just another embarrassed horseman confession; no need to loiter, you Western riders, move along...

Okay, this is what it is; my 2014 confession ( i know, im starting early this year with confessions)....Im really not worthy to wear that cowboy hat I have on in that profile picture ...  Im not a cowgirl. Not even remotely close.  Its kinda like this -

I have chased cows out here, but only on foot or the truck to herd them. I do have friends who do this chasing on horseback though, because well, they are their cows...but some of them have also done rodeo...some even professional. Professional cow chasing...or whatever they call it...so I do however like western boots and I like western hats, but havent really been to too many rodeos in my lifetime (out here, uhmm, actually none. i did go to a polo match last year!...but no rodeo - I will report back when i do). However I do ride, and have owned horses for quite a few years now...but I was classically trained to ride Huntseat and Dressage. And so I rode hunters and I took dressage lessons to Level 1 for years (memorizing tests when you cant even memorize your social security number can be a challenge... to natural blondes. i know.)  I done clinics, have started colts and I have trained and catch ride and numerous other crazy things you can do in an english saddle, with careless impunity and fun especially during my younger years - however-

Living in Cowboy/Cowgirl Territory, I sometimes get the urge to ride in a western saddle. Especially if I see a pretty one all tooled up. BUT I AM NOT a buckle bunny, well, because I think those blingy shiny buckle belts would hurt my bladder and give out back pain like nobody's business but hey - tangent - sorry.... Anyway,  Mr. Foresterman wants to ride in a western saddle.  We even bought some nice used Circle Y western saddles. But the kicker is,  I really dont want to ride in them.  I must admit, in my mind, its like making me speak the chinese language so I can make wontons better...and i make a pretty dang good wonton...With that thought in mind, lets go back to the past...animal science major, minor in equine science - however, I only did IN college (only because it was required) one semester in basic western horsemanship... long ago... so lets start this sordid confession, shall we?

While in college many moons ago I had the opportunity to meet and train in a week long clinic with Jack Brainard - the one and only western clinic that I ever have done in my life -  I got to train with a legend in the Quarter Horse industry BUT I DIDNT KNOW IT AT THE TIME.

*blush* 

However, everyone else in the group that i rode with that week knew exactly who he was; thats why they signed up. Unfortunately for me being a Huntseat gal, and wanting to work on lead changes, I was like,"hey YAY! im going to finally sit right in this big barcalounger of saddle and Ill figure it out and oh look, hes as old as my grandpa, how nice! " But here is the kicker - it didnt matter to him that I didnt have a clue about all his accomplishments; he still treated me well and answered my silly questions that I was asking in all seriousness. And even when i complained (okay, whined) and called the western saddle a "barcalounger" frequently, about all that leather between my leg and my horse and how I didnt feel "connected" like i do in my huntseat saddle, how can I ride better in the Barcalounger...?" Jack understood.  He worked with me. And he understood.

OMGosh but Im blushing again now - stupid kid.  Picture a little gal on a huge off the track TB among all these little catty quarter horses - literally he was huge and tall and I was trying to make him do these tight cowy things and we tried not to get in everyones way... But i wanted to wiiiiiden my world...and so I asked questions, and questions, and why do you do it this way? and all sorts of questions... did I mention I asked lots of questions?

Mr. Brainard was very patiently nice though, and at one point actually trotted along the rail to watch me and give a semi private lesson while we were working lead changes -what he is known for  - I was in the center, cantering...or loping or whatever it is called in western language, but I couldnt shift my weight right to get a straight flying lead change... he was honest with me with what I needed to change ..wait for the propulsion of the left hip to shift...Yes, even though he was a senior citizen to me, he was a SMART senior citizen...FOR GAWDS SAKE THE MAN RODE WITH RAY HUNT.

*roll eyes I WAS SO YOUNG AND STUPID covers eyes*

He rode just as if he was part of his animal; he was someone to learn from, because he REALLY RODE WELL. It wasnt his name that impressed me, it was the way he sat in his saddle; in the way that I saw growing up - the Austrians guys on those big boy Lipizzaners, and how they went with the motion - they were one...the way i was taught it should be. He rode well, as he should have - Hes a reining and rope horse trainer for over 70 years, an accredited judge, helped organize the NRHA and the stock horse of Texas Program, and basically started the Quarter Horse breed in the upper midwest, and has been inducted in many halls of fame. But heres the best part - He's still going strong at age 92;  in 2007, he picked up the art of Dressage and applied it to western riding, in which he teaches now at a few clinics every year ; the concept of Western Dressage...barcalounger be darned...yesss! :)

What I learned from Jack was patience; that you are never too old or too young, or too entrenched in only one way to learn something new, and that as with all riding, it is basically all about the horse... and his bio goes on and on and on, but since this was "land" before time that they now call "google", I just thought he was the nice man who bred quarter horses who liked to do that spinny reining thing...

*AWKWARD cringe MOMENT  cringe again PAUSE*

So of course now you can start awkwardly blushing with me because it gets worse... it was after the last session of the 5 day clinic, where FINALLY, i knew something as it was on farrier care (that "minor in equine science" rears its ugly head oh yes yes pick me!!! ) so when the guest instructor/farrier man said, "anybody want to pull these shoes off?" on a jiggy Standardbred he brought specifically for this session, because well, jiggy - the quarter horse western riders I have been riding with all week smartly took two steps backwards and I stepped forward because i finally could look like i knew what i was doing and not ask all my stupid questions, yesssss! At that point after the week, Im pretty sure they basically thought "sure, let the little englishseat nutgirl get killed, this will be fun" ... Well i did pull all four shoes because "nut girl + napoleon complex + nutty horse + darn good luck = miracle" and I earned my stripes, because afterwards when I was putting away tack, the guest instructor/farrier man asked if I wanted to go out with a group of them with Jack to Canterbury Downs  - a side trip they were planning that night... I guess they figured at this point that I was pretty fun to laugh at and I took teasing well - but I TURNED THEM DOWN...I had a date...what the heck was I thinking...???  So, you young people out there, if a bunch of older horse people *ahem* LEGENDS (could even be your grandma!) ask you to go to a racetrack with them, google them, dump the date and go. PLEASE. and dont forget to blog about it!

Anyhow, it was a 5 day long clinic and by the end of it,  I was pretty burnt out anyhow - actually after the last day, when i went to sleep that night, I woke up sitting upright in my bed, in the dark, holding reins (bedsheet) thinking I was still in the saddle, still in the indoor and the lights were out and why were the lights out? (which did actually happen on the ground in the arena with a horse during a lightning storm while I went to school there - but thats another story, another time)...

So, Yes I like to wear the cowgirl hat and I have plenty of people who say "if i die I want my horses going to you" but I shall ever be known to a group of Western rider people somewhere out there as the englishseat nutgirl who didnt know who Jack Brainard was...

*facepalm*

So Thanks Jack, even though I wont be riding in a western saddle any time soon, you taught me what i needed to know about flying lead changes, being patient with those who are different by your example, and never turning down an offer to go to a racetrack with a legend...

PS   Jack-Ive got a hat and boots and I could be ready to go at any time...

~