Rode a little horsie

One of Eric's clients has a couple of horses, and I guess she can't ride them due to an injury. So, Eric asked her if she needed someone to ride her horses *hint hint*, and we went out to the barn yesterday to take a look. I wore my breeches and brought my boots and helmet in case she wanted me to ride. The barn is about 10 minutes from Eric's place, making it very convenient to get to. However, it's right next to a busy road, which is something I'm not too fond of.

We got to the barn at about 3:00. It's an old building--one of those two- or three-story barns. The horses are kept on the lowest level. The ceilings are six feet tall in some areas, and only maybe seven feet tall where the stalls are. It was cramped and that "old barn" smell hits you immediately. The one bad thing about the place is that there's no arena--just pastures. I wasn't sure where the riding took place, or if anybody rode at all here.

We met June, and she led us to where her horses were kept. We were greeted by Max, a stocky Quarter Horse looking thing, with his ears back and a glare in his eyes, haha. He's a dominant, pushy, in-your-face kind of horse, and I loved him immediately--I love those dominant Quarter Horses. They always seem to be the safest ones to ride. Unfortunately, he wasn't the horse I'd be riding. June pointed out a little bay mare to me named Yetta. My initial thought was, "Whoa, she's tiny." She couldn't have been much more than 14.3 (which basically means I can very easily see over her back). She just turned five years old, and she's a cross between a Thoroughbred and a Quarter Horse. Oh, and she hasn't been ridden since June. Last year. And this is the horse she wanted me to ride.

EEK. A five-year-old that was green to begin with, and hasn't been ridden in a year?! I must be crazy. The last time I rode a horse as a "favor" was in 2005. A woman had fallen off her seven-year-old horse, and hadn't ridden him in two months out of fear. I said I could give it a shot, and went out there to take a look. I lunged him for about twenty minutes to get any "kinks" out. He was perfectly fine. Got on and rode him around for twenty minues. He was a total angel. I went out a few days later, lunged him for maybe ten minutes--totally fine. I hopped on, and 15 seconds into the ride, I knew something was up. His back was stiff as a board, which is almost ALWAYS a precursor to a big blowup. About 15 seconds after that, he met my expectations and bucked, reared, threw me side to side, and I came off. I ended up having to go to the emergency room because I was totally knocked out.

So, on that good note, onto my ride yesterday. We brought the mare in and groomed her up. I put the saddle on her, and she grinded her teeth when I tightened her girth up, haha. We walked her out to the little pasture in front of the property, and I walked her around to get a feel for her reaction to everything--the saddle, the people, and especially the traffic, since the road was six feet or so from the pasture. She listened, but she didn't seem worried.

Now to climb on. Climb on a green horse that hadn't been ridden in a year. I need to get my head examined.

Anyway. I got onto the mounting block, put my foot in the stirrup, and gently settled into the saddle. She side stepped a bit and shook her head, but really didn't have much of a reaction. However, she really was not too keen on just standing around, so instead of upsetting her, we walked on. June had a hold of her head just in case she tried anything silly. We walked around once, and as we were passing by the side of the pasture that faced the road, some jackass in a truck stepped on his accelerator, making a lot of noise. I could feel her getting a bit nervous, but no spooking whatsoever. After a few times around, June let her off the lead, and we were on our own. I walked her around a bit, tested her stopping powers, pushed my legs against her sides to see what she knew (not much I don't think). We trotted around a teeny bit, too. I didn't want to do a whole lot with her the first time for several reasons, but mostly because I wanted to end on a good note.

So far, she seems like a pretty level-headed, think-before-I-spook kind of horse. She's very weak behind, doesn't have a lot of "go", and doesn't have much in the way of steering or brakes. ;) But, she seems to have a good mind, and should be fun to work with.