Close contact with megafauna

[luzula]

Well, domesticated megafauna. I went horseback riding for the first time in my life yesterday, and it was such an experience! Wow.

I went to a small place in the countryside that has North Swedish Horses. They are really beautiful draft horses that you can also ride on. Here is the horse I rode:



Since I was a beginner I was given a calm horse: she is 23 years old and was indeed very calm when I first came up to her (well, I guess she was focused on her hay). But she had lots of energy later when we were riding, or at least I thought so. Here I am:



There were four other participants, as well as the person in charge (all were women). So I was given five minutes' instruction and then we set off, first uphill and then on forest paths. When we got to the flat part we did some trotting and then galloping pretty much immediately, so no going easy on the beginner! But I didn't fall off or anything, which I guess, success? So glad there was a knob on the saddle to hold on to. And wow, so cool to feel this huge powerful animal moving underneath me--it was just such a physical experience.

I did not get into the right rhythm during the trotting, so that was pretty bouncy. Towards the end we did sync up better during the galloping, which was really cool! Pretty sure I didn't handle the reins that well (in the beginning I just let them hang while she walked, before I understood that you were supposed to keep in contact) but still, she was very responsive when I told her to turn or stop or go faster. We were out for several hours, with a lunch break in the middle, and towards the end I started feeling pretty tired in my inner thighs. Also it felt like my knees had to bend the wrong way. Today I am quite sore, but it was soooo worth it! Would totally do again. Also I did my first skinny-dipping of the year, during the lunch break.

Comments

[riverlight]

Aw, pretty horse.

[luzula]

Yes! So beautiful.

[jesse_the_k]

Wow what a beauty ... both of you.

I’m so glad you got a chance today to experience this. It makes reading fantasy a lot more sensible.

I know two 2nd wave feminist SF books with women & horses in intimate relationships— Charnas' The Furies and Tepper's Grass.

Will you ride again?

[luzula]

Awww. : )

I actually thought of Gandalf and Shadowfax galloping for days--him looking like an old man must be purely for show...

I think I will, yes! Not regularly, but in the summer she grazes the horses in a nature reserve where you can go riding in real forest instead of the chopped-up-by-clearcuts place where we went now. So I'd love to do that.

[mergatrude]

How wonderful! :)

[luzula]

Yes! I'm so glad I tried it.

[seascribble]

she's so big and shaggy!

[luzula]

I know! Historically, these were often used in forestry in northern Sweden to drag the logs out. So I guess they need to be strong!

[lyr]

Oh, fun! I love horseback riding. If you ever get to Iceland, be sure to do it there; they have a special breed of horse with a gait that no other kind of horse in the world has. It feels weirdly like riding an ice-skating horse when they break into a tolt over the lava fields.

[luzula]

Yes, that breed is popular in Sweden as well (Wikipedia says: third most popular breed in Sweden). There are lots of tour riding places that have them. Maybe I should try that some time as well!

Do they really run over the lava fields though? Lava is so sharp and uneven.

Anyway, the reason I chose the place I did is that I have friends who have a nordsvensk horse, so I have admired that breed before. Also this place was small and specialized in riding in the forest--some of the bigger tour riding places feel like they're kind of impersonal.

[lyr]

Yes, they really do run over the lava fields. That's why they developed the tolt gait; it allows them to sort of slide from side to side over the jagged ground. It's about the same speed as a canter, but feels very different. I rode a lovely horse at that gait over red lava fields under the midnight sun.

I would love to try a nordsvensk horse, though!

[baronjanus]

Fun:)

[luzula]

It definitely was!

[umadoshi]

What a marvelous horse! *^^* I'm glad you had fun!

[luzula]

Yes, she was so lovely! Thanks. : )

[dolorosa_12]

What a wonderful horse! I recently rode a horse in Iceland (one of the Icelandic horses mentioned by another commenter above), and those horses do remind me of the one you rode. I'm glad you had fun.

[luzula]

Icelandic horses are smaller, but maybe they're similar otherwise. And thanks, I really enjoyed this and would love to do it again. : )

[dolorosa_12]

I think it's the shagginess that reminded me of Icelandic horses, but you're right that the North Swedish Horses you rode are much bigger.

[sproid]

Oh wow, that sounds amazing! I hope the soreness wears off soon though.

I love the pictures of the horse <3 I grew up with Shire horses in a field at the bottom of my back garden, so I got to pet their noses sometimes. It's been years since I've been around horses though so I'm a bit wary of them now! But I love admiring them!

[luzula]

Still sore, but I'm sure it will go away soon (also, totally worth it).

I definitely have respect for horses (they're so big!) but I actually felt fine around her, probably because she was so very calm in the beginning.

[sproid]

That does definitely sound like one of those things where the soreness is worth it!

It's great that she was so calm in the beginning, that's always reassuring. She sounds like she was really nice :) Hopefully she got an extra carrot or something for being so good to you!