Same activity, very different experiences
May. 20th, 2007 05:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearOn the last day of the boating holiday, we went on a two hour hack round Windsor Great Park and it was one of the best riding experiences I've ever had. This morning, we went on our usual hack in the woods behind Trent Park and that was good fun, too.
The interesting comparison is of the horses I rode on those two different occasions. Kiara is a long, sleek chestnut mare, with beautiful confirmation and elegant lines. Toby is a short, stocky cob with a neck like a tree trunk and big clompy feet. Riding each of them, though, is completely opposite to what you'd expect.
Kiara is bouncy, uneven and has one of the most uncomfortable gaits of any horse I've ridden, but boy can she go! On the first of nine canter stretches in Windsor Great Park, I had real trouble keeping my seat on her so I gave in and rode jockey-style - standing up in the stirrups and leaning forwards - for the rest of the canters and it was glorious. On the third canter stretch, I deliberately opened up a gap between us and the horse in front and then just let Kiara go - I felt her shift up a gear into gallop and that was definitely the high point of the whole week. I want to go back and do that ride as often as possible.
Toby, on the other hand, has to be coaxed into canter (which I only managed once this morning) and is much more sedate, but also smooth as glass, and really comfortable to ride. My usual total symbiosis with him was hampered somewhat by the fact that I was still in considerable pain from Friday's gallopfest, but we still managed to have a fun ride.
The interesting comparison is of the horses I rode on those two different occasions. Kiara is a long, sleek chestnut mare, with beautiful confirmation and elegant lines. Toby is a short, stocky cob with a neck like a tree trunk and big clompy feet. Riding each of them, though, is completely opposite to what you'd expect.
Kiara is bouncy, uneven and has one of the most uncomfortable gaits of any horse I've ridden, but boy can she go! On the first of nine canter stretches in Windsor Great Park, I had real trouble keeping my seat on her so I gave in and rode jockey-style - standing up in the stirrups and leaning forwards - for the rest of the canters and it was glorious. On the third canter stretch, I deliberately opened up a gap between us and the horse in front and then just let Kiara go - I felt her shift up a gear into gallop and that was definitely the high point of the whole week. I want to go back and do that ride as often as possible.
Toby, on the other hand, has to be coaxed into canter (which I only managed once this morning) and is much more sedate, but also smooth as glass, and really comfortable to ride. My usual total symbiosis with him was hampered somewhat by the fact that I was still in considerable pain from Friday's gallopfest, but we still managed to have a fun ride.
