![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/b\/b7\/Quarter_Horse_Buckskin.JPG\")
<\/p>\nI rode a “round” horse earlier this week.\u00a0 It’s not often that I actually ride a horse like this, one that behaves as many equestrians believe a horse should.<\/p>\n
“Here you go,” my friends said.\u00a0 We’ve ridden many hundreds of miles together so they know all about how I ride.<\/p>\n
“How old is she?”<\/p>\n
“Just 5.”<\/p>\n
“Does she have any quirks?”<\/p>\n
“We can’t find any.”<\/p>\n
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The mare stood to be saddled and bridled.\u00a0 I led her over to the mounting block and she stood still while I got on.\u00a0 She responded easily to my leg and rein aids to maneuver around the small area where we waited for the others to get on their horses.\u00a0 The mare had a ground-covering walk and we went to the front of the group of four horses as we moved down the long driveway and out to the road.<\/p>\n
We continued at the walk on a loose rein up the road.\u00a0 My mare did not respond to any sudden movements in the bushes, loud noises from machinery or vehicles passing by.\u00a0 When I say she didn’t respond, I mean she didn’t even look to the side at noises, and her whole demeanor was very quiet.<\/p>\n
There was a trail through the bushes that led onto a logging road.\u00a0 We stood aside and let the “trail boss” gelding take the lead since I didn’t know the way.\u00a0 The gelding broke into a trot and we followed, but my mare was not excited and stayed light on the rein.\u00a0 She asked to canter and I let her, it was slow and easy.\u00a0 My friend in the lead said, “It’s been too rocky to canter here,” so I touched the reins again and the mare trotted.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/f\/f0\/Trail_riding(5988548143).jpg\")
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We wound our way up a winding trail and up a steep hillside, stepping over logs and weaving through bushes.\u00a0 We walked down a road on the other side, and then another mare, definitely a “square” horse began snorting and prancing at the sight of a turn in the road where the horses were often allowed to gallop to the top.<\/p>\n
One of the geldings had a suspensory injury in the spring, and had not been allowed to canter yet, building up some strength in his tendon by doing long walks and some trotting.\u00a0 The excitable mare one friend was on sprang into the air and jigged sideways.\u00a0 My five year old trotted next to her, and did not react to the older mare’s tension, allowing us to keep the entire group down to a steady trot with only a little, sedate canter added in here and there.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/6\/6f\/Forest_park_wildwood_trail_in_early_summer_P2860.jpeg\")
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After the hill, we wove our way through some more tight and technical bushes that would have stumped some older, more experienced horses or caused them to spook.\u00a0 The mare I rode followed my directions easily and we avoided getting snagged or tripped up.\u00a0 We did some more trotting and a bit faster canter on a wide road, and that was the only time the young horse needed to be asked to slow down more than once.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/0\/0c\/Trail_riding_source.jpg\")
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As we headed back on the trail toward home, I reflected on how almost anyone would call this a “good” horse.\u00a0 She was a good horse, a very ideal horse.\u00a0 Certainly some more novice riders might not want to walk so fast or try to slow down her lovely, working trot.\u00a0 Yet this horse would try to oblige even those owners, I was sure, and any semi-experienced horseman would enjoy riding this young Quarter Horse.\u00a0 Despite a young age and not that much experience, the horse’s personality and general outlook would allow her to do nearly anything.\u00a0 She was already reliable, calm and quiet while at the same time having the ability to work hard.<\/p>\n
Yet, I personally did not envy the owner of this lovely young mare and did not feel any regret over having a much more difficult time riding my own horses most of the time.\u00a0 For one thing, there is always value in giving a good life to a creature that others don’t have the special skills needed to take care of.\u00a0 It can make a person feel that they might have a particular niche in life, a purpose to fulfill.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/5\/51\/Azimut_play.jpg\")
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For another, it’s one thing to be able to teach a horse, but it’s another to have a horse teach you many things.\u00a0 Horses are always teaching us, and that sweet mare will teach her owner many things if she is willing to learn.\u00a0 But certain more difficult horses can teach us things that we could never learn otherwise, without them.\u00a0 That’s why I value the square horses, the ones that take me all the way to the edge before I can figure out how in the world to deal with them, and to make them happy.\u00a0 For me, it’s the more difficult ones that can give the greatest rewards.<\/p>\n
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I rode a “round” horse earlier this week.\u00a0 It’s not often that I actually ride a horse like this, one that behaves as many equestrians believe a horse should. “Here you go,” my friends said.\u00a0 We’ve ridden many hundreds of … Continue reading