Story time with Richard Geary Title: Horseback Riding By: Dick Geary Men are generally more careful of the breed of their horses and dogs than of their children. William Penn Horseback riding wasnt often a pleasant experience when we were young. Kids horses were rare. Our ranchs herd was composed of worn out work and saddle horses - anything we could catch. If a horse didnt bite, strike, or run away, it was considered safe for us kids. Our parents had been raised with horses, and saw them like we see lawn mowers or washing machines, today. Tractors had supplanted horses in the hay fields, and the older people were glad to see them go. We got little instruction. Our father taught us how to get a bit in a horses mouth, and how to tie the latigo, but that was it; horses taught us the rest. Riding was an ordeal from the start. Three or four of us, some only a year or two out of diapers, would head into the pasture with an old work halter and a bucket with some gravel in it. There was rarely any grain, so we tried to fool the animals by shaking the bucket. It never worked, but we always hoped. The herd was sour, and getting them corralled involved a half-hour of chasing through the thistles and mud and rocks, until they finally gave up and trotted into the pens, where wed continue the pursuit until the one we wanted stood in a corner. Wed get the lead rope around its neck and take it into the barn where it couldnt pull back and get away when it got tired of our struggles. The bridle came first. Wed boost one child onto the horses back while another tried to get the bit in the animals mouth. When the bit was finally in, the child on the horse would shimmy up the neck, reach between the ears and grab the headstall and put it in place. It was a difficult task, and tempers often got out of hand, with one child or another leaving in tears for the house. The horses showed more patience than we did. They had spent a lifetime with sore necks and shoulders, pulling heavy mowers around a boggy hayfield, and they knew they had good duty. We always tried to use a saddle so we could remount if we got off to open a gate. Wed find an old blanket and get it in place, then, with two children pushing the saddle up the horses rib cage on one side, and one waiting on the other to pull on the stirrup when it was within reach, wed start the process. The blanket always slid off the animals back, so we would give that up after a couple tries. Sometimes we got the horse saddled, and sometimes we didnt. That depended on both the animals and our patience. It wasnt unusual for one of us to get stepped on, so then everything stopped while three or four children, whose combined weight wasnt 200 pounds, tried to push a 1,400 pound horse off a shrieking childs toes. The cinch was another problem. At times it reached only halfway under the horses belly, but wed fashion some sort of knot and call it good. We figured we were lucky to get that far. Since the saddle was always loose, and the horse was always fat, one child had to stand on the off side, holding the stirrup to keep the saddle from slipping, while the rider, with a boost from the third, scrambled onto the horses back. We rode double at times, but that depended on the mood of the first kid to get on the horse; he or she was captain of the equine ship. Someone was always left behind, mad and crying. Off the riders would go. We learned to ride with our hands low because the reins were short from being broken and retied onto the bit so many times. We learned to use our legs because we could never reach the stirrups. We knew how to keep our balance, because the saddle was never cinched properly, and would turn if we rode the slightest bit off center. It wasnt rare that the old horse came back to the corral, alone - the saddle under its belly and two dusty, crying children a quarter-mile behind. Wed catch the horse, rearrange the saddle and try it again. After a few hours of out and back, the old horse would tire of the routine and refuse to leave the corral. We respected that, and didnt fault the horse. We viewed it as a sentient creature, not merely a dumb beast to be trained and controlled. I think that was the most important thing we learned, and even if we never learned to ride, it was enough.
Posted on: Sat, 21 Jun 2014 18:21:34 +0000
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