Bryan, the Equestrian Rockstar

USU Western Style Equestrian Team tryout were today. I totally showed up. And I signed a waiver. And I rode. And I didn't fall off.

Yep. I'm pretty proud of myself.

Everybody thought I was legit because I had horses on my pearl-button shirt. A fellow cowboy even offered me some Kodiak chew. Of course, I politely declined; now, had it been Skol, it would have been a different story :)

Here's some background info on the team.

They meet once a week to ride and feed the horses. They tour Idaho and Montana, competing 10 times, in an effort to defend their undefeated regional championship status. Many of the riders on the team place nationally, both in Western-style and English-styles.

I tried out for three, specific reasons:

1. I considered my tryout an initiation to becoming a full-fledged member of the Logan community.

2. I thought it would a great way to meet new people in the area.

3. I wanted to face my fears regarding horseback riding.

Outcome:

Riding does not come to me naturally. Let me share with you some of my feelings while I was on my horse.

* The horse never respected me. I felt like I'm a 15-year-old driving a clutch with the cognitive ability to criticize my driving.

* The stirrups never felt short enough. Unless the stirrups are super-short, I feel like a Woody doll with my legs swinging freely at the knees.

* I looked like a low-riding gangster in a ghetto hooptie when I was in the saddle. Everyone kept telling me to sit up straight with my head, hips and heels in a line. But anytime I tried to do that, I bounced up and down like a sack of potatoes.

* No matter how much I tried to steer using the two-handed reigns, the dumb horse never responded. I looked like a complete neophyte out there, banging into the fence and cutting off other riders.

* I kept think thinking throughout the ordeal, "learn as much as you can now 'cause they are not going to let you back on a horse after this."

p.s. But it was so fun though.

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