got really up-close-and-personal with a horse, it bit me on my upper arm! Didn’t break the skin, but I had a spectacular purple bruise there for several weeks. For me horses are best appreciated at a distance.
Comment by joan — April 20, 2012 @ 11:20 am
What a wonderful horse you had. I live in real horse country, Momouth County, NJ. I did Hunter Jumper training and got up to one meter jumps, riding in various schools. I never bought a horse for myself because I was afraid of the costs.
Once, I was riding in California, and they gave me a old horse that was schooled in the highest level of dressage. It was an amazing experience. The horse literally steered himself. I did nothing but accept complements about my skill.
Comment by B. Ross Ashley — April 20, 2012 @ 12:45 pm
That’s where the big red came from. For some reason I just got fuzzy screen virus.
As for helmets,I used to think bike helmets were worthless; and when they were padded leather hairnets, they were. Nowadays I won’t mount the bike without my Louis Garneau.
Comment by Ginny W. — April 20, 2012 @ 12:55 pm
I love horse stories – and reading yours I now know how Socks (Paks’ black horse) became the character he is (was?) maybe he will ride through again someday. Alas that my citybound life has not provided more equine acquaintances.
Comment by Adam Baker — April 20, 2012 @ 6:15 pm
I know absolutely nothing about horses, and haven’t ever had a chance to ride one, so I don’t have much to add to the thread. But great pictures, thanks for sharing them.
Comment by Iphinome — April 21, 2012 @ 1:02 am
In all fairness Twilight Sparkle doesn’t actually sparkle that’s just her name.
Comment by Genko — April 21, 2012 @ 9:38 am
I’m afraid I don’t know much about horses, though I’ve always admired them — when I was a girl, I played that I was one, and always wanted to ride. But when you’re poor and live in the city it’s not really possible. Never read any of the unicorn/my little pony stuff, as I was before its time. But I recently re-read Black Beauty, and it’s pretty good for what it is. And I read all sorts of other horse stories back then.
My one experience of riding as an adult (I did occasional pony rides as a child) was at a sort of dude ranch here in Oregon along the McKenzie River. We were in a group, and they gave me a big gentle horse and put me in the middle. Even as limited as that, I still found it delightful, though not enough to pursue it further. I think I might have enjoyed aspects of grooming horses and being in there that way. But evidently not in this lifetime.
Comment by Celina — April 22, 2012 @ 7:26 am
Here in Sweden there is no law that you have to wear a helmet, but if you don’t wear one, the insurance companies will deny you any money if something do happen. All riding schools require that their students wear helmets too 🙂 Some wear a riding vest too (a protective vest that will take most of the blow if you get thrown off.) There is also saftey stirrups that you cant get stuck in too. Sweden loves security *grins*
The new My little Pony show actually teaches young girls to stand up for themselves and treat everyone nice, so it’s not that bad 😉
Comment by Sam Barnett-Cormack — April 25, 2012 @ 8:16 am
I know from watching equestrian events on TV (my other half loves them) that the cross-country in the big competitions we see not only require the helmets, but these funky vest-jacket things that are tethered to the tack somewhere, and if the tether comes out they self-inflate to protect the thorax and abdomen. The net result is that the riders who fall get up and you can see the inflated stuff, and it looks pretty silly, but I would bet they aren’t complaining about it.
Comment by Eowyn — April 25, 2012 @ 2:25 pm
I just read that the USEF now requires all people on horses (not just juniors) anywhere on the showgrounds to wear a certified helmet. I was so trained to wear one when I didn’t for the joust troup it felt decidedly wrong. I loved on helmet that I had with really nice vents for a breeze.
The love you have for your horses (past and present) even when they annoy you is clear and appreciated. I hope that Mac quickly learns to stay put.
Comment by elizabeth — April 28, 2012 @ 10:56 am
joan: late reply on the dressage thing. Illusion, though he has some physical problems that limited his talent, was trained by Kathleen to a very high level in dressage. Riding him when he was still close to his peak meant that I could do sequential half-passes at canter, with a flying change at the change of direction. It was incredible. He had all the moves, but not the brilliance…and all the arrogance of a horse that knew he knew more than I did. Until I first rode a horse with some dressage training, I had no idea what a difference it made. I’d been on cowhorses that naturally balanced themselves for cow work and were quick and could turn on a dime, but were on the forehand the rest of the time. And a Quarter Horse loping along on the forehand is a very comfortable ride…but nothing like a horse that’s moving in perfect balance.