Thump, thump…thump thump…thump thump
That’s the sound of my heart beating from fear as I ride a horse for the first time in 52 years. I decided to be a guest at my client’s Circle Z Ranch for four days and gulp, ride a horse. I don’t mean walk a horse. I mean really ride a horse.
Growing up in Long Island, New York, we had horses and a barn in our backyard. My parents showed quarter horses. By age 9, I had my own horse. Riding wasn’t a big deal, not then. It was a way of life – for work and for play. Not riding a horse wasn’t an option.
Over 5 decades later the act of riding a horse feels completely different. And it’s hard. How can it be so hard when the horse does all the work? For those who ride, 10 year old me doesn’t count, there is a great deal of physical activity that goes into horseback riding. It is truly a partnership with the horse that involves leg pressure, a pelvic tilt, sitting up ramrod straight, and shifting weight in the saddle to give your horse direction.
On my first day at Circle Z Ranch, Kelly, the wrangler announced we would be loping- or cantering as many call it. That entails staying on the horse, while doing the above physical and mental requirements, while the horse does a skip-like run.
When I look back, I admit that when it comes to my body, I don’t take chances. If I think it’s dangerous, I reason myself out of it. I have run 13 marathons, but both feet were on the ground, and I followed a four month training program every single time. I didn’t want to risk an injury or worse, not finishing.
I am averse to risk. The biggest risk I have ever taken was to leave corporate America and to open Knoodle in 1999. Somehow a business risk seems different. Maybe it shouldn’t be, seeing that 90% of businesses fail within ten years.
Thump, thump…thump thump…thump thump.
We are never too old to learn something new. I learned to run marathons at age 39. Since then, I have learned to run a business, speak Italian and hopefully ride a horse. Just a week into 2025, I can already mark off DO SOMETHING THAT SCARES YOU, to my list.
I am at Circle Z, in a stream, in Patagonia, Arizona, in a wooded area at my client’s guest ranch with two other riders who are also greenhorns.
Thump, thump…thump thump…thump thump.
Kelly says, “Get ready to lope your horses.” I’m thinking, ‘in the water’? Seriously?
This wrangler doesn’t mess around.
“Lope your horses,” she commands. I think she is having great fun with what she calls a “Splash down”.
My horse, Ajo, lopes- because he understands the command- that and the horse in front of him is loping, so he gets the drift. And lope we go, through the water, and the rhythm of the horses’ hooves, Thump, thump…thump thump…thump thump, becomes the sound of thrilling excitement and freedom. It is the freedom to do something that scares me and to remind myself that I’m never too old to learn something new.
Happy 2025!
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About the author:
CEO Rosaria Cain is CEO of Knoodle and loves to learn new things. Special thanks to our client and Ranch Owner Diana Nash at Circle Z in Patagonia for providing me and eleven other riders with a thrilling experience.