#i want to be the horse shes riding

[smashstiel]

"i watched christmas at the ranch for plot"

the plot:

[cloud-ya]

well! I suppose that's what you gotta put up with right now

honse

[not-poignant]

Assumption: You have never ridden a horse.

Oooo, this is a fun one, salkfjas

I have! I've ridden more than one horse, more than once.

(Actual storytime) (This is from the Assumptions meme!)

In late highschool and in the few years after I had a close friend who owned a horse (Billy) and agisted him, and was responsible for him. She basically was allowed to get him when she got her driver's license.

I was the kind of friend (and still kind of am, energy willing) that you could drag around to all your chores and I'd just be there. So I'd be there when she went shopping. I would be there when she went to get horse food. I would be there when she did homework. I would be there when she went to visit her horse and brush him down and feed him etc.

I helped with basic chores and watched from the sidelines and mostly hung out with her dog, Huskee, who was not a husky, but a borderline collie x corgi who barked nonstop at that horse, who she alas, could not herd.

Through this friend I actually learned about Natural Horsemanship, to the point where I actually went to a couple of Pat Parelli seminars (run by Pat) in like 2000/2001. It was the thing that really sparked my interest in animal training, especially humane, fear free animal training (and clicker training specifically, since Pat was teaching marker training at the time, and said friend started using it on their dog, Huskee).

I never rode, for a long time, because I was happy on the sidelines, and also I went there so my friend could ride her horse, not so I could like, steal her horse out from under her lol. I don't think her horse liked me very much anyway (later I'd find out that was pretty much true, it was a zero respect relationship, maybe he knew I was a doormat lmao).

Anyway, said friend had another friend who was extremely horse intense, and she got her own horse (Coda) , that she then never really took the time to ride. Coda was kind of nuts. Billy was the kind of horse who walked so slow you felt like you were going backwards, Coda had one speed: gallop. Coda and Billy got on great.

But Coda was pretty neglected, and so I often spent time with him while my friend did her chores with Billy. I was used to bringing out food, or changing water etc. so I did that for Coda sometimes. And after a while, friend was like 'it would be cool if we could trail ride together, how about you learn on Billy first since he's so slow and sedate.' And friend was like 'I'll ride Coda because I have more experience.' This made sense! She wanted me to stay safe!! But...

Billy was slow, sedate, and did not give a shit about me. This is a horse that stepped on my feet (on purpose), who deliberately angled towards low-hanging branches to scrape me off the saddle (hilarious, but also not really), and made it clear how much he wasn't interested in anyone else riding him in the most passive aggressive way a horse possibly can.

Coda, on the other hand, had a reputation for being wild and unstable. He'd tossed multiple riders more than once, hadn't been trained with Natural Horsemanship (like...kind of? But not really) and was not halter-broke by the time friend-of-friend got him, so just getting him to accept a halter and a saddle at all was huge, and anything beyond that was like 'welp, good luck.'

However, it was obvious trying to do anything with me and Billy was not going to work out. So...Coda it was.

And idk how to explain it, but Coda and I just got along. It was on the other hand terrifying, because his default movement was 'canter' and all he wanted to do, all he wanted to do, was gallop up and down granite hills as quickly as possible and spook at fucking everything. It wasn't his fault, he wasn't taken out much and he had that kind of personality. He once saw a kangaroo in the distance and spun a full 360 degrees, and I ended up half off him, hanging on for dear life, while friend just stared at me and said: 'how did you not fall off, that was insane. You might actually be good at this.'

Well. No, I wasn't, I just had a good grip, lmao.

So we went on extremely stressful trail rides together. Billy thankfully curbed some of Coda's GOTTA GO FAST instincts but only to a point, so I had to be pretty hypervigilant nonstop because that dude bunched his hindquarters what felt like every ten seconds, and I can't really blame him, it's what he loved to do most. He was just a terrible horse to learn to ride on, lmao, even if we did get along.

I haven't ridden since and honestly haven't felt much of an inclination to. I'd be too heavy now anyway. And I'm pretty certain I'd be bad at it. When your first experience is 'placid horse who generally accepts everyone but stares at you in a desultory manner and makes sure you know - while feeding him / brushing him / watering him etc. - that you do not matter in the grand scheme of things' followed by 'I like you! NOW I WILL FLING MYSELF DOWN THIS GRANITE HILL WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE WE ARE ALL SCREAMING IN EXCITEMENT AND NOT FEAR' you think 'actually I don't need to ride the murder ponies, it's fine.'

Anyway, yeah, I have ridden a horse.

[perilegs]

i miss horses

[sky-is-the-limit]

On the phone with my aunt today:

A: so it's settled then, this year you'll come visit us in New York!

Me: yeah, uh, can we also, idk, maybe visit another state?

A: oh? Which one? I was thinking Hawa-

Me: Texas.

A: That's.. unexpected! Why Texas?

Me:

A:

Me: the landscape? Is cool?

A, audibly concerned: you wanna see the desert?

Me: Sure...😀

[mydaylight]

In ep 38, we found out that Nian Shilan's favourite play is "Niangzi Pass". Niangzi (娘子) means "Lady" and is a reference to the famous Princess Pingyang, the third daughter of the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan. During the uprising of the Li family against the preceding Sui Dynasty, Princess Pingyang was personally credited with raising an army of 70000 which she led during the capture of Chang'an at her father's side. "Niangzi's Pass", was the name given to the location Princess Pingyang garrisoned with her army - called "Lady's Army" (娘子军). When she died, she was given the rare honour of a military funeral to pay tribute to her accomplishments. Considering Shilan's background as the sister of a distinguished military official and her temperament, it makes perfect sense she would admire and idolize Princess Pingyang.

[lieutenantselnia]

Yesterday I've been doing some proper physical exercise for the first time since last year and I'm just imagining how proud my f/os would be of me🥹

[castelled-away]

I am rewatching bridgerton s3 again before part 2 drops and am hoping beyond hoping that Hyacinth will turn out to be bit of a tomboy when she gets her story

[butchyena]

I've living in Oklahoma for my entire life and as we speak I have been spending MONTHS trying to figure out the best places to go to with my bf when he comes by because there REALLY IS NOTHING TO DO HERE.

lol we were looking at plane tickets etc etc but apparently you guys have an aquarium and a botanical garden, we were looking at doing that… and the museum of osteology ofc

[track2hack]

Unfortunately X-rays of Molly’s back today showed she has significant kissing spines (which would explain the bucking and random outbursts when ridden) so she’s no longer a ridden prospect :(

[wrinkled-sheets-and-sunlight]

@lustleftbehind cont. from (X)

This wasn't his worst hookup either, but that didn't make it any less embarrassing as he picked himself up off the floor, the sheet that had been covering him as he fell being tossed over the busted lamp. "Naw, only thing wounded is m' pride. Leave it t' Beau t' fuck up a damn roll in th' hay. Ought-t' throw 'em in th' horse trough fer this..." The last part was more so muttered to himself as his phone was shut off and then dropped haphazardly onto the sheet at his feet with a sigh.

"You still lookin' t' save a horse or..." Did he ruin the mood beyond saving.

[vigorouslycoy]

i love saying young man and young lady and ma'am when i'm scolding people. it's like bruh but way cuntier

[muddpaw]

"Am I a fool to trust you?"

Words spoken across the sea, across a life time, to a former self and at the precipice of change. Astrea couldn't remember every day spent with the pirate, but that conversation engraved her memory and settled to stay — haunting her during moments of indecision, easing her through loneliness, through loss, lifting a match to her magic when she needed it most.

"Am I a fool to trust you?" Yes, he'd told her then. Perhaps, she'd wondered since. And now, where would she be without it?

Elijah belongs to @bloodlessheirbyjacques // happy belated birthday teehee

[np5enkidu]

i need fgo to acknowledge servants horses more

[latinokaeya-moving]

what do you guys think kaeyas horse would be called :-)

[bluebellhairpin]

Worst thing I've done to myself is let my mask fall. My sister knows completely how I feel about arthur morgan. Disaster. I have to twist her arm so she doesn't embarrass me. IN. PUBLIC.