Those Booth Horses Again -

[Rick Smith]

Rick Smith rode Hunter seat as a teen and more and I have packed into the Grand Canyon for the US Govt and repaired the trail using mules for 5 years, and rode and shod horses and mules for 30 years. One does not get on a recalcitrant animal in the field with a game leg without a lot help. I do not recall Peanut John providing help--Hey! maybe he did?

Great post, Bill, and thanks for the plug. I actually rode from age 4 to about 24, when I left the farm. We raised thoroughbreds and were fox hunters, which simply means we were rough riding in all kinds of conditions for 6 hours at a time while wearing elegant clothing. You are right about the difficulties of mounting in the field after coming off your horse. My hunter slipped and came down on me once, but I was able to clear the stirrups and retain hold of the reins. The field was very muddy and my hunter, 16 hands & 1100 lbs., did not roll over which most probably saved me from injury. My father was near at the time and was able to ride up on the off side and steady my gelding {who was pretty shook up and shying all over the place} by grabbing the bridle. This helped me to be able to bring him under some sort of control and throw my leg over. Without my father's aid, things would have been a bit more difficult to say the least.