My First Ride

David LeBlanc

I'm fairly new to riding, and didn't do too much as a kid - had a psychotic pony try to kill me when I was 10, and didn't have too much opportunity to have good experiences. That all changed when I met Jennifer.

On our second date, she put me on an old QH named Skipper. Skipper was a foundation QH - big guy, wide chest, and he had a heart of gold. Sort of horse that would stop to let you get your seat back if you got off-center. He hadn't been ridden much in a while, since Ozar (Jennifer's 1/2 app 1/2 arab - then a 10yr old) was really a lot more exciting, but he loved to get out of the pasture.

At first, I didn't ride very well, and he was out of shape, so we didn't go very far or very fast. Over the course of the summer, he got into better shape, and when I was ready, he'd summon up tricks I hadn't seen before out of a 26-year accumulation. We rode a lot, and once we moved him up to some land in north GA, he became popular with a few others up there, so old Skipper was happily going down the trail 3-4 times a week. He got into great shape, and could do a very strenuous 17-mile training ride with no problem. He even started challenging Ozar for lead horse, and proved once in a while that old age and treachery DOES overcome youth and enthusiasm.

Toward the end of the year, our friend suggested that Skipper might be OK for a 25-mile ride, and it would be a good way to introduce me to the sport. Another friend thought I'd kill Skipper and got hysterical about it. We went through all sorts of gyrations to get Ozar down there (which is another story all by itself), and we both passed the initial vet check, and off we went.

I'd never seen Skipper so cranked up - seemed he was mentally about 5 that day. Since I'd been on him all summer, I could deal with him just fine. As quarter horses tend to do, he had this wonderful slow canter that was incredibly comfortable to ride, and he just fell into it and seemed like he wanted to stay there forever. We must have cantered for 3-4 miles solid at one point. Somewhere out there, we had a woman come up behind us, and I heard her ask:

"What kind of horse is that? He's not an Arab, is he?" (Skipper was a palomino) "No, he's a Quarter Horse", I replied. "Wow - surprising to see a Quarter Horse in such good shape!" "Hard to believe he's 26, isn't it!"

I thought she was going to fall off right there!

After a bit, he wanted to slow down, so I just let him walk as long as he wanted, and even held him back out of fear of hurting him. Ended up holding him back too much, and we walked into the vet check and PR'd immediately - he was down when we walked up. Passed the vet check with straight A's, which seemed to surprise and amuse the vet.

Since the second loop was only 10 miles, and both horses were well-rested, we blew it out. Went zooming past lots of people, some of whom tried to catch up, but to no avail. I was hooked.

Came zooming into the last vet check, Skipper was just ahead of Ozar, but her heart rate came down a minute faster than his. We passed that vet check with straight A's, too. We finished in the middle of the pack, but I've never been so proud or happy at the end of a race (and I've top-10'd since then).

We ended up moving to the Seattle area this spring, and a couple of weeks before the horse transport people were due to pick up the horses, I got a call that Skipper wasn't quite right. Got the vet out, and he had a badly prolapsed heart valve, so the old guy decided to stay in Georgia. He's buried in a nice pasture, and I miss him terribly, but I'm really glad his last year was such a good one. I'm also glad to have had such a wonderful teacher. He taught me a lot about riding, and a lot about life.

Copyright 2000, David LeBlanc

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