At the age of 40, I rode a horse for the first time in my life today. Now I see why so many dachshund lovers are also horse lovers. Horses are nothing but giant dachshunds. About every characteristic horses have dachshunds have. Let's see:
1. Stubborness - check
2. Able to think for themselves - check
3. Bottomless pit stomachs - check
4. Loyalty and affection - check
One of the park police volunteers from the Mounted Section offered to let me try a horse, just so I could get a feel for what they do, and to have some basic skills just in case I would have to actually get on a horse in an emergency. Naturally, I jumped at the chance. He has a 5 1/2 acre farm less than 10 minutes from my house.
The horse I rode was a 23 year old Arabian filly named Tila. I was amazed as she as "rating the rider"... in this case, me, a complete novice. Several times she just came to a dead stop in the ring no matter what I tried to do. I swear she even looked back at me with that "Now who's in charge?" look on her face. Of course, once her Daddy walked over to her, she immediately began to cooperate again.
I spent about 30 - 40 minutes actually in the saddle. It was a really enjoyable experience. I just couldn't get over how similar their dispositions were to a dog that probably weighed 1/60th of the horse.
Be careful David, horses can be addicting! :grin: And make for a very expensive hobby! Did you get any pictures?
Good for you, we just got news slast night our darling sister in law came off yesteday and has broken her leg. Luckily sister could go and pick up her horse while she was taken to hospital.
I can stay on but don't like anything that does not have an acellorator or brake, that we control.
Roberta
I love riding - just don't get to do it much! Let's see - my last time on a horse was 11 years ago. Before that, I got to ride on a retired, but elegant racehorse named "Shadow" - a chestnut mare. That was a 5-mile ride through the woods, led by a wrangler since none of us knew our way around the place. I was a guest at the family "resort" of the descendants of one of the strike-it-rich guys at the Klondike - a very wonderful place with around 20 guest homes for the descendants. I got to stay in the original mansion - it looked like a steamboat parked on land. I wanna see pictures, too! Brekke has always thought horses are tall dachsies!
LOL! Its funny how a horse knows when someone who doesn't know what they are doing are on their back. They will push your buttons big time. Its like they are saying "yeah, right, you don't have a clue!" And they take advantage of you. Hondo used to do that to me when I was learning, he can't get away with that now. Sounds like you had a good time though.
Sorry...no pics from my first outing. When I go back again, I'll bring the camera...and Jessica. Jessica loves horses, and when we put her on the ponies at carnivals, she is just in heaven. I'm sure I'll be easy to pick out. I'm the only person on horseback wearing a bicycle helmet!
I had the strangest dream last night that Zora was a horse. She had horse proportions, but still had her dachshund head, complete with floppy ears. Very funny.
The horse's owner has four other horses besides Tila. There is Penny, his granddaughters paint, Vegas, a large dark chocolate, almost black, colored horse (I wish I knew what he was), Phil, short for Phil's Champ, a thoroughbred that used to race over at Charles Town (West Virginia) race course, and had a handful of victories under his belt. Phil is absolutely magnificent. There was a smaller horse that they use for the grandchildren, but he was not feeling well. He has been diagnosed with Cushings Disease. You could tell he just wasn't a happy camper.
David, Does Jessica do any of the therapeutic riding? We have a few stables here that offer it, and I have read that the results with the kids with autism are incredible. For some reason they respond to horses more than any other animals. When you mentioned Jessica loving the horses, it made me think about it.
Hi Teresa,
We don't have Jessica in a therapeutic riding program. They are VERY expensive and not covered by insurance. She also may be too young. We are going to be looking into it, though. However, I am hoping that we can get her on a horse with my friend. I'm even willing to do "sweat equity"...help him out with the stables in return for riding time on the horses.
Now that sounds like a winner! I think the youngest on therapy riding I have heard of, was about 4 1/2 - Jessica must be close to that by now (or am I having a brain burp)? :thinik:
Julia, your memory is dead on! Jessica turned 4 1/2 about two weeks ago.
It always amazes me what insurance will not cover. I was talking with a patient recently whose son is autistic. We were discussing the health care system here in S.C. She said the one thing that she has been surprised about is the coverage for a child with autism is incredible. If they have anything else, no luck, but if they have autism, there is a program that will cover anything they need. My daughter says she wishes they would do the same for the kids who need mental health services. We are severely lacking there, especially compared to other states nearby. But I really am impressed with the autism coverage. I'll have to find out more and send you the info on it-see if it is federally funded through a grant or just simply state funded.
And on the flip side. . .
Caring for D'Niel in Tennessee in the mental health system has been nothing short of a miracle compared to the system in Maryland. Remember "Silence of the Lambs" movie? The beginning where Clarice walks into a prison that looks like it dates back 200 years? Yep, that's Central Booking for Baltimore City and it's still in use!
D'Niel is still stuck here for another 25 days or so, thanks to Maryland doing a home visit in DECEMBER and writin up their recommendation on MARCH 23!!!
Karen :BangHead: