Tales from the Outdoors: Getting there may not be half the fun

By Bob Chapin

Special to The Windham Eagle 

If you watch many of the Hook and Bullet shows, the hunting and fishing shows on the Outdoor and Sportsman channels on TV, you’ll see that they are being filmed on increasingly remote locations, some in countries hostile to the US. 

They are places you cannot walk or drive to and you would likely have to take a plane plus a float or bush plane, a boat, or various kinds of livestock such as horses, mules, camels or even llamas. The producers downplay the element of danger hoping to make it appear more exotic if there is a perceived risk to your personal safety. I can attest to the reality of that danger even on a relatively “safe” hunt in the US.

Before I went on my first horseback elk hunt in Montana, I figured I better know something about horse riding. I was living in Northern Virginia at the time and I thought it would be easy to get a couple of riding lessons before heading out west. An internet and phone search found a stable not far from Washington DC in the horse country of Western Virginia and I gave them a call.

I grabbed a buddy who was game and we drove to the stables. It was a nice looking paddock but I noticed a slew of mounted riders all very proper young girls about 13 to 14 years of age, dressed to the nine’s in knee-high polished black leather boots, jodhpurs, smart black velvet riding jackets and a flocked helmet with a chin strap. And, of course, they were riding with English saddles. For those not familiar with saddles, the English saddle has a simple metal stirrup - basically a ring loosely hanging from a leather thong very high on the horse’s withers.

Our instructor assured us it was, “Just like a western saddle without the saddle horn (for holding on!) and the longer full stirrup that allowed your leg to extend straight down. Despite our misgivings, she led us up to a set of ‘stairs to nowhere’ that we climbed to get on the horses. Once seated we did a
couple of drills around the indoor arena before heading outside for the freelance work. 

The first event was a road crossing which we managed quite well …well how could we not, she was grasping the reins of my horse right at the bit the whole time! I think she would have stayed there for the duration, but it was time to give them a drink. 

As we approached a small stream, she let go of the reins and slapped the horse on the rump telling me to get all four of the horses feet in the water. Well, streams in Virginia are not quite like streams in Maine…the bottoms are mostly soft mud. As soon as my horse entered the stream he started stumbling and staggering as he sunk to his knees and I was convinced he was going to go down with me aboard. I pulled my rubber boots out of the stirrups and bailed out into the stream. I went over one boot under water but managed to stay upright though it was not graceful. 

She was upset that I, ‘Let the horse go’ but he took his drink and came out on her side of the stream, so all was OK. She boosted me back up onto the saddle and reinserted my boots into the stirrups.

The next drill was up and down hills but as we started up the small incline, the horse swung his head over toward her and bit her between her shoulder and neck. I am sure it must have hurt because she yanked his head down to her level then, to my surprise, she punched him right in the side of the head as hard as she could. He reared his head up but she controlled him with the reins. I told her I wished she
hadn’t done that while I was aboard.

She cut the lesson short and we headed for the arena. When we got inside, she simply said dismount as if we were seasoned riders. I managed to swing my right leg over the back of the horse but with the English saddles and their high stirrups I could barely reach the ground. Worse yet, the boot I submerged below its top had filled with water and that had expanded the boot foot to the point that I could not get it out of the stirrup.

I hopped along on one foot for half the arena before the horse finally stopped and with help, I got the boot extracted. This horseback riding was going to be harder than I thought. <