Xena Warrior Princess?....hmmm....

I went on my horseback riding adventure in Glenorchy today!! : )

Before I arrived, I was imagining that I would swing myself gracefully onto the back of some sleek, black stallion, and miraculously create a connection between beast and woman. I would barely need to hold onto the reins, and would instantly be in tune with this fine animal, and we would go cantering off into the sunset.

The reality was not quite like Xena, Warrior Princess, but it was pretty fun!

The horse I was riding was named K-sharn. K-sharn (Sharnie for short) is this gorgeous 14 year-old thoroughbred. K-sharn is also a movie star. (He was in the Lord of the Rings, Return of the Kings film. There is a scene near the end of the film, before the big battle scene, where Aragorn goes into the cliffs to get the ghost army. They pan across this field of horses. K-sharn, and about 7 others from the stables we rode from, are in that shot.)

I haven't been on a horse in a long while. I felt comfortable getting onto the saddle, and remembering how to hold the reins. And like you'd steer a bike, it was easy to turn Sharnie's head. He was pretty responsive.

Once we started moving, I got used to using my calf muscles to hold on, and started relaxing. The day was exquisite. Bright, sunny, and warm. Par (pronounced Pear) was our tour guide, and he was quite funny and bubbly. I even managed to snap a couple of photos while we bounced happily along.

Then Par decided we would trot our horses a little. He demonstrated that the most comfortable way to trot (for both person and horse) was to hold the reins in one hand and press down on the withers (the knobby bone protrusion on the horse's neck), and with the other hand, grab a fistful of mane. What he didn't say was hold on for dear life. Before I even got in the right position, our horses took off. One guy fell off immediately, and I was reduced to giggling and bouncing, trying desperately to hold on TIGHTLY with my legs. (Squats never hurt this much!!)

I couldn't stop laughing, I was sure that I was going to blast off my horse.. but I managed to stay upright. K-sharn was definitely frisky and he spent the rest of the ride taking off whenever he felt like moving faster than a walk. My kind of horse! : )

The rest of the ride alternated between trotting (and me giggling) and walking, and we saw a great deal of the countryside. We crossed a few rivers, learned about the now extinct Moa (the largest bird of New Zealand which measured at 3 meters high). We saw a lot of the local vegetation, as well as the some non-native plants, like the willow and rose-hip bush.

It was a lovely fun day!