Justine Griffin's Riding On The Beach Is No Exception for A Disaster – Charles Owen Helmet Contest #13
| August 27, 2011 | Posted by Patricia under Charles Owen Helmet Contest |
Wally at the beach
This is entry 13 of our Charles Owen Helmet Contest, submitted by Justine Griffin from Florida. For more information about our contest, click here
Thank you for sharing your story!
From Justine:
Being an equestrian and living in Florida has many advantages.
We rarely need to blanket our horses in the winter months. We don’t need indoor arenas to avoid the snow. And probably the most attractive advantage, we can ride on the beach almost year round.
It was during my most recent beach ride on the sandy shores in Northeast Florida, that I was thankful my big head was strapped into a helmet. Many riders leave their helmet and boots behind at the beach. The temptation to ride freely with the salty breeze in your hair and sand in between your toes is great, no doubt.
But if you’ve been around horses for even a short while, you know that the beach is no exception for a disaster.
Myself with three of my riding students at a local show, preparing for our first hunter/jumper walk-trot crossrails division
I gave beginner English lessons to group of girls, ages six to 12, for a while at this particular farm in Florida. During every ride I stressed the importance of a helmet, no matter where they were riding. My own spook-gone-wrong horror stories did little to quiet their whines, that is until our trip to the beach.
We took four horses to the beach on this particular Sunday. Three out of the four geldings were well behaved, dead broke lesson horses that we were sure would show the girls a good time. The fourth was the farm owner’s newest 4-year-old thoroughbred gelding. No one planned to ride him, just walk him along the beach to give him some miles outside of the barn.
To our surprise, Travis (the gelding,) was the best behaved horse of the group! He trotted through the waves and playfully splashed in the shallow water. He stood quietly on the sand, even with many beach goers going by with loud children in tow, on bicycles or four-wheelers.
That’s when I got talked into hopping on his back. I had been wearing my helmet all day, taking turns riding the other ponies we brought along and leading the girls (who were also in helmets) down the shoreline. So far it was a great day and I figured nothing of it, given Travis’ good nature so far.
But the second I climbed up onto his back, all the muscles in his body tensed. His eye went from calm and cool to worried in a split second. The second I urged him forward, the 16-hand-high, skinny gelding shot up in a full blown rear. I held on tightly and managed not to come crashing onto the hard, compacted sand.
Travis began to fidget this way and that, prancing all over the place with his head stuck straight up in the air. I immediately dismounted, feeling stupid for even thinking it was a good idea to get on him in the first place.
Luckily I was O.K., (and so was he), but that was a situation that could have been terribly bad. Even though I didn’t fall, I was thankful to have had my helmet on my head.
We did get Travis to calm down again and everyone got back to the barn safely. Although we haven’t tried to bring Travis back to the beach just yet, he’s been a great horse to work with in the comfort of a fenced arena.
Needless to say, my students never whined about wearing their helmets again after witnessing that!
Justine Griffin
