Thursday, 2 June 2016

Pony Rides

Yesterday my brother came out to the barn to borrow my truck. My brother is pretty allergic to horses so he generally stays far away. He had never met Kachina, and the last time he was near a horse was probably 15 years ago. As he was at the barn anyways, I asked if he wanted to come around to say hi to Kachina. He did, though stayed well back from the fence to avoid the horse hair. He then said he wanted to ride a horse someday, "just for the epic Facebook photo". I told him that could be arranged, and 20 minutes later he was mounting Kachina in my western saddle.

We took the obligatory photos for Facebook, but he actually rode for at least 15 minutes. I was impressed he even got on, much less stuck with it for that long.


I had Kachina's halter on under her bridle, so I started by holding the end of the lead rope and having Kachina circle around me. My brother was sitting in the saddle but the reins were loose and I was the one directing her. We then progressed to walking around the arena, with me walking beside them, but having my brother use his legs and reins to get her to halt, walk and turn. I asked if he wanted to try trotting but he figured the walk felt unstable enough and he wasn't interested in going any faster.

Kachina was perfect for the whole thing. She listened to both me and him, stayed relaxed, and didn't put a foot wrong. Kachina's isn't really a beginner's horse, but I'm proud that I can stick newbies on her for pony rides every now and then. I've had a girl I volunteer with, a couple friends, and my 5 year old niece ride her in the past and she has been equally good.

Faces blurred to protect the innocent :)


Does your horse do pony rides for friends and family?
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6 comments:

  1. Stephanie2 June 2016 at 12:36

    What a good girl! You have a love a horse who's a good sport about that sort of thing.

    Moe is a great pony ride horse, as long as his riders don't kick him or continually pull on the reins. Gina is very nervous when her rider is nervous, so she isn't super trustworthy as a pony ride horse!

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    1. AutonomousDressage2 June 2016 at 14:21

      I was very happy with her :)

      It's interesting the point you make with Gina. Kachina is also a sensitive horse who picks up on her rider's mood and will get nervous when you get nervous. However, I find that some beginners are actually pretty relaxed because they don't know enough to be scared. For example, a friend was riding when a storm blew in really quickly. My friend couldn't feel the ball of nervous energy that Kachina was becoming, so she didn't tense up and in turn Kachina didn't freak out. I generally keep a hold of Kachina on a lead rope when other people are on her just in case, but if someone wants to ride I will just make sure my instructions don't give them any cause for alarm :)

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  2. EventingSaddlebredStyle2 June 2016 at 15:38

    Stinker gets anxious with anyone that isn't me, but I'm working on getting him to realize that other people can ride him and nothing bad will happen. I don't think he will ever be a beginner friendly horse. He is too sensitive and their nerves will make him nervous.

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    1. AutonomousDressage6 June 2016 at 15:28

      I saw from your last post that you are getting other people to ride him, that's awesome!

      Not every horse is made to have just anybody jump on them though, and that's okay!

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  3. LoveLaughRide6 June 2016 at 14:06

    Dee surprised me when my nieces (8,7 &4) rode her back in May. She was foot perfect. The older two were able to ride independently. She walked very slowly when they kicked, stopped gently when they pulled back and when they got off balance she just stopped and waited for them to figure it out.

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    1. AutonomousDressage6 June 2016 at 15:30

      That's awesome! I don't trust Kachina quite that much, she's a sensitive horse and I think if a beginner kicked her, she would move off and move off fast, regardless of what the rider was prepared for lol.

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