another tick on the list;

it wasn't that much of a random plan. i had been looking for a horse riding place since last year, but gave up on my search because none seemed available. we've had road trips many many times around ade, and i'd always see houses along the countryside with humongous horse stables, with their horse walking around freely.

i came to a point where i told myself, if i really wanted to get close to these creatures, im going to have to knock on some random doors someday. really, that desperate. i was so curious to know. i not only wanted to ride them, but i wanted to know them. what its like to have a horse of your own.

and then i found ANHR on google. location was not that far at all, and the price was very reasonable. 50$ for a private introductory session ( one hour ). I gathered a few friends, and it was set !

we had our session with John, who taught us many things about horses. how to psychologically control them. how to treat them, how to command them without hurting them. i fell in love with them at an instant. horses fall among the 'prey' category of the food chain. they run and hide when they feel insecure. they react all aggressive when being annoyed, they kick, when they feel you're a threat, but only if you come from behind them and they didn't expect you coming.

my horse for the day was this beautiful Dennis. he was incredible, friendly and loves getting scratches. he's only about 7 years old, but behaved really well letting beginners like me ride on him.


John mentioned how horse riding is actually a dangerous sport. Because we are dealing with animals with brains that could react unexpectedly towards its surrounding. It may shy or buck you off for no reason, and that usually causes riders to fall off and get injuries.

but Dennis was my good boy, and we gained a strong relationship upon first instance. John taught me to not step back and show Dennis that im scared when he pushes me a little with his head. That's a horse's way of showing who is boss. So when Dennis did it to me, i pushed his head a little to the back, and gave him a scratch to show him, i'm boss. i'm the leader. i stood my ground and gave him a few scratches until he really gets our role for the day.

helmets were given for safety precaution. Michelle (John's wife) was worried my scarf would fly off, and that would scare the horses away. Fair enough, it was pretty windy, and i was having a pretty bad headscarf day ( my hijabis sisters would understand this, haha ) , but the helmet made it stay put. so after setting Dennis up for the session, we were ready for a quick lesson.

Amy ( the one leading Dennis ) is a 15 year old beautiful girl who volunteers at the place every weekends. She's been riding since last year, and told me about her experiences with horses. She fell, dislocated her hips, but recovered, and was back on a horse again. This 15 year old inspired me in many ways. She was so good with Dennis even when he shy-ed a little during the rain.

Behind me is Muk on Pepe, an ex-race horse. He's another beauty. He's height is very charismatic, and he is a difficult horse to trot on, said Michelle. But Muk did a great job with him, trots like a pro !

So we spent almost more than an hour because we had to stop for a while and gave way to heavy rain. Dennis got a little bit upset with that, I had to instantaneously jump off him. But he was alright after that.

We learnt how to make the horse to walk, stop, steer, and trot. The tricky part was trotting. It has always looked easy on everyone else, but really, its not that simple. Getting the rhythm right, and at the same time keeping up to your horse's bounciness and pace was something that I had to get used to. Coordination took time for me but after a few tries, i think i did a fairly good job on trotting.

So that pretty much summed up my day yesterday, it was a whole lot of fun, and i am still overwhelmed and mesmerized by horses, especially my beautiful dennis whom i hope to see again sometime soon. i'd love to drop by and volunteer or get lessons myself as it is pretty cheap here than it is back at home. 30$ per session ( 40 minutes ) - thats just .. !

aaaaand to think that THIS was easy?

hohoho, think again. such a skillful sister, mashaAllah ! got it off tumblr, and this lady is amazing !

wallahualam