General Discussion

you're at the end of your horseback riding lesson, the horse you ride is being pretty great through the lesson, then at the end when your mom comes back he decides to throw a hissy fit and start bucking and crow hopping.

Small bucks, though.

Any equestrians wanna share fails/funny stories?

@MorningSkye I think my biggest fail was the day I put the wrong foot in the stirrup and ended up facing the wrong direction. I was so confused and so was the horse. He just stared at me over his shoulder like I'd lost my mind. XD

@JCStitches
Lol. cx
When I started riding at my current stables (I rode at another one for a little while, then had a year break) I couldn't remember how to hold the reins correctly, aha. It was sad.

@MorningSkye Oh no, I can only imagine how embarrassing. You feel like you are picking it back up though, yes? I don't even want to think how much I've forgotten - it's been several years side I've ridden a horse.

I rode English, what about you?

Also, the stable I was at had a really red chestnut that was super fat and incredibly flatulent when she ran. Her name was Jupiter, after the other Red Gas Giant. XD

@JCStitches
Yeah, doesn't help my instructor always looks like she's judging you. xD She's super nice, though. I rode english at my old stables, but I've been riding western for almost two years now. I've been having lessons once a week, so yeah, I've picked it up now, haha.

How long have you ridden?

Most of the lesson horses they have at my stables actually are mainly trained in english, however, so I mainly have to use two hands on the reins and can't neck rein.

Ahahahah I died when I read that, that's so funny! xD There's a chubby-ish horse at my stables called Sky, everyone 'gets their time on him'. cx He's SO stubborn and obnoxious to ride, especially at first.

Learning to canter on Sky was a nightmare, because he has the worst down-hill canter ever. XD

@MorningSkye Whoops, yeah, that doesn't help. XD It's interesting to hear from someone who has tried both western and english. Do you have a preference since you've tried both now?

I rode for three years when I was younger. We (all the students at the stable) did minor competitive riding, but nothing big or out of state. I did mostly dressage and junior show jumping. I gave barrel racing a try a few times, though that wasn't really an english riding sport.

It's one of my favorite stories ahahah. She was also called "the moving couch" because you never really rode her. You just sat on her big pudgy body and she moved. If you made her. There was another named Lacy who had a passion for soda. If she heard the hiss of a carbonated drink being opened, she's pitch a fit until you gave her a sip. She also ate a quarter pounder Big Mac with everything on it when her owner turned her back. We worried about that horse sometimes.

Oh jeez, I'm familiar with horses like Sky. I swear to god I think teachers keep horses like that just to teach us all patience and perseverance. XD And that's a real pity, because the canter is usually such a pleasant gait! Ours was called Granny. She had a name, but no one knew it or used it. Every beginner started on Granny. She never acted up under saddle, but if you were on the ground she was an unending mess of bad habits. Bit, stepped on feet, leaned until she pinned unwary riders to the wall. I did not miss that nag. XD

Any horses you particularly like at the stable? I really liked a dapple grey by the name of Glory (sweet tempered and very responsive) before I got my own horse: Penny, a young chestnut mare.

It's not my story but I did watch this happen:
So my friend and I were in a group lesson with one or two other people and we were riding bareback. The horse she was on, named Porkchop, likes to turn sharply at random times. So he turned then went back along the wall, and my friend was hanging off of his neck for a quarter lap and then fell off. After we found out she was ok, it was pretty funny

@JCStitches
Yup. xD
Well, I've always wanted to try western, but my mom found a good deal at the stables that rode English, so I didn't really care. (I mean, I got horseback riding lessons, so that was good enough for me cx) I like English, but I'm TERRIBLE at posting, so that's a downer, aha. Overall, I have to say I like western better. I wanna do barrel racing at some point.

Have you ever tried western?

Cool! The stables I go to is a much smaller place, they only do local shows, kinda like yours. Most of the kids there do the shows, but my mom doesn't wanna pay for them so I probably won't do any until I get some more money of my own, lol.

Ahh, that's so funny! And oh dear--hopefully Lacy won't get into anything toxic. D: Sky LOVES food, he's the one that'll yank ya down when leading him around if you're not careful. xD

Ohhhh yeaaahhh my instructor told me that when I rode Sky for my first eight months or so there, lol. 'He'll teach you to ride'. THROUGH FRUSTRATION. xD No, once I got him under my belt he'll actually go for you, so I do enjoy riding him. Especially since he's the only true western horse they have that I can ride so far.

Oh dear, I hate horses with bad ground manners! >.< There was this one horse called Summer (actually a SUPER pretty horse!) at my old stables that was pretty good under saddle. On foot? She was mean and tried to bite you and even trapped me against the wall in her stall once when trying to put on the saddle, so I had to get another girl to hold her head.

Awh, I love dapple-grays! I have to say my favorite horse to ride might be Sky (half of it is the western factor) but I also love to ride Finny, who's a main show horse of theirs. He's soooo nice to ride, but he chews on everything. cx

That's cool you have your own horse! What breed is she?

@SilverDragon568
Ah, that's funny. cx Glad she wasn't hurt! I've actually never really ridden bareback much, only twice. My second time was my first time trotting, and it doesn't help the horse I rode has a very bouncy trot. I ended up slipping off of him, though thankfully I landed on my feet. Not my proudest moment... lol

I went horseback riding in Arizona when I was visiting family-- I should probably mention that I have no experience AT ALL.
The horse apparently didn't like me very much, probably because of something I was doing without even realizing it. Long story short, the horse would walk extremely close to cholla cacti, close enough that my legs would've been caught multiple times.
I say would've been, because I (somehow) pulled my feet out of the stirrups and put them ON THE HORSE'S SHOULDERS until we passed said cactus.
I didn't really realize at the time what a stupid idea that was.
Ah, hindsight.

Oh gosh, it's been so long since I actively went horseback riding. However, I used to do it for a couple of years as a teenager. I once got in between a horse fight and almost got kicked in the process as I was stupid enough to no let go of my horse. I tried to calm him down.

Last time I got on a horse was 2016 December. I was riding this old white Arabian and he didn't like me having a bad day. Tried to buck me off of him, lol.