Horse Riding

**Warning loads of pictures coming up.**

As a kid I always admired the beauty of horses. I suppose it came from my dad’s own interest of horses. Till today he still enjoys buying horse models or statues. I can say that my dad’s favourite animal to view is a horse. This liking was spurred even more by watching silly Hollywood movies that showed kids in the USA having horses as pets. Which of course made me jealous hence i wanted a horse – yeah talk about being realistic! and not just wanting a horse I wanted to ride one because the stupid movies made it look so easy.  Well today thanks to my mocap employer, I got the chance to go for a proper horse riding session. No the times when you rode around the ring at carnivals do not count… that’s what my dad told me anyway. :S We need the riding lessons so that we can make our riding more realistic when we sit on the boxes at the studio haha. Imagine faking yourself being chased by a bunch of badies. The riding lessons took place at the Royal Selangor Polo Club, located directly behind my other home – Raintree Club. Back in my basketball days, the court i played some ball at was just opposite the equastrian club. I always said to myself one day I’ll go in and finally last week I not only went in but also rode a horse. Actually according to my relatives I’ve been inside before… but i don’t remember – so I won’t count it. Walking into the stables of RSPC.

See that rough in the middle that is the indoor riding arena.

Everyone is getting their registration settled. The form we are to fill just to state if we do end up falling on our backs and breaking something ala Christopher Reeves style (that was a bad joke.. I respect Mr Reeves and may he and his wife be in peace now in heaven). 

This is my Artistic Director

 

We became trigger happy and the horse right there is Cochise. We tried very hard to not scare him. The stable is really a very quiet place. And the horses are trained and smart enough to behave themselves. 

The team from Young jump and MDEC. The Saladin crew hehe.

This is Lorna our instructor and trainer on horse riding.

All of listening intently to Lorna as she tells us what to do on top of a horse.

 

The girl on Sunshine there is Hannah. She’s been riding since like forever and she makes it look so easy. I don’t know why maybe it’s her svelt figure but she reminds me a bit of Kate in Lost.  

Hehe you’ll never guess what my horses’s name is… oh nevermind i’ll just tell. D’Artagnan… just like the three musketeers that D’Artagnan. Such a masculine name. He was a real joy to ride. 

After riding on D’Artagnan, now I understand why the riders all wear either super high boots or something that protects their calves. I was wearing my usual fit pants and the stirrups that is attached to the saddle kept on snagging my pants. It was quite painful too everytime it kept rubbing against my leg. Felt like i was being pinched.

Lorna told us that we should never go around the back of the horse when you want to cross. This will actually cause the horse to be suspicious over you. What you should do to get to know your horse: They can’t see very well that’s why you’ll notice whenever they move their head to the side, this is so they can spot you with their eye. So that your horse knows you, give him a rub and a scratch on his neck. The horse will then be using his nose to sniff you out, his ear to hear your voice as you chat to him and how you rub his neck. That’s how you   

Ok if you think i was a bit worried, it’s possible i was. We had gone from a walk to a canter. Which is the classical trotting. I hope i’m getting this right. The one thing that my instructor Suresh kept telling me was to keep my heels down. A very very commong thing in horse riding. Which you can read here. Purpose of keeping the heels down is so tha you will feel the weight in your heels. Cause you are meant to have perfect balance on top of the horse. According to Lorna.. I don’t know where I picked up the habit but i seem to have a curve in my back, which means i have to think of pushing out my pelvis more. 

I think we only rode for about 45 mins or could’ve been less. We all had horse riding hat hair after that haha. The riding really works your thighs and your core muscles.

 

I decided to steal a snapshot of myself before anyone else saw. 

 

Aren’t they just beautiful creatures. I want to go visit them again.

I honestly didn’t think this shot was anything much. But as i look at it now I think it’s just so calming looking at this horse nibble.

This horse was just staring into the wall. According to Lorna she was saying when horses ears are up like that they are sorta in the midst of thinking. hehe.  If i had money I would go for horse riding as often as possible. It’s a very calming experience. Cause you will not be a good rider if you can’t work with your partner which is the horse. The horse will not perform unless you perform well. So it’s quite a good lesson on how to do teamwork. Even more so without words. It’s pure trust.