Riding School Rodeo

The weather was perfect for today's riding school lesson. The plan was to work on what we refer to as "parade maneuvers". We use the maneuvers in both parades and as part of our riding demonstration. They are not dangerous or particularly difficult, but if you don't do them correctly it looks really bad. We also wanted to work on saber handling procedures during ceremonies so the recruits would know how to salute and execute other actions with the saber while mounted.

To get them warmed up and to get their heads in the game, I began with some arena rail work at different gaits while in a column of twos. As part of our routine, we gallop around the arena to get the crowd's attention and to set up for our demonstration. I had four assistant instructors riding in formation with the students to help them and keep and eye on them so we had a total of eight riders in the column. The female student and one of the assistant instructors were riding sidesaddle.

I led the formation around the arena a couple of times and decided that one more time would cement the lesson. As we passed the bucking chutes and I transitioned into a gallop, all hell broke loose. My first indication that we were having problems was when Apache the Wonder Horse put his head down and began to buck insanely. I know him well enough to know that he doesn't do that unless some other horse is doing it also. Sure enough, when I got Apache under control and looked around, at least three of the horses in the column behind me were also bucking. One of our students who was riding Monte, a notorious bucking horse, came off and landed in a heap in the dirt. He quickly got up, so I wasn't worried about any serious injuries. Monte ran around for a few minutes but quickly calmed down.

After everything was back under control and the student remounted, I made them all do it again. One, I wanted to let the horses know that they couldn't get away with stuff like that, and two, I wanted to make sure the student didn't become traumatized by the experience. If you have an accident, it is best to get on again and ride the horse so that your imagination doesn't get in the way the next time you ride that particular horse. If you can ride the horse again without incident, it helps prevent the development of a phobia.

Later, I learned that one of the assistant instructors had her horse, Duke, fall during the lesson (when you are at the head of the column, you don't always know what is going on behind you). She was doing a corrective circle with him and he just got his legs tangled up and he fell down. Neither of them was hurt, thankfully, but it reinforces the fact that we are not riding these horses enough. Duke is a new horse and is very difficult to ride. He will be okay in time, but the more often he is ridden, the faster he will become good. I wish I had more time to work with horses and riders than I do, but it is hard to find time with all the other duties I have to perform each day. With any luck, the horses with issues will be trained or retrained before they hurt somebody.