back in the saddle.

So I came to the conclusion that I have far too much time on my hands, considering my university course only requires my attendance for about six hours a week. How intellectual I must seem.
With this in mind, I made the decision to actually step out the front door, and do something outside in the fresh air, like in the good old days before Facebook and the Nintendo Wii.
Horse riding is something I've done since I was about two feet tall, and to be honest I was probably better at it then. At four years old, with a riding hat covering my head and probably most of my face, I enjoyed every minute of it.
Once you hit your twenties, however, I realised a little bit more is expected from you rather than just sitting back, and giving the poor animal a little kick in the ribs every now and again.

Sometimes you are offered a small step to help you clamber on to the horse's back in a slightly more dignified manner. On the occasions where the step is nowhere to be seen, I begin imagining myself falling backwards with one foot in the stirrup and the rest of me on the ground. Not the most attractive thing a girl can do. So once in the saddle, feet in the stirrups and hands grasped tightly around the reigns, a little nudge from your legs and off you go. Sporting an incredibly unsexy riding hat, its not quite as glamorous as the likes of Katie Price who seems quite comfortable wearing hot pink heels and hotpants. Definitely won't be trying that look any time soon.

I was on a hack recently and sat on top of Marmite, a gorgeous dark brown horse whose name could not be any more perfect. It was on this hack Marmite decided to make some very unusual breathless sounds with every other step. I started to think my weight was too much for the poor horse, but after much reassurance I've now learned it is just was the way some horses breathe with a rider upon their backs, and that Marmite could quite easily carry someone of twenty stone. I am not yet convinced, and still feel horribly guilty that whilst enjoying the fresh air and surrounding woods, I was actually killing a beautiful animal with my own body mass.

Dismounting the horse is perhaps just as dignified as mounting it. Both feet out of the stirrups, and you have no choice but to swing your right leg behind you and over the horse, before stumbling to the ground and trying to look calm and collected at the same time. Although it may not be the most graceful of activities, its one I hope to keep up as long as I can, as long as I don't cause any serious injury to a horse's back by simply sitting on it.