On a Horseback

Krish Agarwal is a 15 year old high school student who is an equestarian from Japalouppe Equestrian Centre. He also enjoys training in Mixed Martial Arts, strumming the guitar, debating, attending MUNs and studying Physics.

As you hold those reins under three fingers, place your left foot in the stirrup and swing your right leg over the quarters of the horse, there is instantly a connection between the two of you, almost as if those leather reins can transmit nerve impulses from your brain to his and back. Both of you now are rely on each other. Neither of you control the other, both of you cooperate with one another. Subsequently, you lose your individualism: The two of you are now one.

On tapping the horse’ neck with a crop (a short whip without a lash, used by equestrians), it begins to walk. As it walks you sit upright: ear, shoulder, hip, and heel aligned and as you hold the reins tight, you feel every emotion inside the horse. You can feel the energy of the horse holding itself beck. You can feel the inner beast waiting to unleash itself. You can feel its eagerness to release 75000 joules of energy. But it doesn’t because you aren’t willing to.

At the flick your tongue and another tap of the crop, the horse begins to trot, three feet per beat. It is a bumpy ride sitting upright. To avoid this, you perform the rising trot: A systematic rising and sitting of the equestrian synchronized with the outer front leg of the horse. With this simple but crucial movement, your bumpy ride becomes an enthralling experience. More than changing the quality your ride, this cooperative movement changes the your relation with the horse. The cooperation makes you confident of each other, it makes you bond.

After picking up a trot, you decide to enter into a canter. You sit on the saddle, leaning backwards, shifting your center of gravity to embrace yourself from the burst of energy the horse is about to demonstrate. You flick your tongue beckoning the beast and loosen your reins to open the lock stifling it inside this majestic creature. It picks up a canter: Apart from being the smoothest ride on a horseback, a marvelous feeling. In retrospect, you’re oblivious of the problems on the planet and lose your mind to the enchanting world around you. You feel the blustering wind on your face and watch the trees as they disappear in the distance. The whole experience, the unremmiting energy of the horse, the relative movement of the surrounding, and the comfort during the transverse wave-like motion, is magical.

Having conviction of confidence in your horse, the two of you are now ready to gallop. You now squeeze the horse’s barrel between your legs, stand up on your feet, balancing yourself with your hands on the horse’s neck in the two point position: The most aerodynamic position on horseback. The horse begins to gallop vehemently, pacing thirty miles per hour having unlocked its full potential. You are spellbound by the energy of this beautiful creature. Hearing the soaring wind in your ears, seeing every object around pass you within a fraction of a second, and having forgotten your relations with the contemporary world, the whole feeling mesmerizes you.

Horse riding, until now, is one of the best experiences of my life. Equestrianism has always been a beautiful sport. It relaxes my mind, mentally and physically, it’s a fantastic way to utilize the weekend, and it, regardless of events of the day, brings me joy.

However, it did a lot more than just stir my emotions. It taught me more about life and changed my perspective of the world: I now realize that there’s more to living than just being one of the seven billion humans inhabiting a tiny blue and green speck lying in the folds of this ever-expanding universe.