The vendors and exhibitors were amazing. I learned quite a bit and I saw more than I could have imagined. And I spent more than I had planned. But oh well . . .
One of my highlights was the opportunity to Ride a Reiner. Yep, I can honestly say I rode at the World Equestrian Games! As we were walking around on Saturday, we came past a pen where they had kids on some horses. At first I thought it was cute that they had pony rides. Then we found out it was the chance to ride a Reining horse. Three of us signed up.
When we entered the pen, they asked us how much riding experience we had. I knew the three of us could ride and the fourth girl was a rider as well. So after we mounted up, they sort of turned us loose.
I had a sweet buckskin gelding named Nugget. At first he was pretty annoyed and swished his tail a lot. I tried to ride as confidently and securely as I could and soon he settled. He picked up a little jog and and I eased him back down, thinking we weren't supposed to go above a walk. But when the other girl rode by at a jog, the announcer said that since this group was more advanced, we'd be doing a little more.
And we did. After jogging around the arena, the other girl came by at a lope and off we went. I had a blast. We walked, jogged and loped around that entire arena. Both directions, both leads. It was amazing.
So it begs the question: why can I get on a horse I've never met, wearing the wrong shoes and no helmet and canter like I've done it all my life? It's worth pondering
2 comments:
Maybe because you expected a Reiner to just lope around - perfectly... I'm amazed though they didn't asked for proper footwear and helmet or at least to sign a release?
Petra Christensen
Parelli 2Star Junior Trainee Instructor
Parelli Central
Petra - we were required to sign a release and children had to have a parent/guardian. I guess it was our choice to go above a walk . . . It was incredibly fun!
Maybe I should expect Cricket to lope around perfectly . . .
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