Well, there is a reason.
In addition to riding horses and trying to kill myself with really advanced classes, I also am/was very active in the band. I played in our top jazz band, in our wind ensemble, and during the marching season, I was drum major. My most visible job as drum major is standing up on the podium conducting the band during performances -- but my most important job was being student leader of the band, teaching rookies things, leading rehearsals, organizing things behind the scenes, blah blah blah. All that stuff that looks good on a college application. It's a very hard and occasionally thankless job (hmm, sounds like horses!) but I loved it very, very much. There's not many places you can get that kind of experience, teaching and leading your peers. Mmm.
So anyway.
The drum majors often dress up to suit the theme of each year's marching show. This year we did music from Batman, so I dressed up as Batman and my co-DM dressed up as Robin. I assure you the cape effect was very dramatic when one of us ran between podiums. Conducting with a cape is also very cool.
Why we decided to get pictures on horses, I'm not sure. A coming-together of the two halves of my life, I suppose. Band and horses.
So it ended up that my friend and I pulled on the old gear (it's really weird -- I hadn't worn that stuff since the marching season and it was rather nostalgic), and saddled up. Only we were bareback, so I suppose we bridled up.
We were going for the backlit dramatic look.
First up is my partner, Robin, on Loki (Rose's horse):
Then the Dark Knight on the white horse:
The two of us together out in the field:
I think this is one of those Stupid Kid Moments that people talk about. It's the only time I can remember riding a horse without a helmet. Also I was wearing a mask that severely limited my peripheral vision. Also I had a Big Flapping Cape.
Which neither horse minded, I might add. I was quite proud of both of them!
I also took each of them for a bareback canter around the arena. Just to, um, make sure they were okay with the capes.
Cantering bareback with a cape is FUN. Your cape goes all flowy in time with the strides. Mom got a video -- I'll have to post it sometime.
So, there -- Batman on horseback. I told you my horse puts up with a lot!
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4 comments:
Oh, I LOVE it!!! I could go on and on about our stupid things we did on horseback when we were kids - maybe I'll talk about them in my blog sometime... :) I love the costumes though, and the fact that your wonderful horses didn't mind the capes is totally awesome. Thanks for sharing this cute story and super photos! One of my young friends dressed herself and her mustang up as Super Girls for the costume class at a local schooling Hunter Show in October. They won their class.
Keep riding and keep learning all you can. I'm in my mid-30's, have 3 kids, and I'm hanging on to my horse passion as tight as I can. :)
Thank you! I was actually surprised that there was no snorting nonsense about the capes.
I think that's awesome that you're hanging on like that :) My mom loves doing the horse thing together since she never got to have a horse as a kid -- I really hope that I can stick with horses through college and getting a job and whatnot.
Okay, so this is from like a year ago or something. But I stumbled across it this fine am (2 am to be precise) whilst in the search for pictures of bridled horses... However instead of just clicking straight to the picture as I usually do I decided to actually read the blog, only to discover it was really quite funny. I wish I could canter about on the back of a horse with a cape! Sounds great. Anyway I just thought I would leave a little comment to say thankyou for brightening up my night! :D
Glad to offer the entertainment! It was a really enjoyable experience, to be honest. Nothing quite like the feeling of a cape flowing behind you as you canter around ;)
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