the equestrian types will enjoy this...

[latelatebloomer]

I was riding a quiet country lane yesterday morning, and - trying being a good careful rider, was keeping an eye far up the road. I saw a white plastic bag in a ditch and thought " Better be careful, if a breeze kicks up, that could scare my.......

bike."

I haven't owned a horse in 30 years. (ouch.) Maybe I was time-traveling a little since I had just passed a horse rescue. But it had me smiling at myself all the way home. (And blessings to Comanche in horse-heaven, I hope you remember me kindly.)

[BikeMomma]

heeeheeeee! Too funny LLB! :p

What breed of horse did you used to own? Sounds like you miss horse ownership.

~K

[btchance]

Oohh, I do the same thing. I see something on the side of the road that my last horse would of spooked at and immediately start preparing for it. It's just a part of me now I guess

[chickwhorips]

its the little things that some people don't pick up.

every small movement i still brace myself for something bad happening. now though its more of a big animal coming at me than leaving me behind.

[crazycanuck]

Speaking of horses, I had a funny encounter one night off road..

It was dark & I was heading up to meet the guys at the funky pizza joint in Mundaring and saw this light ahead of me. The position of the light and the speed of whomever was using it was going kind of slow. I wondered :confused: ...

It was an equestrian. I'd never encountered a horse at night but said hello and kept mozying.

It's always a joy to ride through horse doo at night.:eek:

I just wish the roos would use lights at night too...

c

[Bluetree]

LOL!
I still can't mount my bike from the "wrong" side.

[latelatebloomer]

Yes, BikeMomma, I would dearly love to have a horse in my life. We have 2 1/2 acres and a 2 stall barn, so hopefully one day, it will happen. Our place needs a lot of work yet, and our crazy careers in the arts barely support us, the cat, & the goats and chickens. When I have a horse, I want to be able to do it right, and have time to spend with her, too.

Comanche was a a very large palamino pony, full of attitude and challenge. Lord knows what had been done to him over the years. I got him for Christmas when I was 9. He cost $250 from a guy that bought him at an auction so he was a total mystery, we kept him for free in an old man's garage (we were a very working class family). It may have looked scrappy, but that pony had the best of everything. It was just me & him through some very tough childhood years. We explored woods and canal paths and abandoned lots. By the time I turned 16, all the land had gone to industrial parks, and Comanche went to another little girl. But he was so scrappy, I always worried that no one else would have the patience to get past his orneriness. So all these years, I've promised Comanche that the next horse I get will be with me to the end of their life, same as all my other animal companions.

[rheidis73]

LOL!
I still can't mount my bike from the "wrong" side.
__________________
Those who fail make excuses. Those who succeed make the effort

Either can I ! :)

[Nanci]

I can't mount or _lead_ my bike from the wrong side. But I haven't been affected by things my bike might spook at. Maybe I always had well-behaved horses, except for Darla the devil...

[mimitabby]

I just had to add to this post. I also have trouble mounting from the wrong side, and it feels just as wrong as it did on my horse.
I have no trouble with my bike spooking, and i have been sent flying more than once because a horse balked, so I have had my share of spooky horses.

(and then when you land on the ground in front of them they look at you like
you're crazy for being there)

[Pascale]

My bike never balks when riding away from the garage....

[Nanci]

I think mine _does_ go faster on the way home! She sure did Saturday.

[Geonz]

My bike gets very nervous and balky when she sees gravel up ahead, but puts her head down and charges up slight hills.

[chickwhorips]

(and then when you land on the ground in front of them they look at you like you're crazy for being there)

how true is that. i still remember that look when i came out of the saddle and actually landed on my feet next to her head. the look is what killed me.

[btchance]

Count me in on one of those who can't lead or mount her bike from the opposite side. I've tried both, and ended up on the ground with the mounting one, and always trip over the bike with the leading one.

I have to say, though, my MTB has thrown me more than the horses ever did. But at least these ground impacts are from a much lower height with less weight landing on me which means no trips to the hospital :D Can't say that for the horses!

[latelatebloomer]

um, I thought that if you tried to mount your bike from the right side, the devil came and took you away...

[beckt]

sometimes I can't decide which to ride - my bike or my horse!

[Bluetree]

Wow, Beck, that is about as strawberry as a strawberry roan can be! :)

[Nanci]

App?

I've had a strawberry roan Walker and a red roan Morgan. Always wanted a gruello, though. But that's a whole other thing. Closest I came was an almost white buckskin Hackney(horse not pony)/Arab. (The one who was hit by a car and killed :-( )

[Michelemarrano]

This thread is so funny! I owned and rode a Five-Gaited American Saddlebred mare from 1977--1996 (I lost her to Alzheimers at age 28) and I took up cycling in 1998. I never thought about it but I mount and handle my bike entirely on the left side!! In fact, I refer to my bikes as "girls" and my Bianchi cross-terrain is my "Morgan" and my new Guru road bike is my "Five-Gaited" mare.

We LOVED our mare and she loved us back! There is a huge portrait of her in our bedroom--whenever I do my weight workout I see her the entire time!! I know from horse-heaven she "sees" me riding bicycles and smiles!

I wish I had owned a MTB back in the 80's and 90's so I could ride beside her in the pasture. She loved to play "tag" where I would run at her and snap a towel at her--she would run around and toss her head playfully! I would have had so much fun with her playing "tag" on a MTB!!

[eofelis]

sometimes I can't decide which to ride - my bike or my horse!

Beautiful horse! Is he/she a varnish app? Please post more pictures!

[eofelis]

This thread is so funny! I owned and rode a Five-Gaited American Saddlebred mare from 1977--1996 (I lost her to Alzheimers at age 28) and I took up cycling in 1998. I never thought about it but I mount and handle my bike entirely on the left side!! In fact, I refer to my bikes as "girls" and my Bianchi cross-terrain is my "Morgan" and my new Guru road bike is my "Five-Gaited" mare.


I have a "Morgan Bike" too. It's a Novara Randonee touring frame that we built with flat bars. It's mostly my commuter bike. It's so small that it takes 26" wheels. It's a versatile bike, like the Morgan breed. It could easily be built to be a road touring bike with drop bars and slick tires, or a mtn touring bike with knobbies. It's a ride-and-drive bike. I can pull a Bob trailer with it.

My black road bike is called Ruffian, after my favorite race horse. This bike is more of a sport touring bike, it's not very fast. It handles any road conditions with aplomb. I kinda think of it more as a Connemara Pony type, sporty but not quite a Thoroughbred.

My touring bike, a Long Haul Trucker, is named Camion. I used to know a TB/Hanoverian gelding by that name. It also means truck in French.

I lived and breathed horses for 20 years. I had an old Appy gelding, Felix. Lost him to colic :( Then I had a retired Standardbred, Shaw, for a short time. Then I had a little Morgan (?) gelding, Sam. I also got a BLM Mustang mare, Sijin. I had her for 8 years and lost her to colic too. After that I rode other peoples horses and eventually got away from it as i went to college (at 33) and got into bicycling more. A few years ago I sold off the last of my tack and bought my road bike. I haven't ridden horses much at all in 5 yrs or so.

I still love horses and I kinda stay involved in them thorugh the model horse hobby. Is anyone else aware of that hobby? I've been in it since '81.