Post by cascade on Apr 17, 2018 15:43:02 GMT 1
Yes, so many pony book characters are miracle workers or have a 'special way' with horses, etc. I never questioned this as a child but a touch of cynicism does tend to creep in when you re-read the stories as an adult. Also as a completely average rider myself, who had no special abilities whatso-ever, except for that of sticking on cantankerous and difficult horses (due to having the worst behaved pony in the world on loan for 2 years - I could sit a buck like nobody's business!), I always felt more empathy for the hopeless riders. For instance, in JPT's Pony Club series, I liked Noel best when she was a bit of a dud and getting her right mixed up with her left (yup I used to do that in the school too haha).
I've never got on with riding indoors since!! My most vivid memory of jumping comps is that although I was riding a horse that was a superb jumper, both of us kept running out of space!! The poor mare seemed to spend most of the round spinning round on her hindquarters like a professional reining Quarter horse!
The best thing about schools I should think is how much easier it must be to break in a youngster in one as opposed to doing it in the corner of a field - used to have to build enclosures for lunging out of electric tape!!