Horseback Riding

26 years of life & I finally get to experience riding a horse. Personally, I believe I should have already rode a horse as a child and that I fell behind in the good wonders of life.

Where: Horseplay Niagara, Wainfleet

Riding a horse seems like a piece of cake & I was super excited when we arrived however, when the instructors began saddling people up I became anxiously nervous. These 1200-2000lb horses all of a sudden seemed like horrifying deadly animals. I was actually really nervous because we were second to last to be chosen to get on the horses next to the children (loaded by biggest to smallest - biggest horse goes to the biggest person). Most of the adults before us seemed to struggle in throwing their leg over the horse once up on the stepping stool. In reality, it was quiet simple.

My horses name was Skittle and she was most definitely over active. When I initially got on her she turned her head, looked back at me and then crushed my right leg into the fence. Nothing unbearable but why was she the only horse moving at this moment? Also, when I pulled back on the lead rope to get her to stop walking, after she stopped she would yank her head forward pulling and jerking me forward. Talk about attitude problems. My girlfriends horse on the other hand was over taking other horses - no patience, and pooping too frequently as we rode, his name was Ronnie.
What I learned: horses raise their tails when taking a poop and lower it upon finishing. Haha, great findings huh?

The 1 hour horse trek was quite enjoyable as all the horses were well behaved - like school children in a single file. Riding along a narrow trail with surroundings of only nature, kind of peaceful. Although at times my girlfriend and I were verbally re-enacting scenes from The Walking Dead (severe addicts) while on the horses.

What I disliked is... when the horses started galloping my entire body literally got thrown in the air and then you got to love gravity to slam you right back onto the saddle - now imagine feeling this every 5 seconds? Ouchies! People on TV make horse riding seem so easy, painless and almost mesmerizing. The rain evidently didn't assist in making this experience as wonderful as it could have been, seeing that we were frozen and wet by the end of the ride.

Would I do it again? Absolutely, well as long as the horse minimally gallops.

Thanks Tania for this experience!