The week before I married (for the last time) in Taos, New Mexico,

[panader0]

Last edited Thu Jun 27, 2019, 11:55 AM - Edit history (1)

I spent some time in the country around Santa Fe. My hosts were rodeo
cowboys and played what they called 'cowboy polo'. I hadn't been on a
horse for a while and they put me on Dolly, who they called a "cutting
horse". An amazing animal. Just the nudge of my knee would make her spin
around. We whacked the ball in the field and drank beer afterwards. But that was long
ago- a divorce ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutting_horse

[Kali]

1. a good horse can make most riders look good

reverse is true too, a good rider can make a shit horse look decent

love watching a good cowboy working a young horse

[csziggy]

2. And a good horse can make a proud rider look stupid!

The first (and only time) I ever rode a cutting horse:

I was 15 years old and had mostly ridden English. My "Western" saddle was an antique slick fork built on a narrow tree - comfortable for someone used to riding English and I had gotten it for $5 from a girl who was selling all her tack. I was not comfortable on a "modern" (given that this story is over fifty years old) Western saddle. Since I'd ridden my first horse bareback for almost five months before I got my first saddle, I thought I could ride anything.

Some guys brought a cute little mare out to the barn - red roan with flaxen mane and tail - and asked if I wanted to ride her. I said "Sure, but take that clunky saddle off and I'll ride her bareback!" So they pulled off the saddle and blanket and I hopped up on her. I moved my hand maybe a half inch to the right and pressed in my left knee. That little mare spun around on her hind legs and left me in mid-air - sort of like one of those Wiley Coyote cartoons.

Then one of the smart asses that had brought that mare out said, "I guess I shoulda warned you, she's cutting trained!" I am glad to say I took it in a good mood, and we all had a good laugh - but I didn't ride that little mare again!

[Kali]

3. LOL

yeah, they will give you good abs if can stay on

[panader0]

4. I've been thrown quite a few times.

Once in Oregon my friend and I visited some friends who had a few horses.
We were young and wanted to ride. He said "Go ahead if you can, they haven't
been ridden in a while." So we got a few apples from his orchard and some
bridles. Holding the apple in one hand, trying to lure them into the bridle.
Eventually we succeeded and rode bareback for a short while. Then they ran us
under the apple trees, knocking us off with the branches.

[csziggy]

5. Thrown is one thing - the horse spinning out from under you is another

And highly embarrassing!

Way back when I was newly married I bought a nice bay mare for my husband, who was never much of a rider. She learned very quickly she could try to scrape him off under low branches, but he figured that out. Then she started faking a limp when we'd head out on a trail ride - he'd take her back to the barn, turn her out, and watch her gallop off to join her companions with no limp at all. After that, when she started "limping" he'd ride her back to the barn, then past it, down the hill and ride her around the lower pasture until I'd get back from my ride. A couple of times of that, she figured out he game wasn't working, and she became a very good trail horse for my husband.

[panader0]

6. I'm not really much of a rider, but I do love horses.

I couldn't afford a horse at this point.
I had a buddy in Oregon that had a draft horse.
He was huge. He used the horse to haul logs down the hill.
20 foot reins and a chain. Marv would stand on the log
and ride it to the meadow. The horse knew what was going on.
The guy he bought the horse from told him to bite the horse's ear
if he acted up. He showed him how to put that huge animal down on his
side. I was amazed by all of this.
Marv paid off his land with those logs, only a small part of his trees.

[csziggy]

7. I wanted t6o learn to drive horses

The first horse I tried to train to drive, turned, reared, fell over backwards, snatching me forward and I sprained my ankle. The first time I went out on a ride after that ankle healed, she spooked, spun out onto pavement, slipped and fell on the other ankle. I spent close to a year total on crutches...

I did manage to train my stallion to drive after taking driving lessons - but had an injury which made it painful to try to drive or ride for years. By the time that one healed a son of that stallion, yanked my left arm and that shoulder had to be rebuilt. So I gave up on driving, sold my training cart and harness, and rode for a few years longer until I was unable to ride anymore.

I'd hoped to be able to use my Quarter Horses to pull logs out of our bottom woods. It's too swampy to take big equipment into but dry winters we could have selectively brought out logs with horses. But with no driving the horses, or operating a chain saw, made it impossible. That's OK - the wildlife loves our woods, though it would be nice to open up the canopy to let more underbrush come in.