Riding Logs: Keepsakes for Life
Published by GHC • May 7th, 2008 • Category: Riding Advice, by Haleeby Halee, age 12
Today I was looking through some old entries in my old riding log, which was sadly lost under mountains of stuff in my closet for quite a while. Well, I was looking through it and visited the all-important lesson not to be ignorant, and remembered how much I have grown since then.
Halee’s Riding Log, November 7th 2006
*ZAP* I SMITE THEE!
I had so much fun at the stable today!… Except for one thing. Monte was nice and Vifill was stubborn, like every day. But I had to teach the new kid the layout of the stable after his lesson, since I help out there and all. So, I take this kid, Andrew, to the paddocks, and almost touch the electric fence that is over the fence boards. He starts screaming ”NO! NO! DOOOONNN’T!” So I informed him that the fences were never on, because they weren’t in the whole year I’ve there… So I grabbed the wire, and ZAP! For once, it was really on. It was a shock, not really the fence as much as that it was on in the first place. At this point the kid is laughing at me and I want nothing more than to smack him upside the head. My only thought was *ZAP* I SMITE THEEE! Ugh. And of course, the fence is never on again, and now I doubt the kid with ever take my advice. ARGH.
Funny, right? It wasn’t for me at the time, but now I think it is incredibly funny and that I should go through my old journals more often… I got a good laugh out of this entry. You should try keeping a journal for your horse experiences, it can be very fun to look back on all your memories that you may have forgotten. Also, it is admittedly quite fun to look through friend’s old riding logs/journals, with their prermission, of course.
Now I decided I should look at some of the later entries, thinking that there could be other experiences worth revisiting. After a while of browsing I was ready to give up, until I found a certain entry I now treasure.
Halee’s Riding Log, December 1st 2006
LOVE
I rode Vifill for the first time today. He’s usually difficult to ride, so only the riding instructer does most of the time. Like always, I ride after the lessons are over. I expected to ride Monte as usual, but Candy (my riding instructer at the time) said, “Hey, Halee, go saddle Vifill.”At first I was so confused! I thought maybe she was going to ride him. I really like Vifill, though, so I went to saddle him quickly. When I led him back into the arena, she wanted me to ride him! I was a little scared, since I’ve seen him buck with other people on him, but I guessed he would trust me since I spend time in his stall a lot.
It was amazing. I always love being on a horse, but on him it’s so different. He’s a bit of a stout horse so it was a diffirent experience then riding my usual Arab mount, Monte. I really loved it after awhile. Since he’s an Icelandic horse, I got to tolt instead of trot!
I remember the day so clearly, but it’s even more amusing to hear the impressions of my eleven year-old self. After that, I rode him every Saturday and grew a bond with him that I haven’t quite had with any other horse. He’s become my best friend, and this riding log is such a treasured thing to me since I can forever keep my memories with him.
Riding logs are timeless keepsakes that anyone can have, or even make themselves! My new riding log is a mix of a scrapbook and a riding log. To make one, look at the following instructions.
YOU WILL NEED:
- Scissors (ask an adult!)
- Glue (ask an adult!) or tape
- Pens and/or pencils
- Creativity
- Blank binder
- Notebook paper
- Stickers (optional)
- Drawing paper
DIRECTIONS:
First, take a piece of blank drawing paper and cover it with your drawings and designs of your favorite equines, whether they are famous racehorses or horses you know in real life, or they can even be horses from your dreams! Then, write your name and riding log (Example: Alexa’s Riding Log). You can make the letters bubble letters, striped, polka dotted, or you can be elaborate and try to make letters out of horses!
Or, if you aren’t the drawing type, you can cover the paper with pictures of horses, write qoutes you like on it, or your own poetry. Then, tape or glue it onto the front of your binder. If you like, you can put a paper on the back too. See? You’re already half way through! Now, you can put stickers, if you choose to, on your binder, inside the covers, and on the pages once you put them in.
Once you have your notebook paper in, you can make your first entry by writing your name, age, residence, and the horses you ride, or even make a history of your riding. You may know these things now, but one day you’ll forget a lot, so when you’re older and you look through your riding log you can know exactly who you were at this age.
On the next page, you can have a page of your goals/dreams, and as the years go by you can check off your goals as you acheive them, and besides the check mark you can write the date accomplished. You can add whatever else you want, such as indexs, lists of horses you know, and people/horses who inspire you. The only limit is your imagination! …And your paper.
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Halee, five words…very enjoyable and amazing blog! I’ve kept a notebook full of my horsey adventures and one on the computer so I can write as much as I want! The other day I was reading my entries and it felt like I’ve connected with a part of me that was lost. Riding logs are a brilliant way to glance back a few years time and you’ve shown that clearly and reasonably. Great job!
Halee, This is really great. I am going to start keeping a Riding log. I already have a few incidents that I am going to put in my new Riding Log. Awesome! I keep a journal and I know how cool it is to read what you did and thought about it when it happened. = )
Madelaina-
Thank you very much! I really enjoy all of your comments; you are a very thoughtful person. I like how you always add some kind of personal insight to your comments, instead of just like “Oh cool, nice blog!”, or something like that. :)
Thanks so much for your wonderful words and support!
Blaze’ncowgirl-
I’m glad you’ll start a riding log, because trust me one day it’ll be wonderful to have your riding log to look back on.
Thanks for reading, and your comment!
Halee, this is an amazing work of art! Wonderful job and thanks for inspiring me! I think I will try to make one, but I don’t have much artistic talent so I will stick with the poetry and quotes thing.
As far as your entries go, those are really cute. Not to laugh at a wound but the first one is funny and I’m glad you can laugh at it now! And the second one is amazing! It shows how much you will grow throughout your life. Fantabulous job and I hope you write another blog soon!
I love the blog, and I know what do you mean. I used to keep a diary of everything, not just horses (I keep a riding log only now as I don’t have as much time) and I read through it the other day. I can’t believe how much I’ve grown up since some of the first entries, and how silly I sounded!
Halee-
Haha! That first entry in you Riding Log was pretty funny. I think that this blog is pretty funny. It’s nice when you look back when you were a few years younger than you are now.
mustangmane
WOW! That first story was hilarious! It reminds me of my own experience with electric fences. I guess I have to tell you it now, huh?
There was this new pony at the barn named Magic. We were going out to ride in the back field, and they told me to ride Magic. We were jumping that day, and Magic was being very difficult. I tried all the tricks I knew to get him to behave, but nothing was working. After refusing the jump for the tenth time, Magic bolted and headed straight for the fence. I managed to get him to stop in front of the fence, but then he rested his neck on the electric wire along the top. ZAP! He was off. I flew back behind the saddle like a kite, and don’t ask me how I did this, managed to get my seat back. I immediately leaned forward and went with him for a few strides, then gradually slowed him down. I’ve been scared of electric fences ever since!