Brain Reinstalling And November 10 Questions

This week has been pretty quiet.  I had a lesson with S yesterday, but we ended up just walking.  He started off refusing to bend to the left and overreacting to leg.  There was lots of jigging and protesting the first 20-30 minutes.  He finally settled and would walk nicely and bend both directions. We did some work over the ground poles to install the wait button.  He did really well and was adding extra steps when necessary instead of trying to launch over the poles.  Overall, I was quite pleased with him, despite the fact that we stuck to the walk.

At least he is cute.

Now on to the 10 Questions:

1)  What is the youngest/greenest horse you've ridden?
Probably 2.5-3.  I started several horses for my parents when I was in high school at it was around that age that we would start riding them.

2)  How old is the oldest horse you have ridden?
Late 20s possibly early 30s.  Once the horses got into the teens their ages started getting questionable in accuracy (unless they were born the same year as a kid).

3)  Were you scared of riding horses when you first started riding?
I can't remember not riding, so no.  Before I could sit up on a horse, I would ride in front of my parents.  My dad's saddle had padding so my sister and I were always begging to ride with him and my poor mom never knew why until after we had grown up.  She thought we hated riding with her (sorry mom we were all about the padding).

4)  Would you say you are a more nervous or confident rider?
Both.  I am quite confident that I can keep the horse between my ass and the ground.  But when it comes to dressage and eventing training I lack confidence.  I know enough to know that I don't know much and sometimes I get paralyzed by the fear of making mistakes.

5)  Biggest pet peeve about non-horse people around horses?
When they don't listen.  If I tell you that my horse is spooky and to approach him quietly, don't run up squealing (yes I know he is adorable, why do you think I still have him??? jk I love you Stinker)

6)  A time when you have been scared for your life?
Usually my stupidity does not hit me until after the fact.  I have had some nasty falls and several close calls, but one of my dumber moments happened when I was a kid.  I was probably 5 and we were on a steep trail.  My mom had us dismount and she was leading the horses up a particular steep spot and I was supposed to come behind.  I started to fall and blindly grabbed to catch myself.  I ended up grabbing Spice's (my horse) hind leg.  Thankfully, she was an excellent kid horse and didn't even blink, but it was one of those where it could have been really bad.

Nippers

7)  Have you ever fallen off at a show?
I haven't shown enough to fall off at a show.  I did have a close call when I was a teenager and was doing 4-H.  I had two horses with me at a little weekly lesson thing that we went to, and my older mare was already tacked up and I was going to ride her first.  I then decided I needed to warm Nippers (he liked to bite) up and hopped on him bareback and a halter.  Did I mention I am not always the brightest crayon in the box?  I think he was 3 or 4 at the time.  I walked him for a bit and then decided to canter.  He paddled badly and his trot was so rough I could barely stay on it bareback.  I popped him into the canter and he promptly started bucking with me.  Of course, because I was only in a halter I was struggling to keep his head up.  I am pretty sure I only stayed on because I did not want to fall off in front of all those people.  I was also extremely lucky that he didn't put much effort into it.  He did some nasty corkscrew stuff in the pasture fairly frequently that I wouldn't have been able to stick.

8)  What is a breed of horse you have never ridden but you would like to ride?
I don't have a specific breed that I am dying to ride.  I tend to be drawn in by personality more than a breed type.  There are some famous horses I would love to sit on (I would be too afraid to actually ride them).

9)  Describe the worst behaved horse you've ridden?
I worked on a dude ranch in Wyoming one summer and there was a paint (one blue eye) that was super unpredictable and I hated it.  He would go along and be super sweet and you would think ok yeah he isn't so bad.  Then he would lose his mind.  It could be spooking, balking, spinning, it was never the same nor could I figure out a cause.  I also hated that he had zero sense of self preservation. He would throw a fit and get himself in a bad spot.  The one day he pitched a fit and went into some water.  He started sinking and I bailed.  He knocked me over, so I turned loosed of the reins and started rolling away.  He got himself turned and was lunging down (not towards a bank like the normal horses) the creek in sand that was up to his belly and getting deeper.  I got ahold of him again and finally got him turned and back out of the water.  I was so pissed that day.  I was soaking wet in snow runoff water and still had to ride the damn horse for the rest of the afternoon.  That was the last time I rode him.

Spice is on the right

10)  The most frustrating ride you have ever had?
My family had a mare when I when I was in high school.  Someone else put 60 (maybe 90) days on her, but then I started riding her.  Her name was Star, but my dad called her Pig Eye and my sister called her Frogger.  She would tuck her butt and jump at any little thing.  I could run my hand over my jeans and she would jump.  The grass could be long and tickle her and she would jump.  The dog could be following behind another horse and she would jump.  She also didn't walk and would jig everywhere.  Try herding cows on a horse that just wants to plow through them (hint it isn't fun).  I actually adored her (I am probably the only one) because she had so much heart.  She was one of those horses that would go until she dropped for you.  I actually ended up showing her some in 4-H and I think I got reserve champion in the reining class on her.