horse riders - Writers Forum

lilacstarflower · 04-17-2008, 09:53 AM

I know very little about horses/horse riding and would like to know some really risky, impressive moves. I've searched the few books I could find at the library but none of them had anything useful.

Anyone here able to describe something to the above effect?

valeca · 04-17-2008, 01:23 PM

Risky?
-The first attempt at getting on an unbroken horse.
-Taking a horse that's used to quiet into high traffic/noise areas. This is not only risky, it's just plain stupid and irresponsible.

Impressive? That depends. Some people think jumping is impressive. Some people think Dressage is impressive. Still others would find something completely different really impressive. It really depends on the person and what they prefer.

Any horse person, though, can appreciate this ride by Stacy Westfall at the 2006 Congress in Ohio. She dedicated this ride for her father who had passed away only weeks before. While it might not look like much to the average viewer, every bit of stacy's freestyle reining is done with subtle leg pressure--the sidestepping, the flying lead changes (that skipping motion), the spins. I wish the video hadn't been cut short. There was so much more she did. It was fantastic.

lilacstarflower · 04-17-2008, 01:46 PM

wow! That horse spin was crazy - was even more impressed when I realised she wasn't using reigns or anything!

Thanks for the link

seigfried007 · 04-17-2008, 03:59 PM

Research Mongolian riding if you want to see the really crazy stuff.

They have the longest horse races--and they have children racing them. Crazy.

Regardless, why are you wanting to research it?

LolliAdverbs · 04-17-2008, 08:11 PM

Reigning is impressive, and Stacy Westfall is among the best of the best. I've never seen it bareback though. Wow. It's rough to keep your seat like that.

YouTube - reining at its best... is how reigning usually is. I'll admit it's impressive, but it's hard for me to like because it is so hard on the horses. But then again, I was raised English, so my opinions of Western riding tend to be a little biased.

Personally, I like the upper levels of Dressage (the lower levels are just a drag to watch), but then again, that's how I was raised. A lot of the moves may not seem impressive, but they are excellent.

If you like that sort of thing, the Spanish Riding School is for you. Andalusians and Lippizzaners are known for being agile, and are trained to do the stunts you see in the movies.

YouTube - 4 Best Equestrian Art School of Europe 251107
This is groundwork, so I'm not sure if this works for you. Groundwork isn't as famous as the rest, but it's damn cool.

YouTube - Spanish Riding School of Vienna
Collection like that is really hard to acheive. It takes years of training of both yourself and your horse.

From what I understand, the school was to train war horses that could maneuver the battlefield easily. I think that's why I like it so much.

YouTube - ANDREAS HELGSTRAND - WEG2006 Freestyle Final
This has a boring commentary that tells you what is great about this.

Hope I didn't bore you too much. I'm feeling European Elitist right now...

valeca · 04-17-2008, 08:39 PM

I was lucky enough to be both Western and English, Lolli, so I get to be biased both ways depending on my mood. My kids, though, are heading strictly western...at least at this point.

Here's one correction on my first post: Stacy's father had only died 24 days before that ride, not weeks. I did manage to find a longer video, too.

I'm not sure any of this will help you with your story, lilacstarflower. If it hasn't, you might want to give a bit more information on what you're looking for. Can't hurt to narrow it down.

seigfried007 · 04-17-2008, 08:49 PM

Mongolian child jockeys â€“ balancing cultural heritage with safety [Press releases]

YouTube - Horse Racing Festival of Lithang, Ba e

Some of the bigger races are performed by children as young as 4 on colts.

LolliAdverbs · 04-17-2008, 09:28 PM

Seigfried, I am simultaneously amazed and saddened by that. My head says colts shouldn't be ridden so young, but my head also says "WOW!"

I never knew about Mongolian riding.

Valeca, I'm not as biased as I used to be. I came from a predominantly Western Highschool that thought English, Dressage in particular, riding was for pansies, so I used to find any excuse to defend myself. They're probably right

We kind of are pansies.

And I agree. If we knew what you needed for your story, it would be a bit easier to help you out, Ms. Lilac. Are you also going to need the horse vocabulary as well? (i,e: piaffe, bit, hooves hehe)

lilacstarflower · 04-18-2008, 08:41 AM

Hey - thanks everyone for the video links, they've been instructive!

Yeah, should probably have told you why I was researching it - its actually for my period novel: set in late 1700s - guy goes into the army works his way up the ranks in a few years. Needed him to do something impressive and figured a bit of horse action would do the trick. His uncle purchases him an officership eventually but he has to show he deserves it in some way.

AirTime · 04-22-2008, 09:57 AM

when I was a kid, I used to trail ride for hours around the county with my friends. Most of the paved roads were dirt back then. One of my fathers' friends bet me that I couldn't get my horse to jump over a stone wall through a crotch of a big tree. the obstacle was maybe three feet high. I did that, bareback. The man was so impressed he gave me and my friends money to ride over to the store and buy ice cream That's my story