Do you like horseback riding?

Question

Answer 1

not since the one I was riding took me under a low branch to clean me off.  That hurt.  I've been trotting on my own ever since.

Answer 2

It looks fun even if I never tried it on my own before.

Answer 3

Don't care for it.

Answer 4

Yes.

Answer 5

Riding horses is downright dangerous. The last time I rode a horse it tried to kill me.

I was asked to be Santa and had to ride along the street. Beautiful animal it was, too -- well brushed and bedecked with tinsel and tinkling bells. But it had never seen a man in a Santa suit before and as soon as I was in the saddle it tried to launch us both into space.
It bucked for a while and I can't say I actually dismounted. The third time it put all four feet on the ground I dived.

The thing went pig-rooting around the yard, then saw me still on the ground and came back to finish me off. Fortunately somebody dragged me clear.

The only person not panicking was my daughter-in-law who was photographing the whole thing.  Unfortunately she didn't realise how high we were going and kept cutting my head off. That was such a pity: those photographs would have been handy at my inquest.

Comments

I'm glad you weren't seriously hurt, Didge!   Umm... are you sure that was a horse you were riding, what with your red suit and all upsetting him so much?

Maybe they should have given you a gentle old nag like this one:

But it's not impossible for Santa to ride a fine-looking animal as well:

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They assured me that she was gentle, Tink, but she sure took a dislike to me. I've been hang gliding since then -- much safer -- but haven't been tempted to climb aboard a four-legged killing machine again.

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In this case, discretion does seem to be the better part of horsemanship. 

Prince Charles seems to be intrigued at 0:24.

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Ouch! Makes you think some of those horses had a very interesting sense of humour.

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I am sorry to hear about your dreadful experience, Didge. Horses are flight animals, and unusual things, like your Santa Clause disguise, must have frightened it. The so-called horse whisperers are basing their therapies on the natural behaviour of horses and their ranking order in the herds.

Answer 6

I've never tried it before. My sister took lessons when she was younger and she loved it, but I was never interested. 

Answer 7

I liked it, and was lucky to experience great moments - far away from competition, letting the horses go at their rhythm.

The racing, show, gambling and breeding industries are known, though, for abuse:

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/03/the-ugly-truth-about-horse-racing/284594/

http://horsejunkiesunited.com/?p=81469

Answer 8

I love it ! Where I live it's almost a necessity to get to all the back country. Not many roads of any kind as it's sparsely populated. We have four horses that we generally ride every day. Best way to get out to the fence line for repairs.