Pix from Argentina

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by Cajungator26

Oh wow... that stinks! I hate those burrs... I've got scars on my calfs from them (riding with shorts and no chaps. )

I'm trying to regard them as mementos from the trip-- you know, every time I look at them I think of Patagonia. One of them looks like it's growing out, but the other two are really embedded.

Did you have shoes on, at least?

[Cajungator26]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

I'm trying to regard them as mementos from the trip-- you know, every time I look at them I think of Patagonia. One of them looks like it's growing out, but the other two are really embedded.

Did you have shoes on, at least?

Yep, sneakers! We did some stupid stuff as teenagers... the horses had to put up with a lot. We used to race them on an old airfield that someone had (private planes used to land over there.) One of my best friends fell of her arabian mare and got trampled (broke her leg) by my horse who took off out of control back towards the barn following Sugar (the arab mare)... that had to be the scariest experience that I've ever had. I stopped him, but this was AFTER he crossed a 4 lane highway at a full gallop with me on him. I don't think I've ever been so afraid...

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by Cajungator26

Yep, sneakers! We did some stupid stuff as teenagers... the horses had to put up with a lot. We used to race them on an old airfield that someone had (private planes used to land over there.) One of my best friends fell of her arabian mare and got trampled (broke her leg) by my horse who took off out of control back towards the barn following Sugar (the arab mare)... that had to be the scariest experience that I've ever had. I stopped him, but this was AFTER he crossed a 4 lane highway at a full gallop with me on him. I don't think I've ever been so afraid...

Wow-- I remember my first riding teacher talking about racing her horse with friends, stirrups shortened as far as they would go, and when they finished, without thinking, slapping her hands down... right on the horse's kidneys. Horse threw her several feet in the air. Ah, youth...

Did your friend keep riding after her leg healed?

[Buffymommy]

You two sure did crazy things... Hee hee. Like I should be talking. But I never got hurt that bad (broken legs, etc...) KNOCK ON SOME WOOD HERE, but I have only broken toes from being stepped on. THANK GOD for the mare that I rode when I was a kid.

Worst thing I ever did was run across a golf course (sorry kev) but I HAD A BLAST!

[Cajungator26]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

Wow-- I remember my first riding teacher talking about racing her horse with friends, stirrups shortened as far as they would go, and when they finished, without thinking, slapping her hands down... right on the horse's kidneys. Horse threw her several feet in the air. Ah, youth...

Did your friend keep riding after her leg healed?

She probably rode another two times after her leg was healed, but she quit riding mostly because of outgrowing it... I was the only one out of all of my friends that didn't sell my horse. I miss the good ole days, but little girls grow up and turn into shopping monsters. I just never did.

[Buffymommy]

Originally Posted by Cajungator26

She probably rode another two times after her leg was healed, but she quit riding mostly because of outgrowing it... I was the only one out of all of my friends that didn't sell my horse. I miss the good ole days, but little girls grow up and turn into shopping monsters. I just never did.

Not all little girls grow out of it. All the girls at the barn laugh when I tell them "BOYS ARE BAD! STICK WITH YOUR HORSE! A HORSE WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER!"

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by Cajungator26

She probably rode another two times after her leg was healed, but she quit riding mostly because of outgrowing it... I was the only one out of all of my friends that didn't sell my horse. I miss the good ole days, but little girls grow up and turn into shopping monsters. I just never did.

And thank goodness for that. Yick. Shopping monsters.

Some of us had to wait until we were grownups, and that sucks when you're a teenager, you have no horse AND you don't like shopping! But then again, it's nice to get to discover it as a grownup, I guess, though I doubt I'll ever be as good a rider as you, Cajun.

[Cajungator26]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

And thank goodness for that. Yick. Shopping monsters.

Some of us had to wait until we were grownups, and that sucks when you're a teenager, you have no horse AND you don't like shopping! But then again, it's nice to get to discover it as a grownup, I guess, though I doubt I'll ever be as good a rider as you, Cajun.

Not true, Nicole... practice makes perfect and I'm far from perfect. I enjoy riding, but I'm not as heavily into competing anymore. Too expensive... I was lucky that my Dad bought me a horse when I was 13, but as soon as I turned 16, I got a job to pay for him and my car. Worth every hour I worked too... I miss my horse so much.

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by Cajungator26

Not true, Nicole... practice makes perfect and I'm far from perfect. I enjoy riding, but I'm not as heavily into competing anymore. Too expensive... I was lucky that my Dad bought me a horse when I was 13, but as soon as I turned 16, I got a job to pay for him and my car. Worth every hour I worked too... I miss my horse so much.

Yeah, but there's something about learning when you're a kid, you know? When your body does it instinctively. When you're a grownup, you have to understand it intellectually, THEN you can process it through your body.

I took judo as a small kid and even now I usually can fall safely (knock on wood), because the first part of every class was devoted to falling. Now, the instinct does it for me. Not so much riding... sigh.

Who was it who said youth is wasted on the young?