MARTIN WILSHER,A VISUALLY IMPARED HORSE RIDER, AND SARAH LING, A RIDING INSTRUCTOR COMPARE NOTES WHEN SARAH TRIES RIDING A HORSE WHILE SHE CANNOT SEE WHERE THE HORSE IS TAKING HER.
In recent years Horse riding has grown hugely as a
leisure activity. Horse riding demands skill
and patience, as well as a general knowledge of horses and the handling there
of.
Horse riding is enjoyed by disabled people as well as
able bodied people. I am of the opinion
that no matter what the disability is, if a disabled rider can control a horse safely, and the horse
gets on with the rider, there should be
no reason why the disabled person cannot learn to ride.
I am visually impaired, so much so that I can only see
some shadows. I have been riding horses
for ten years. I have had experience of
both RDA (Riding for the disabled association, and ordinary commercial riding
stables. For the last year and a half I
have been riding at Valley Farm Riding and Driving Centre in Suffolk. This is a commercial riding stable which is
open to the public where neither the riding instructors nor the horses have had
no specialist training in dealing with disabled people. After returning from boarding school I
decided to take up horse riding after a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to
have a go at it. To cut a long story
short, I was helped by Sarah to mount a large white horse and left to my own
devices. Having had experience of horse
riding before, I knew what to do to make the horse walk on, stop etc. So when Sarah walked away to attend to my friend’s
horse I was not unduly concerned. Sarah
told me to take the horse out onto the
track. The track is the path on which
the horses will stay when walking, trotting or cantering. It runs around the perimeter of the riding
school. I remember thinking that
Sarah would come back at any moment and
lead my horse, for that was what I was used to when I rode with the Riding for
the disabled association, but she did not.
I spent the whole lesson wondering whether this new-found freedom,
for which I had waited so long would
last any length of time at all. I’m glad
to say that it has, through a year and a half of riding horses, the freedom has
lasted.
I must say at this point that horses trained by RDA
are trained to be placid and to expect anything at all, whereas horses from
ordinary commercial riding stables are not.
They are just broken in like any other horse. This poses a problem for the visually
impaired rider who is riding without someone leading his/her horse, as I
was. This leaves the rider very much
open to the whims of the horse he/she is riding, and I am no exception. I’ve had a few near misses, times when I’ve
been more off the horse than on it, due to some sudden decision on the horse’s
part to do something stupid, such as stop dead in mid canter and put it’s head
down, sending me over it’s head and very, very close to falling off!
Because of this dependency on the horse to be manageable and receptive to somewhat
shaky commands, the horse has to have a
certain temperament. I have ridden many
horses at Valley Farm and have found one horse in particular which I can get on
with. She is an Irish Draft mare named
Bianca. Bianca is seven years old, and a
very mature minded seven year old mare she is too. Most seven year old horses are wild, quite
unfit for a visually impaired rider to even attempt controlling on his/her own,
but Bianca’s different.
About two months ago Sarah, and Jane, another
instructor who worked at Valley farm, agreed to try riding a horse while
wearing special glasses which restricted their vision to light and dark
perception only. This was a “try it and
see what it’s like” session where Sarah and Jane tried riding Bianca without
being able to see where Bianca was
taking them. I must add that directions
were shouted throughout.
A month after the events described above, I asked
Sarah if she would write down her memories of her five minutes of virtual
darkness. Sarah wrote that:
“While wearing those glasses I had to employ
senses that I’m not used to using. I had
to listen to find out where anything was.
When Bianca started moving I found myself grabbing at it’s mane in an
attempt not to fall off. My balance and
orientation were gone! When you can see,
you make a mental picture of the place you are in. So when I was being taken round the school I
tried to remember where I was in relation to this map I had. As Bianca approached the restaurant I could
see light, so I knew I was passing the restaurant. I nearly fell off as Bianca turned the
corners, my balance was useless!”
Bianca was
walking throughout Sarah’s account.
In my case, I have no trouble with balancing when
Bianca is in walk. Sarah’s balance
problem will fade after time if she perseveres with riding without the aid of
vision. The brain would take over and no longer need the aid of sight to
determine balance. As for the
disorientation that Sarah felt, I feel much the same all the time, but my
disorientation is due to the fact that I’ve never actually seen the riding
school. I have been told about a system
of lettered markers which are placed around the perimeter of the school, so if
I’m told I’m at the H marker for instance I have a rough, but only a rough Idea
of where I am. Sarah on the other hand
was trying to equate her position in the school to the mental image in front of her. As she says:
“I
suppose this would gradually fade after a while because it's
totally
pointless and of no help what so ever, but if you've always
relied
on sight your brain can't function without the image in front of you. When I
went past the restaurant it was a little lighter, so I knew I was approaching
the H
marker,
by what use is that? So why does my
brain fill it in for me?”
In
time the mental image would fade, and the rider, as Sarah was, would be
dependant on outside help to orientate themselves. Sarah also had a try at asking Bianca to
canter. Sarah’s view on that was:
“It was even more scary at canter as everything happened faster.”
In my case, I find cantering can be a
hair raising experience. The risk of
falling off is greater the faster you go, and cantering is as fast as I’d ever
wish to go! I don’t think I’d feel safe
at gallop! When I ask my horse to
`canter I have to think of many different things like: keeping my horse on the
track, if possible, keeping my balance and finally making sure that Bianca
doesn’t stop cantering until I tell her to.
My final problem I have when riding a
horse without a leader is this: `I cannot tell how hard to pull the reign to
direct the horse. I feel I’m getting
somewhere, only to be told by the instructor that I’m actually not turning at
all. Sarah had this problem also, but
her concern was not where she was going, I think she’d given up on trying to
find that out, her concern was for Bianca, as Sarah says:
“Keeping
the horse on the track was impossible as I had no idea where the track
was. I didn't like to pull to hard on
the rein in case I confused the horse, but I think it was totally confused
anyway!”
For
my part I cannot say if Bianca was confused or not, she didn’t say anything
when I asked her.
Finally,
if you fancy taking the plunge and finding out what it is like to ride without
sight, and what it is like to really trust your life to a horse, then find
yourself a “safe” horse, tie a scarf or some other light restricting material
over your eyes and ride the horse, good luck and happy riding!
Acknowledgements:
Thanks to Sarah Ling, Proprietor of
Valley Farm Riding and Driving Centre, Whickham market Suffolk for her views on
riding without vision.
©
Copyright Martin Wilsher 1998-2000
to find out more about Valley Farm click:
To return to my homepage, please click:
If you have any comments
about my website site, please
Copyright Martin Wilsher 2010
This website is hosted by 34sp.com
professional Hosting from 34sp.com
Business Hosting from 34sp.com
Reseller Hosting from 34sp.com