Marianne Ryan wrote in a message to Vicki Nichols:
MR> Phoenix is where my ex-husbands parents live last name is
MR> quite  distinctive so everyone practically by that name is
MR> part of his family  (Quaranta), But I have to tell you his
MR> mother was wonderful to me from  day one.
     I went to high school with a Sharon Quaranta - she's be about 42 right 
now...
MR> Tell me more about your animals?  Is it hard to do the
MR> riding you've  been doing?
     It used to be really hard - I rode for years and years without any 
instruction.  I figured I was a "natural" - I wasn't - what I was is 
fearless. As I got older, I noticed that other people didn't necessarily 
bounce around at the canter, and I started taking lessons with that in mind.
     My second Western riding lesson, my trainer got the courage to ask me if 
I would buy an English saddle because my seat was REALLY, REALLY BAD...we had 
to start from scratch.  I'm glad we did; after a couple of years of lessons 
that averaged an hour or two a month, I discovered I loved to ride huntseat 
and really preferred it to the stock saddle that I grew up with.
     And amazingly enough, once I had developed a good seat with the Pariani 
saddle, the next time I climbed into a stock saddle I was passably good! 
Probably the best I had ever been.  What I had learned is that a good seat is 
a good seat is a good seat; you can adapt pretty easily.
     After I was doing quite well in the arena and at the first show I had 
entered in 20 years (I got runner-up high point for English), my trainer 
thought that jumping was quite naturally the next phase.  I didn't really 
like it that much - it scared me - seems that once my age passed my bra size 
I got more cautious.  (After spending a few weeks off work in two separate 
riding accidents; yes, BOTH times I was screwing off and deserved to fall off 
- I am more careful now.)  Anyway, Christopher Reeves' accident last year was 
the last straw for me...I ride without a helmet anyway, and if that could 
happen to him...with a helmet and flak jacket...
     So then my trainer decided that we should try dressage, and is my former 
ranch horse ever glad that we did.  He has a new outlook on working in the 
arena; he actually looks quite pleased with himself at times!  The type of 
riding isn't what has been hardest; this horse's personality has made it one 
of the biggest challenges of my life.  And one of the most gratifying 
experiences; when he is working well I am told he is indistinguishable from a 
Lipizzan (except, of course, that he is a gelding.  But he is an Appaloosa 
mix who was born black and turned white...he has a few black hairs mixed in 
his mane and tail that I sometimes pull out...
     I do a lot of riding just for fun - there is an arena down the road from 
where I board where they often have team penning, which is fun.  And I have a 
riding partner who is a doctor who will drop what she's doing on a moment's 
notice and go trail riding!  I am PRAYING for cooler weather SOON.
     Are you able to do any riding where you are?
   Origin: ElseWhere,602-492-0368 1:114/212,81:301/2,142:150/114 (1:114/212)
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