An Animal Lover Learns Responsibility, Sensitivity and Independence
by Antonia Amoretti
I have two cats as pets and learned that I am an animal lover, so I decided to try horseback riding. Last summer I discovered that I have a passion for horseback riding. I started horseback riding by joining a program through SPARC called Making Strides. I look forward to going horseback riding every Saturday.
There are many reasons that explain why I love horses and other animals. I love horses because they are gentle, beautiful, gracious and fun to ride on. I love other animals because they are good company and great to play with. Furthermore, my connection with animals is really deep because I am very empathetic towards them, and I can tell how they are feeling based on their body language. I can communicate with them better by being sensitive to their behavior.
Horseback riding has helped me to get to know myself better. For example, I realized that I am a natural horseback rider. Even though I had never ridden on a horse before, I picked up on the techniques really quickly. I have excellent balance and good posture on the horse, and am able to mount the horse with little help. I am also able to get the horse to change direction by pulling on the reins.
I have also learned lots of skills from riding. One skill that I learned is responsibility. My responsibilities are to feed the horse, give it water, groom it and saddle the horse up before taking it out for a ride around the ring. I have the horse pick up speed and trot. Another skill I learned is independence. I learned independence by guiding the horse in the right direction and training it to obey my commands. I have also learned that horses have different personalities and how to deal with them. I realized then that some horses can be more difficult to deal with than others. For example, some horses are feisty and extremely energetic, which makes them hard to control. They need more guidance and practice in accepting commands from their riders.
Riding on a horse makes me feel a lot of emotions. It makes me feel happy, excited and free. Riding makes me feel excited because it brings out the adventurous side of me. It makes me feel free because I can relax on the horse while I am riding it. It also makes me feel confident because I know how to control the horse. It especially makes me feel determined because I can accomplish anything without hesitation while riding on it.
In conclusion, my love for animals is how I discovered that I have a passion for horseback riding, and it has helped to make me into the person that I am today.