On Beach Riding

An abrdged version of this blog has already been posted on Parelli Central Blogs, but this is the original!

When I first got into horses I used to go to the local riding school where I learned to just saddle a horse and get on, kick them to go, and pull the reins to stop. Worse than that, I was taught to smack them when they didn’t do what you wanted because they were being “lazy” or “naughty.”

After I had been going for half hour lessons for about six weeks, that’s a total of just three hours in the saddle, I was told that I was “experienced” enough to go on the “Beach Ride.” This was a ride of just under two hours with half an hour of road work to and from the beach.

When the ride arrived on the beach the horses walked until there was an area of beach that was relatively clear of rocks, the lead rider would ask if everybody was ready and the horses would leap into a gallop and race each other until the lead rider pulled up or the horses just got tired. What I was doing on my hired horse could not have been described as riding, it was more like hanging on for dear life and surviving! On almost every occasion someone would fall off. Most were able to get back on and continue the ride but, on a few occasions, riders left the beach in an ambulance.

You might ask “What was I thinking?” Looking back, I’m not sure why I kept doing it. It was sort of exhilarating, but in a “thank goodness I’m still alive” kind of way. I wanted to ride on the beach and I thought that was what riding on the beach was all about. In those days I had never heard of Parelli.

Fast forward about six years. I now own one of those riding school horses. I am older and, as a result of a couple of nasty, horse related, accidents I lost a lot of confidence and have a lot more respect for the fragility of my body. But I’ve found Parelli and have also found lots of very savvy friends.

Now read about a very different experience of beach riding.

It’s another unseasonably mild October day in West Sussex, on the south coast, here in the UK. Six horses, all different shapes, sizes and ages, walk down a short stony path to the beach led by their owners who are also all different sizes, shapes and ages!

The tide is on its way out leaving a clean sandy beach. Some of the horses have never seen the sea before. Some of the riders have never ridden on the beach before and are about to fulfil a lifelong dream. All of us are there to support each other. By the end of the day all the horses will have been ridden.

We all pause at the top of the high shingle bank while the new horses take in the sight and smell of the constantly moving monster that is the sea. The more experienced beach horses, and the left brain introverts, take the opportunity to eat a little of the salty grass growing there.

Gradually the horses test out the shifting shingles beneath their feet as they part walk, part slide down the bank to the sand.

Everybody starts playing on the ground with their horses online. Some people are not even thinking about getting on their horses today, they are prepared to take the time it takes and they play the friendly game with the waves, the rockpools and the breakwaters.

I am the first to mount my horse, Liquorice. He is a beach veteran but as an ex-riding school hack I have had to spend some time teaching him to walk calmly and not to do what he had been expected to do in his previous life and take off with me as a helpless passenger. As we are lucky enough to live fairly close to the sea, being able to ride safely on the beach was one of my early goals and we only really began to achieve it last summer. I’ve never ridden him on the beach with this many other horses though, and my confidence as a rider is still easily shaken.

Linda is the next to mount up. Her horse, Tizzy, is twenty years old and has been on the beach once before at the beginning of the summer when Linda prepared her for today by playing with her on-line.

We start to walk about on the beach encouraging our horses to get further and further into the sea water which will do their legs a power of good. There is a brisk wind and it’s making the waves quite choppy, giving the horses plenty to be curious about. I ask Linda if she would like to ride a little way up the beach and she agrees. There are plenty of other horses so two of us leaving for a while shouldn’t upset the rest. We don’t go too far and, as we turn round, Linda asks if I fancy having a trot back. Liquorice is a bit keen to get back to the rest of the herd so does a quick trot that almost breaks into a canter but I still feel completely safe and in control.

Liz, who didn’t bring her saddle down to the beach today, has got up on her horse, Merlina, bareback. A year ago Liz, although an experienced rider, didn’t feel confident about getting on this complex mare without having the support of a Parelli Professional there with her. Since then, Merlina has been restarted by James Roberts, Parelli Professional, and Liz has continued to follow the programme. The relationship she now has with Merlina is enabling her to achieve the horsemanship goals she had all but given up on a year ago.

All the horses now have a rider, even the two year old horse has his owner’s young daughter kneeling on his back – a testament to the foundation that has been put on this young horse.

We all move off together down the beach. My horse is more relaxed now that the whole herd is with him and it’s teaching me that I need to work harder on our relationship so that he is as happy to be with just me as he is with other horses. As I ride alongside Liz I ask her if, this time last year, she would ever have believed that she would be riding Merlina on the beach bareback. She said that she wouldn’t have believed it 6 months ago!

Jo’s horse, Bella, gets tense and then throws in a couple of bucks. Jo, to preserve her confidence, gets off and continues leading from the ground. By the time we get some way along the beach, she feels her horse is ready for her to get back on and she completes the ride mounted.

As we turn to head back the way we came I feel my horse remember his past. The last time he was on the beach with this many horses was when he was a riding school hack and turning for home was a green light to just GO!

But now I know how to do the Parelli “emergency stop” and I quickly disengaged his hind quarters and hold him there until he stops turning. I have to do this three times until I can feel that he will not take off. He walks quickly and I let him get to the front where I know he will happier and he calms down.

And so we arrive back at the field where we have parked our trailers and horseboxes. Everybody is smiling and the horses are relaxed. We put the relationship first. Nobody fell off, no horses got out of control, or got kicked or bitten by other horses, there were no dramas and nobody went home in an ambulance. Nobody cried – except perhaps a few private tears of happiness at an ambition fulfilled.

We have all set up our next beach ride for success and we’re already making plans about what we’ll do next time – maybe Linda and I will try for a canter. Jo will see if taking more notice of Bella’s bubble around other horses will help Bella to be more relaxed and less likely to buck. Liz will take a saddle next time and find out what more Merlina is able to offer to their partnership.

Now, isn’t that just how it should be?

Photos by Gill Langridge. http://www.gmlimages.co.uk