Tuesday 17 March 2009

Horse quiz

I'm picking up on a quiz that is circulating in horse-blog-world. See also Grey Horse Matters and A Bay Horse. If you want to join in the quiz the questions are as follows:
1. How old were you when you first started riding?
2. First horse ridden:
3. First horse trotted on:
4. First horse cantered on:
5. First Horse fallen off of:
6. Most recent horse fallen off of
7. Most terrifying fall:
8. First horse jumped with:
9. First horse who ran away with you:
10. First horse that scared the crap out of you:
11. First horse shown :!)
12. First horse to win a class with:
13. Do you/have you taken lessons:
14. First horse you ever rode bareback:
15. First horse trail ridden with:
16. Current Barn name:
17. Do you ride English or western?:
18. First Horse to place at a show with:
19. Ever been to horse camp?:
20. Ever been to a riding clinic?
21. Ridden sidesaddle?
22. First horse leased:
23. Last Horse Leased:
24. Highest ribbon in a show:
25. Ever been to an 'A' rated show?:
26. Ever competed in pony games/relay races?:
27. Ever fallen off at a show
28. Do you ride Hunter/Jumpers?:
29. Have you ever barrel raced?
30. Ever done pole bending?:
31. Favorite gait:
32. Ever cantered bareback?:
33. Have you ever done dressage?:
34. Have you ever evented?:
35. Have you ever mucked a stall?:
36. Ever been bucked off?:
37. Ever been on a horse that reared
38. Horses or ponies.
39. Do you wear a helmet?:
40. What's the highest you've jumped:
41. Have you ever ridden at night?:
42. Do you watch horsey television shows?:
43. Have you ever been seriously hurt/injured from a fall?:
44. Most falls in one lesson:
45. Do you ride in an arena/ring?:
46. Have you ever been trampled by a horse?:
47. Have you ever been bitten?:
48. Ever had your foot stepped on by a horse?:
49: Favorite riding moment:
50. Most fun horse you've ridden:

So my answers:
1. How old were you when you first started riding? about 8 or 10 I think.
2. First horse ridden: Jason
3. First horse trotted on: Jason
4. First horse cantered on: Midnight (see 9)
5. First Horse fallen off of: Midnight (see 9)
6. Most recent horse fallen off of: Dee
7. Most terrifying fall: I've been pretty lucky in that although I've suffered a few injuries, I've never had a really frightening fall. I think the most frightening experience was coming off Midnight when he bolted, but this was because I was very young, it was the first time I had cantered and he was completely out of control. In my memory he was a huge horse, but in reality he probably was only about 15.2 – I was riding little ponies mostly at that time.
8. First horse jumped with: Whisky

9. First horse who ran away with you:
Midnight (see 4, 5 & 7)
10. First horse that scared the crap out of you: Dee
11. First horse shown :!) Whisky – but I've never had the opportunity to do this sort of thing very much.
12. First horse to win a class with: never won anything because I never really entered anything.
13. Do you/have you taken lessons: starting having lessons when I got back into riding in my late 40s, but I don't have lessons now.
14. First horse you ever rode bareback: Jason.
15. First horse trail ridden with: Whisky.
16. Current Barn name: Wyndham Livery.
17. Do you ride English or western?: neither really as I ride treeless and bitless. I use Western reins.
18. First Horse to place at a show with: never happened.
19. Ever been to horse camp?: no.
20. Ever been to a riding clinic? no.
21. Ridden sidesaddle? no.

22. First horse leased: never done this.

23. Last Horse Leased:
never done this.
24. Highest ribbon in a show: I've never had a ribbon or a rosette ... sob!
25. Ever been to an 'A' rated show?: don't know what that means.
26. Ever competed in pony games/relay races?: I think I did do a bit of this as a teenager.
27. Ever fallen off at a show: no.
28. Do you ride Hunter/Jumpers?: no.

29. Have you ever barrel raced? no.
30. Ever done pole bending?: no.
31. Favorite gait: canter.
32. Ever cantered bareback?: yes - and stayed on! At one time I used to ride bareback a lot – out on the trail and everywhere.
33. Have you ever done dressage?: a little but only for fun, not competition.
34. Have you ever evented?: no.
35. Have you ever mucked a stall?: I'm tempted to say no ... but the truth is of course yes.
36. Ever been bucked off?: no - I have found I have been able to sit bucks on all the horses I've experienced this with ... so far.
37. Ever been on a horse that reared: yes, Dee. She reared a lot when I first had her – when I was on her and also when I was lunging her. Horses are very large animals when they are rearing in front of you...
38. Horses or ponies. I have always felt that 14.2 - 15.2 was my ideal size range. Red still feels a bit big for me at 16hh.
39. Do you wear a helmet?: yes, but I didn't when I spent a week on a dude ranch in Montana.
40. What's the highest you've jumped: about 2½ - 3 ft I would guess.
41. Have you ever ridden at night?: yes – in an arena.
42. Do you watch horsey television shows?: occasional.
43. Have you ever been seriously hurt/injured from a fall?: yes, 2 years ago I seriously injured my right knee.
44. Most falls in one lesson: only once per lesson was quite enough.
45. Do you ride in an arena/ring?: I do occasionally but only if I have to.
46. Have you ever been trampled by a horse?: no.
47. Have you ever been bitten?: yes, a few times.
48. Ever had your foot stepped on by a horse?: yes, too many times.
49: Favorite riding moment: jumping a really big log in the practice field at Pontcanna. Dee loves to jump and gave me the confidence to try because I knew I could trust her. At least one person had come off already at the jump because it really looked huge as you approached it – it was not terribly high but quite broad. Several other people in the class had refused to try it. I said to Dee: 'Come on Lass, we can do this' and we sailed over it, impressing our instructor.
50. Most fun horse you've ridden: I think that would have to be Whisky, a 6 year old gelding who I had the pleasure of riding for a few years as a teenager. I used to go out for day-long rides throughout the summer and had a really nice relationship with him. He taught me a lot and I realise with hindsight how much he trusted me.

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