Mountains and Horses
Hello dear readers!
Today I want to talk about an adventure I recently had.
Growing up, most of my neighbors had horses, though I never got to ride one. (Although I have always wanted to.) I spent a fair amount of time around them as a kid. I knew how you were supposed to approach one and not to walk behind a horse you don’t know, I got to pet them and help feed them and all that. But alas, no riding.
Until recently! Just this past month my very best bestie and I went horseback riding for our mutual birthday celebration adventure. Laugh all you like, but I am so excited I got to go ride a horse. Since I started writing “A Songbird’s Tale”, I’ve been wanting to go experience riding a horse in the mountains so I can write about it maybe just a little bit better. WELL I FINALLY GOT MY CHANCE. I did a four hour ride through Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP).
Readers… horses are AWESOME. Pictured to the left is me and Jethro. Jethro was a very handsome and well mannered fella, even if he did try to sneak some grass on the trail when he wasn’t supposed to. (I learned it is illegal to let your horse graze in RMNP.) But I won’t tell if you don’t.
Sometimes you can know a thing, but its different from being around it or being reminded of it. I remember having a conversation with Dustin about this during one of my rounds of editing.
So many of us are removed from interacting with horses on a every day basis, we often just think of them as transportation when we are writing, a way to get from A to B. So I worked really hard to make Gallop a character in her own right, not just a mode of transportation.
My brain new horses had personalities. But after going and spending even just a little time around them and riding them… let me tell you. Unlike a car or a motorcycle, horses have opinions. And attitudes. It was very evident in our little group that the horses each had their own personality and temperament. Being a complete beginning they gave me a nice, clam, horse. My BFF did have riding experience and they gave her a horse who was much more opinionated about how close he should walk to the horse in front of him, among other things.
I didn’t get many photos because it was a little harder than I thought to take a picture from horseback if you don’t know what you’re doing and you’re trying to keep up with the group.
Anyway, this is why I’m such a fan of experiential learning. Of going and doing the thing when you can. I can imagine all day long what it’s like to ride a horse, but until you go and actually do it, you don’t really understand it in the same way.
I knew I would be sore from sitting in the saddle because I wasn’t used to it. But I actually wasn’t sore where I expected to be sore. It was hot, and if you were towards the end of the line, it was dusty. My lips got chapped. My hands were dry. (I suspect that may have been completely different if I had been somewhere humid.) You have to be careful with how much weight you load on the horse. You have to lean forward or backward when they’re going up and down hill respectively to help them out and make it easier on their back. Your horse has an opinion about which part of the trail he wants to be on. Your horse has an opinion about if he should be allowed to eat the grass on the side of the trail. And if he disagrees with your opinion on the matter, you have to pull pretty hard on the reins to try to convince him to pick his head up and not grab a quick bite.
(And for all of you who grew up riding horses, and are going “yeah, yeah, we know all this, duh.” Just know I am very jealous of you, and let me revel in my newbie experience and soak in all the thoughts and feelings I had on the matter.)
One of the biggest realizations I had over our adventure was that you are only on that horse because the horse is letting you be on it. Our horses were really well behaved. But still, if you’ve never sat on a horse before, it’s quite a bit higher than you think it’s going to be. And you’re not buckled in. (That would be quite dangerous I imagine.) So you’re just sitting there with your feet in the stirrups, holding onto the reins, while this horse walks around and does his thing.
It makes me think if you’ve never ridden a horse before and you’re suddenly thrust into it, say, as a character in a fantasy novel might be, it could be rather difficult. Especially if you’re uncomfortable around large animals. All these thoughts and feelings are great tid-bits to keep in mind when writing, and I might not be able to understand that perspective quite as well if I hadn’t gone to do the thing.
It may interest you to know that the horses we got to ride were “seasonal workers”. They are brought in from another state for the summer, where they spend all summer just carrying people around in RMNP and then at the end of the season, they go back home, get their horse shoes off, and get to be free in the fields for like 7 to 8 months. How cool is that? I asked if horses got altitude sickness. Turns out no, although our guide told us they do give them an adjustment/ramp up period.
I don’t know when I’ll get to go back, but I really want to do the 8 or 9 hour day ride. Just to really get a feel for what it’s like to be in a saddle all day, not just a few hours.
Till next time dear reader, get out there and have an adventure. If you can, consider having one that involves horses. It’s sure to be awesome. <3 Tiff
