Here's one of the winning Why Not stories from the contest. Enjoy!!
I had just finished listening to my dear friend of twenty years tell me her one and only experience with riding a horse when I thought, why not introduce her to my horse and show her that it can be a rewarding experience. Of course her experience was one where an alleged friend had put her on the back of a huge horse with an english saddle and no instruction. Once mounted, her friend took off at a trot and her horse followed. Now a trot is a scary gait for someone who's never ridden before and my friend found herself praying for items that dont exist; like velcro britches to help her stick to the seat.
As soon as her horse slowed and then stopped, my friend dismounted and walked her steed back to the barn. She hadnt ridden a horse since then and that was twenty years ago.
Horses can be rather intimidating to those who dont understand their natures. Just their sheer physical size is daunting to most unexperienced people. My friend had all those fears but was willing to hang in there and learn because I had promised that she would be able to take photos and fullfill her hobby of painting. I had her enter the stall with me and I went over the basics of ground manners as well as explaining why horses do certain things, what it is that motivates them. After a few days of watching others do lessons and grooming my horse my friend was ready to try to ride. She easily mounted my horse who is a small Arab gelding with gracious manners and friendly disposition. What I forgot to tell her was that my horse used to be used for lessons by his previous owners and he responds to vocal commands.
As she walked around the arena gaining confidence with every step my friend grew bold and shouted to me, "When should I try to trot?" My horse's right ear snapped around toward her as if in disbelief at what he just heard; she had said "trot". And trot he did. The good news is that my horse trotted straight over to me and stopped. The bad news is that my friend was not quite ready for that particular gait. It was a kodak moment
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