Fully prepped and chomping on the bit of life, I traversed north west Brisbane to reach Wattle Creek Equestrian Centre. Everything was aflutter! Actually, mainly the butterflies in the stomach. BREATHE! BREATHE! BREATHE!
Remember, it had been 40 odd years.
Parked car! Grabbed helmet and donned boots! Off to the office to check-in, for what was to become a life changing experience.
Introductions with Coach Claudia and all was set. Now for the moment that had kept me awake for most of the night, meeting THE HORSE.
Okay, he wasn’t wrapped as a gift, but it was love at first sight. Mine that is! Tino (Mr Perfect) was some what ambivalent about the whole proceedings. Regardless, it was my time to unleash the inner equestrian.
Interesting Fact (Before we get to the inner equestrian.)
Horses’ electromagnetic spectrum
“The Heart Math Institute claims that scientific evidence conducted by Dr. Ann Baldwin and Dr. Ellen Gehrke indicates that horses can sense, and respond in kind, to the emotional state of humans – not only when we are afraid, but also when we are feeling positive emotions such as appreciation.
Apparently, they do so with an electromagnetic field, much larger than our own, projected by their heart which surrounds and influences our own heart rhythms in a positive way. Further, horses are said to possess a coherent heart rhythm (indicative of a calm state of well-being) which can further impact our mental state and explains why horses make us feel good.” (Henderson, A.Z.J. (2024, February, 8). Can horses affect our hearts. Horse Sport Magazine. https://bit.ly/3Ml3pdA
This video gives a simple explanation of this phenomena. Click twice to play.
See where I’m going?
Butterflies! Adrenalin! Heart electromagnetic field! Tino was bombarded like a New Years’ Eve fireworks display from Sydney Harbour Bridge. All was not lost, as Coach Claudia calmly (actually serenely) took me through the stirrup measuring and mounting process.
Let’s get this lesson rolling
Hang on! What’s this about stirrup measuring?
Tape measure? Not in the coach’s or my pockets. Disaster before I even mount.
Coach Claudia assured me there is another approach that gives a good estimation for your stirrup length. Place your fingertips on the top of the stirrup. Hold the stirrup tread (plate where boot goes) under your armpit.
If tread doesn’t reach your armpit, the stirrup leather is too short. Stirrup leather sags, it is too long.
Why does this method provide a good estimate? It’s a matter of relationships. The average distance from a person’s fingertips to their armpit is similar to the typical distance from a rider’s hip to the stirrup.
This symmetry is present when seated.
So it’s a simple anatomical approximation that gets riders close enough for safe mounting.
Now for the mounting
A ‘praise be‘ moment for these stiff older joints and not so supple muscle – A MOUNTING BLOCK. Never used one before this lesson, now, it is the only way to mount.
Why? Again with the questions! Besides the obvious age factors, stiff and limited muscle elasticity, the horse is a major consideration in this task.
Did I mention I’m also not the tallest person at 161 cm. Tino, however, is a majestic 173 cm. It would have been a calamity to try and mount from the ground.
In a nutshell, mounting from the ground puts uneven downward and sideways pressure on the saddle and the horse’s spine. Over time, this can contribute to soreness, muscle asymmetry and sensitivity for the horse. Using a block lets the rider step up with minimal tugging on the saddle, greatly reducing those stresses.
Releasing the inner equestrian
My inner equestrian was BURIED DEEP within. Hang on, what’s that you said Coach? Open and close the reins to steer. Confusion plus reigned supreme! The fossilised neurotransmitters were pulsing like…a cosmic bruise, searching for a time I had used the swinging door method to steer a horse. Nope! Nein! Het! Nej! I think you’re getting the picture. (Check out this link to get the lowdown on the cosmic bruise. https://bit.ly/4pE3ic5)
My riding background, including the windmilling, was all about using neck reins. Yes, the reins are always near the neck. To steer the horse in your desired direction, you specifically apply the outside rein to the neck. At the same time, you are applying pressure with the outside leg to push the horse through the turn.
Simply put, THIS IS NOT THE WAY IT IS DONE IN DRESSAGE. The discipline I chose for my back in the saddle journey. This may be a long journey. Luckily I still have 25-30 years to perfect EVERY nuance of this discipline.
Lesson 1 Take Aways
My reintroduction to riding was a gentle reminder horses are:
- NOT a bicycle with a life time of memories and reactions to rely upon
- sentient being – means they have the capacity to experience positive and negative feelings like pleasure, joy, pain and distress
- have a brain, even though the two hemispheres are not joined (more about this later)
- use said brain to interpret a rider’s cues, or in my lesson, to unscramble those miscues
- a PREY animal – no, as herbivores they don’t feed on other animals, in the wild they may be breakfast, lunch or dinner
- flight animal – their primary defense mechanism against predators is to run away. During a lesson, this may be triggered by a bird in the hedge next to the arena. It could also be an unusual noise.
PHEW! Good news for me though. Tino did not spook at a bird (that came later). He also did not decide the leaf on the ground was about to give chase. He was super cruisy during that lesson and we both finished unscathed.
I, however, was totally captivated with HIMSELF. Tino, on the other hand, had moved beyond ambivalent and was verging on disdainful.
Those miscues were confusing. For him, I was talking Klingon e.g. ‘Walk on!’ translated to Klingon ‘YIyIt!’ I definitely didn’t know how to speak horse, but have now mastered some basics. (Click link to English – Klingon translator app. https://www.translate.com/english-klingon)
To use a Lady Whistledown phrase – Dearest gentle reader. So much happens in a lesson. You need a cup of tea, a biscuit and a good lie down after you finish.
Back in the Saddle 
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