Horse Riding!
I was harbouring the desire to learn horse riding ever since I saw a pony wandering in the streets
We a group of 8-year-old boys numbering about 10 were kind of a clan in those times
Evening hours between 4.30 to 6.30 pm on weekdays and from 10 am till 8 pm on weekends, the street was all ours
Anyone or anything for that matter, new to the area will fall under our scrutiny and the 10pairs of eyes will keep a close watch
One leisure Sunday morning around 11 am one boy pointed to the street corner and we all let out a scream so loud
That most of the parents came rushing out with concern well written on their faces
Of course, this didn't stop us from rushing to the street corner and startling the poor animal, the Pony
We all unanimously decided that the pony is a HE, named him 'joy' and took him into our clan
Now who is to bell the cat kind of situation raised meaning who was brave enough to go near the pony
The pony also joined in the game, began to neigh, wag the tiny tail and started to act as if it's going to gallop
Two of us moved forward with our arms extended as if to assure the pony that all is well and that we wished to only pat him
The moment one of us touched, the pony shivered and galloped, all of us ran behind it, this drama went on for another 10mnts and staged at 2 more streets
Few teenagers too joined the race to catch the pony but it defied and ran away
Joy, the pony went away but the desire it instilled in me to learn horse riding remained so strong
That I managed to partially fulfil the desire by learning to saddle a horse and trot during my stays
At Ooty and Kodaikanal, especially the horseman 'muthu' at the stable near Kodai lake and 'joseph' the horseman at Ooty lake
Where instrumental in motivating and encouraging me to pursue horse riding despite the number of times I fell of from the horse
I learnt that to ride a horse one must first connect with the horse, allow the animal to feel you and then try mounting
& to do that one needs 'horse sense' to sense the horse and go galloping !
