How would you feel if you never rode again?

Question

How would you feel if you never rode again?

Would it feel like the end of the world to never be on your horse's back again?

Why?

Would it be just fine with you?

Why?

What if you were teased by others around you for not riding? Asked questions like, "Well, if you don't ride, what do you DO with them??" "What good is a horse you can't ride?" "Are you afraid to ride?"

Oh, even I have heard such stupid comments and questions. With a background in training horses and riders for a living, some people think I have lost my nerve or lost my touch... goodness I must have lost something, if not possibly even my mind! blink.gif Why else would I go from sailing over fences or chasing cattle, to always being on the ground.

Friends cannot imagine running at my horse's side when this animal has the ability to do the work for me and carry me around.

But slowly, they are beginning to understand that this is not just a fad that I am going through. This is real. It is serious. My beliefs have gone from making a relationship out of fear, to forming a friendship out of mutual respect. There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who are real friends, and those who put on a front when you are in front of them, but who you know that you cannot trust with personal information. I don't usually keep those friends too long. I prefer the real ones. It does not matter to me how many names I have entered in my pre-sets on my phone....I have very few numbers of those I call regularly. I like it that way.

Same goes for my horse friends. I would rather have a real friendship, than to have a shallow one based on fear of being dropped "from the list".

Is it possible to form a true friendship when you still expect your horse to carry you around? Some say, "But they really enjoy our outings (riding)." Really? Or is it that they enjoy the change of scenery so much that they are willing to tolerate you? Willing to deal with discomfort to get out of the barn, or out of the same area they see everyday?

Why do we climb on our horses?

Well, it is an easy way to exercise them for one.

It is an easy way to go out with friends with your horses.

It's an easy way to go to far away places.

Seems the best reason is because it is easy. Saves us having to work so hard. But how often do we really stop to think of how the horse feels? They are a horse, right? Strong, able, built for it. But are they?? Did man design them to be ridden? Or did man design equipment that would fit and stay on so he could ride this animal?

What about working from the ground? Why do this?

Have you ever experienced having a horse canter right by your side? Having all that beauty and power at your side, feeling the ground vibrate with energy....

Have you danced with your horse, in a proud collected trot? And shared his pride in himself?

The joy of knowing that you are not causing him any sort of discomfort, and that he is with you because he wants to be there...

Being able to reach out and touch them to adjust their pace....

It is an amazing feeling, one that the best ride in the world could never compare to. There is no substitution for the feelings you can feel from the ground. And the feelings you feel knowing that you are giving equally in the relationship. A true friendship that is mutual, not one sided, or lop-sided.

This relationship cannot be built while riding. They are formed on the ground.

Answer 1

I agree with your poetic feelings about friendship etc etc etc. but lets get this straight. Horses. are. Gregorian. They are herd animals. They are happier with a dominant presence. They need exercise, most easily attained through rising as, last time i checked, i can't run as fast as my horse. Don't get me wrong. I believe in bitless bridles, and cruelty free but not riding? Horses are like people.... they like having a job and feeling useful... would you not discipline and encourage a child to work just to be its best friend? You can be a friend and employer as well as long as there's a firm relationship of trust and respect. In a herd, a dominant horse may even kick another horse in face (once again, definitely not advocating hitting your orse in any way... please don't :) and the next minute they'll be happily grazing side by side.

And second of all i WHOLE HEARTEDLY believe in a strong ground relationship. You are right... most people don't spend enough time on the ground. Unmounted trail walks are great for your relationship with your horse. But please stop trying to say that riding in ALL forms is cruel. Anything in the wrong hands can be cruel... even groundwork

And yes even though i do ride, i have experienced those things. But i dont I don't limit myself or my and my horses team, partner relationship... working together learning new things.... pushing our abilities.

This is off topic but one of my favorite things to do is just lay on top of my horse in the pasture as he quietly grazes and just feel the warmth... the trust... the silence... you should try it...  :)  i appreciate what you do for these wonderful animals and i hope nothing i said seemed callous to you :)

Answer 2

To me, horses are people and every bit as much of friend as a human is.  I literallygo through withdrawl and become depressed and cranky when I stay away from horses and riding too long.  If I couldn't ride or work with horses anymore, I have no idea what I would do - it would be unbelieveably terrible.  When I was a little kid, my main fear in life was that I would somehow lose a leg in an accident or something, and would be unable to ride because of it.  That sounds completely ridiculous, but it was seriously the only thing I was truly afraid of!

EDIT:  Ooh, the trolls are out!  Yummy yummy.

Answer 3

I can and have been my horses best friends at the same time as ridding them.

My horses were NOT taught out of fear, but patience and love.

My horses were never *broken* but taught from when they were very young, the give and take that any relationship has.

When it came time to ride them, they loved it.

They never took off when they saw the halter (as I hear so many people say) and when I rode them at a certain time every day just to make sure?

Where did I find them?

At the fence WAITING FOR ME to go out ridding - Not hidding in the back of the pasture somewhere.

Sure there have been some times when I had to be firm, but, we are firm with those we love.  

And if you know anything about horses, or have observed horses in the wild, they are WAY firmer with their young and each other than we could ever be.

It’s all in your head.

Go back to ridding and loving your animal.

I mean geesh, how did you explain it to your horse when you gave up ridding?

Think a that one.

Think how you would feel if your friend just dumped you?

Just one day you’re ridding and the next day you're not?

Not good.

Not good at all.

And I surely hope you let the horse *down* easily!

Maybe you know this maybe you don’t, but, you can’t ride a horse on a regular basis and then just turn it out to pasture to be *Free*...You'd do way more harm than good!

I respect your opinion and *beliefs* that you've come to, but I still think you're way misguided.

Answer 4

well i ride horses as well!and i love every second of it to feel my musceles ache with pain i know i made a friend a life friend and nothing can replace that.one day i was riding and this horse that i loved was called filly he was magneficent beautiful and wild.it seems no one understood him but me and he understood me.something told me that there was something wrong.it so happened that his horseshoe was coming undone/ever since that day i could never imagine not riding again.we are one .we are partners friends best friends but most of all we are one.

Answer 5

I have to say, it works both ways. Ground work forms a bond, a very special one I understand, as I have done it myself. However, horses that i have come into contact with do seem to enjoy it. Why would they put up with it? I know signals can be twisted to either point of view, but my horse whickers when I appear with his saddle, and if I let him go in the jumps field, he jumps his favourites from a lesson over again. Horses are tempramental, and in the same way that they only follow on the ground because they want to, why should it be any different on their back? As long as things are done with no forcing and with kindness, the relationship between horse and rider can be just as special. So really, it seems that to have a true relationship, you need to balance it, and both listen to each other, so riding can be part of your relationship, not a form of dictating.

Answer 6

I'm 41 years old and I've ridden since before I could walk.  Riding has never been something I could not do.

However, I've learned the value of the interaction and education I get from my horses- and I've had the opportunity to think of this very question many times.

The first time was when my mom had back surgery years ago.  He room mate was in for her 2nd back surgery and she was a horse fanatic.  Her doctor told her after her first surgery she couldn't get on for 6 weeks.  She couldn't stay off, got on, hurt it again, and was back for the second time.  She told me (I waso nly in high school at the time) that she knew her doctor would tell her she must stay off for a good 6 months this time or risk never riding again and that she knew she wouldn't be able to stay off for 6 months.

I wonder about that gal often - is she even still alive and has she learned that value doesn't come from being on the horses' backs?

You see, I believe that my horses, the research required to start them, has led me to learn a lot about myself, has taught me a bit of patience (with much more to learn) and has made me focus on my shortcomings as these are what make the difficulties between I and them.  They've made me a better person.  Being involved with them has taught me how to formulate opinions so as to not tick off someone - how to ask the right questions to get them answers that work for them - how to listen and learn and take in all the information I can to build my own best practices.

Even so far as to help me interact better with the people I manage at my career.

So if I were to find that I could not ride for some reason, I wouldn't be hurt at all, but I would have a longing to do so again.  I don't think I'd get rid of my horses unless something happened like I was a paraplegic and unable to rise from bed or something like that so I couldn't even see or touch them - that wouldn't be fair to them.

I think our horses, if interacted with properly DO like to go out and ride and see different things and other horses - as long as they have us and leaders to be there and keep them safe.  They each have jobs to do in their natural habitat - but they easily become part of our herds and like the time they spend with us - maybe for different reasons than we like the time we spend with them.  If God didn't want us to interact so well, he wouldn't have made them so amenable to interaction with humans - just as dogs, one must wonder why they would allow us to treat them ineptly so often and forgive us and come nickering when they see us again.   Yet other animals like them, cows, goats chickens who are flock or herd animals accept or interact with humans so successfully.

So I value any interaction with them, and riding probably falls rather low on the list and I can't pet and hug and handle them as well from above as  I can from the ground.