Aloysius and three year-old Sam after winning their first Pet Pony class. Her feet are in the stirrups correctly. A rider's feet should be placed in this position to avoid being dragged should she fall from her pony and catch her foot in her stirrup.
When I was six, in 1938, I started riding lessons at the Back Acres Riding Club with Mr. Havey. At the time, he owned a lovely estate quite far out in Bedford that had a unique stable constructed of stone. An excellent, white-railed, riding ring was nearby.
Next to the ring was an indoor riding arena with bleachers for spectators. We were allowed to ride in this building when the weather was very rainy or snowy.
I remember one incident clearly, in maybe 1940. Being with a group of young riders, led by Mr. Havey, I started down one of the narrow, dirt roads. My horse’s name was Chocorua, a chunky bay with a wide blaze. Of all the horses, he was my favorite, gentle and usually dependable. I was riding at the rear of the group, happily chatting with one of my friends. All of a sudden, for some unknown reason, Chocorua whirled and took off at a full gallop back toward home. It was the fastest I had ever ridden. No matter what I did, I couldn’t stop him. I almost fell off when he swerved to go into the stable.
The stable door was quite large. However, the door of Chocorua’s box stall was only high enough for a horse to enter; but not with a rider on his back.
As he charged into his stall, I was violently knocked off by banging into the top of the stall doorway. I flew backward, right over his rump and on down, hard onto the floor. Fortunately, both my shoes were untied and stayed in the stirrups while my feet slipped right out, leaving me free to be swept off. If my feet had been caught in the stirrups, I might have been seriously hurt. Luckily, I had no injury at all from this dangerous accident.
For years afterward, I never tied my shoes when I rode.
One of the first riding skills I always taught my children, starting when they were as young as three years old, was for them to have their feet positioned in their stirrups properly to help avoid any accident that might happen with their feet getting caught.
Oh my godness I wonder why he would do that. I had an incedent somewhat like that when we went camping,but luckly I wasn’t on the horse, Razzy. My Mom lost one of the parts to her bridle and had to get of her horse she asked me to get down for safty reasons. Then she tried holding a baby horse that constantly tries to rear or get tangled up in something , and Razzy , who ocasionaly spooks. The baby got tangled in a tree my mom lost control and razzy spooked and Boom! razzy blasted of in the middle of the trail ,luckly we weren’t to far from the campground , but i havn’t had an incedent where my horse ran away. So almost imediently I ran after him panaking, but I couldn’t see him , he wa of in the dust.But wait the story isn’t over.Aperson called the police and reported aperson with no rider. when we got back fron the trail we saw a hellicopter moving in circles we had no idea that it was looking for us! so we ignored it and started making dinner then about 2 hours lkater the police and the camp manager cme knocking on our door. My sister and I couldn’t help but looking out the window. When our parents came in they told us how the hellicopter was looking for me! I couldn’t belive it it was the highlight of my day!
That had to be really scary, especially at such a young age!
Laura