Lessons in Horsemanship

1. No matter how good you once were in a saddle, after a few years off, it reeeeally hurts to be in one again.
2. If you ain't the horse's mama, it ain't gonna listen to ya.
3. When someone says that if you put the horse into a canter, it will buck one or two times, then stop, do not believe them. It will increase it's bucking until, 14 or 15 bucks later, you are almost flying out of the saddle. And this is if you know how to deal with a bucking horse. I'd hate to see if someone had never ridden a bucking horse before.
4. Flies bite.
5. Saddle sores are quite amusing to everyone but the rider that bears them. They make you walk funny. Like a cowboy. Or something.
6. Tall horses and short people don't go well together. Especially if you ain't the mama and it doesn't like you and you're attempting to put a bridle on. Then it uses its height to its advantage. Supposedly very humorous for the viewer. Not so much for the short person.
7. It is a pain in the butt, quite literally, to post while in a western saddle. Do not attempt unless need overrides common sense.
8. Normal saddles and short people don't go well together. The stirrups are never short enough. This leads to issues when the horse is trying to buck it's rider off and her legs are too short to keep her feet in the stirrups. This leads to number 9.
9. It is even more difficult to ride a horse that is doing it's best to buck you off if your feet have come out of the stupid stirrups. Only practice and strong thighs can keep you on, then.
10. I love horses.