Warning: Novel ahead
Heaps of scary things have happened to me while riding Luca and other horses, so I'm just going to choose the ones I can remember haha
1. I went to a friend's house a few years ago and she suggested that we ride her horses up to the barn bareback and bridleless. So that's what we did. It went well at first, the mare I was riding was walking in the back and I felt pretty safe. Well, until my friend's horse spooked and bolted and the horse I was riding started to follow her. I just decided to hang on for dear life as the two horses leaped over small ditches, ran up the hill and finally slowed down when we reached the barn. Surprisingly, none of us fell off.
2. This is a very silly one and it was my fault. My sister and I were making up "quests" for each other where we stupidly dared each other to do different things with our horses (for example: Trot "sidesaddle" without a saddle) and my sister dared me to ride her horse bare back and the other way around (with me facing his rump). So there I was, riding the other way around, when Syd (the horse) decided that he didn't like what I was doing and just started pacing (he's a Standardbred and ex-pacer) full-speed back to the gate. Those few moments on his back were pure terror. I had nothing to hold on to and Syd was going faster and faster. All I saw was his hindquarters bobbing up and down. I did fall off, but I didn't get hurt. I learned my lesson, though.
3. I was riding Luca bareback on a huge paddock, riding down the hill slowly, going around the back of the paddock and galopping back up. It was great fun. I was starting to ride down the hill, when I felt Luca accelerate. When I tried to slow him down, it was already too late. He was galopping down the hill. It was a long way down, and I was starting to slip towards his withers, having no saddle. Faster and faster he went, and I could feel him trying to slow down, but he couldn't, with the hill being too steep. Even worse, Luca had (and still has) a roached mane so I had absolutely nothing to hold on to except the neck strap. So there we were, hurtling down this hill at a gallop, unable to stop. After a while and to my relief, the gound evened out and Luca managed to control his strides, slowing down to a walk. I let out a huge breath and rode some circles after that.
4. Another one! (you were warned)
I was riding Luca along the road through my neighbourhood and we passed a paddock full of pigs. Luca is absolutely terrified of pigs, so he started freaking out and backing up. I urged him on, thinking that once we passed them Luca would be fine. How wrong I was. When I finally managed to get Luca past the pigs, I praised him and rode on, only to be greeted by something standing right next to the road, behind a flimsy fence. Another pig. But that one was bigger than the average miniature horse. Well, that was the last straw for poor Luca, who backed up into a ditch, leaped out, spun around and bolted down the grassy strip on the side of the road. "Luckily" the road was also going downhill so double yay for me. I sunk my heels right down and contemplated how I could possibly emergency dismount, when I had a better idea (or should I call it "common sense"?). I managed to get Luca onto the gravel road, which slowed him to a trot and then finally a walk.
He's still scared of pigs to this day.
5. Last one, I promise!
I was riding in my trainer's arena and Luca and I were just peacefully trotting around it, when my trainer suggests some serpentines. So that's what we did. Now, this arena has several jumps set up, of varying heights (80cm to 1.10m) and while Luca and I were doing a serpentine through the arena, Luca suddenly veered off to the side, going towards a 90cm jump. Under saddle, Luca was only jumping 70cm, so I did all I could to steer him away from the jump. 90cm might not seem very high (especially with a 16hh horse) but Luca has an odd style of jumping and is still learning, so I was absolutely terrified. In the last second I managed to pull him to the side and trot him away from the jump.
There's still heaps of scary things stored in the back of my mind but I think I've typed a bit too much, haven't I? I do that a lot.
(Ah, I've just remembered two other ones that are pretty terrifying, but I don't know if I should type them all out. I've written too much! Long story short, my sister was riding her horse bareback and Luca was free in the same paddock. My sister started cantering along the fence when Luca suddenly charged after them with a terrifying expression on his face. My sister panicked because Luca looked so aggressive, but suddenly Luca slipped and slid on his hindquarters into my sister's horse, who just leaped forwards a bit and slowed down. The other story involves a trek along the road and a very buddy-sour Luca who, with no prior warning, bolted after my sister's horse who was walking along further in front. Luca did some big bucks, but I hung on and brought him back under control before he could run all the way to his best buddy.)
Phew, I've made Luca sound like such a horrible horse, but he's learnt so much and is so much easier to control nowadays. These stories are all from last year or the year before that.
Whoa. I wrote a novel. I'm so sorry!!!:shock: