Horseback Riding

Ever thought of being a western cowboy or want to ride the range. Horseback riding is to the way to travel and it's my second favorite hobby too. My interest in horseback riding begin when I was in middle school, I want to learn how to ride a horse. I read books about horses about how to tackle(saddle) a horse, how to brush them and how to understand them when their scared or happy. Pretty soon, I knew what to do when I'm around horses. I soon learned that my dad had a friend who worked at a ranch in a nearby community.So I asked if he could give me some lessons and sure enough he did.

When I first went to the ranch, I was excited and a little nervous that I was going to be near horses. While I was there, the people told me of what kind of job it is and they ask me if I was ready to get my hands dirty. I told them "yes" and I thought that even though I get dirty, I'll always get clean afterwords. As I was at the ranch, I learned how to bring a horse from the stall and how to tie the horse to a hitching post. Then I learned how to saddle the horse which was no easy task, for example, I learned that before the saddle goes on, there's a blanket that goes under the saddle that keeps the horse from being cut or blistered while being ridden and saddle is a little heavy too. Next  I learned how to bridle a horse and how to brush it's coat, it's tail and mane, which was fun to do.

After I learned what the caring of a horse involved, I was giving a hands on chore of feeding the horses. To do this, I had get up early in the morning and meet up with a ranch hand to help give the horses the proper hay and alfalfa that they eat. I sometimes got a little hay on me but it was fun just the same. Then I had a job to exercise a horse, which was to bring him out of his stall and to an open arena to let him run around to excise him before anyone can ride him. It felt great to watch him run around in the arena and the ranch hand show me a way to make the horse exercise fast or slow using a whip. I never hit the horse with it, I just hit the ground with it and give a saying to tell to gallop or trot. Plus I even petted or pat the horses if they were good or did what my commands were. But if they were not happy, I always left them alone, for example, when the horse's ear was standing upward that would mean it's angry or it's scared and if the ear is moving around, that would mean that's curious and happy.

When I first got on the horse, it felt a little weird but exciting. As I sat there in the saddle, my mind drifted back to another time when many of my favorite historical figures felt when they were riding horses. I soon learned how to ride going straight, to turn around and how to make the horse go or stop. I felt like I knew what to do when I'm around horses. I was so interested in being around horses that I decided to look for a ranch that had horses and would consider the use an extra handout. While I was finishing my last two years at high school, I found two ranches in my community and I thought Why don't I give them a call and see if they have room for extra ranch hand. So I did and one of them said come on down and we'll talk to you. I volunteered there for a few months, it was nice help around saddling the horses, brushing them off and putting things away for the night.

Soon I decide to find another ranch and I found one called Happy Trails. So I sent an email and they said come on down and we'll talk to you. So I went there and they asked me if I was ready to get my hands dirty and I told them I'm always ready to get my hands dirty. While I was there, I didn't just have the chore of saddling the horse, brushing them and bring them from their stalls. I got chance to be an assistant  trail guide and I got the chance to be on trails with the groups. Still today, I still ride the trail toward adventure and horses are still my favorite interests.