The which horse breed are you quiz got me thinking about my first horseback riding experience. I have always loved horses from afar and have always wanted to go riding. Last year I finally got my chance. We went to one of those places where they have a ton of horses riding all day long on the same trail with dozens of people lining up to go riding one after another. You get no instruction at all, and I mean none. They just chuck you on a horse and you are off for an hour long ride in the mountains with a “guide” and I use that term loosely for a reason.

This was an enjoyable experience if not also slightly terrifying. As I said, no instructions were given, besides “Pull the rein to stop” so I felt like I was flying blind. What do I do when the horse stops to eat? What do I do when my horse who was the most frisky of the bunch started running in an attempt to pass the other horses in the line up? (Which is apparently something they are trained not to do but my horse felt like being a rebel that day.) One thing I was disappointed about is that I felt very disconnected from the horse. I wasn’t able to get acclimated with a short instruction session or pet the horse, learn its name, etc. I felt sad for it that all day long dozens of different people hop on expecting a fun-filled ride with little concern for what kind of horse this is. I know that is this horses’s “job” if only because it is in captivity and we have decided it has to work, but I still felt conflicted. I couldn’t help but think what kind of life would this horse have if it lived the way it was meant to? How free and joyful could its life be?

I still love horses from afar and I might even take a riding lesson or two. But I will never forget how humbled I felt when I hopped on that horse and realized I had no clue what I was doing. Despite it being a warm day and the fact that the horse must have been exhausted it stayed on the path and let me have my ride.

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