Putting some feelers out there to see if any of my fellow writers are also fellow riders! Very interested to find out!
If you do ride, what disciplines? How long have you been riding? Do you ever work your riding experiences into rp?
A lot of my characters ride actively or have learned in their past, and it's largely influenced by the fact that I've never really known life without horses.
I started as a kidlet riding western because I grew up in cattle country. It wasnt until I was a teen that I became competitive and started riding in three day eventing. Now, I ride mainly dressage, but I've recently moved and I'm looking for a new trainer, so who knows what's next.
If you do ride, what disciplines? How long have you been riding? Do you ever work your riding experiences into rp?
A lot of my characters ride actively or have learned in their past, and it's largely influenced by the fact that I've never really known life without horses.
I started as a kidlet riding western because I grew up in cattle country. It wasnt until I was a teen that I became competitive and started riding in three day eventing. Now, I ride mainly dressage, but I've recently moved and I'm looking for a new trainer, so who knows what's next.
*waves hand* Hello!
I've been riding for about 20 years now, though I haven't been going out to the barn as reliably in the last couple years, since my horse passed away. I still go out whenever someone wants their horse ridden (because they're out of town or busy), though! My barn trains both hunter-jumpers and dressage, and I'm a dressage rider, but if I'm riding someone's hunter I'll hop some rails sometimes just for fun.
I started RPing with horse RP back in the far distant past, but mostly my riding experience comes into play when I'm RPing medieval fantasy settings where people normally ride horses or horse-like critters. When riding knowledge isn't inherent in the character's role (like a knight or something), though, I actually think it's really funny to play my characters as frightened of horses. A way of separating them from me, I guess? It's a lot of fun to write them seeing normal horse body language and freaking out because they misinterpreted it.
Outside of RP, I'm in a RL writer's circle where I'm the only rider, and we all write medieval fantasy. I have ended up being the go-to person for Horse Questions there, which can be interesting when the question isn't something I can actually answer from my own experience! People get weirdly disappointed when I have to google things like hauling harnesses.
I've been riding for about 20 years now, though I haven't been going out to the barn as reliably in the last couple years, since my horse passed away. I still go out whenever someone wants their horse ridden (because they're out of town or busy), though! My barn trains both hunter-jumpers and dressage, and I'm a dressage rider, but if I'm riding someone's hunter I'll hop some rails sometimes just for fun.
I started RPing with horse RP back in the far distant past, but mostly my riding experience comes into play when I'm RPing medieval fantasy settings where people normally ride horses or horse-like critters. When riding knowledge isn't inherent in the character's role (like a knight or something), though, I actually think it's really funny to play my characters as frightened of horses. A way of separating them from me, I guess? It's a lot of fun to write them seeing normal horse body language and freaking out because they misinterpreted it.
Outside of RP, I'm in a RL writer's circle where I'm the only rider, and we all write medieval fantasy. I have ended up being the go-to person for Horse Questions there, which can be interesting when the question isn't something I can actually answer from my own experience! People get weirdly disappointed when I have to google things like hauling harnesses.
Lyse wrote:
*waves hand* Hello!
I've been riding for about 20 years now, though I haven't been going out to the barn as reliably in the last couple years, since my horse passed away. I still go out whenever someone wants their horse ridden (because they're out of town or busy), though! My barn trains both hunter-jumpers and dressage, and I'm a dressage rider, but if I'm riding someone's hunter I'll hop some rails sometimes just for fun.
I started RPing with horse RP back in the far distant past, but mostly my riding experience comes into play when I'm RPing medieval fantasy settings where people normally ride horses or horse-like critters. When riding knowledge isn't inherent in the character's role (like a knight or something), though, I actually think it's really funny to play my characters as frightened of horses. A way of separating them from me, I guess? It's a lot of fun to write them seeing normal horse body language and freaking out because they misinterpreted it.
Outside of RP, I'm in a RL writer's circle where I'm the only rider, and we all write medieval fantasy. I have ended up being the go-to person for Horse Questions there, which can be interesting when the question isn't something I can actually answer from my own experience! People get weirdly disappointed when I have to google things like hauling harnesses.
I've been riding for about 20 years now, though I haven't been going out to the barn as reliably in the last couple years, since my horse passed away. I still go out whenever someone wants their horse ridden (because they're out of town or busy), though! My barn trains both hunter-jumpers and dressage, and I'm a dressage rider, but if I'm riding someone's hunter I'll hop some rails sometimes just for fun.
I started RPing with horse RP back in the far distant past, but mostly my riding experience comes into play when I'm RPing medieval fantasy settings where people normally ride horses or horse-like critters. When riding knowledge isn't inherent in the character's role (like a knight or something), though, I actually think it's really funny to play my characters as frightened of horses. A way of separating them from me, I guess? It's a lot of fun to write them seeing normal horse body language and freaking out because they misinterpreted it.
Outside of RP, I'm in a RL writer's circle where I'm the only rider, and we all write medieval fantasy. I have ended up being the go-to person for Horse Questions there, which can be interesting when the question isn't something I can actually answer from my own experience! People get weirdly disappointed when I have to google things like hauling harnesses.
I'm so sorry for your loss, but it's great to hear you're still riding! 20 years is impressive saddle-time. It's great to see fellow dressage riders around, too. What got you interested in it?
To be honest, I think it's cute that people can be afraid of an animal that panics when a plastic bag flutters just right in their peripheral. They're big and scary on the outside but small and scared on the inside.
Oh! I know what you mean about questions, though. When people ask about Friesians as mounts for fantasy characters it seems awkward to me. They're beautiful and arguably the most agreeable tempered breed out there, but they're not well known for their 'rideability' being carriage horses. I always fell short on trying to express what it's like to ride Friesians except that a character won't get much done riding a freight train through an industrial bouncy house (and keep the freight train collected). What's one of the odder things people have asked you about riding in relation to writing?
Sorry, I didn't see you'd replied!
When I started riding (at this barn) I wanted to ride hunter-jumpers myself, but my trainer believed that a grounding in basic dressage improves performance in any other discipline, so she was training me in dressage as well. I figured out that I enjoyed it a lot more than jumping, and I never really looked back. My mare also very clearly liked it better as well.
Odder questions.... one of my friends in that group really intensely wanted me to admit that the tölt could be trained into any horse. I still am not really sure why? I ended up telling her to make up her own breed of gaited horse for her setting, but the whole conversation was weird. And I mentioned harnesses because someone wanted to know if it was possible to improvise one out of rope.
When I started riding (at this barn) I wanted to ride hunter-jumpers myself, but my trainer believed that a grounding in basic dressage improves performance in any other discipline, so she was training me in dressage as well. I figured out that I enjoyed it a lot more than jumping, and I never really looked back. My mare also very clearly liked it better as well.
Odder questions.... one of my friends in that group really intensely wanted me to admit that the tölt could be trained into any horse. I still am not really sure why? I ended up telling her to make up her own breed of gaited horse for her setting, but the whole conversation was weird. And I mentioned harnesses because someone wanted to know if it was possible to improvise one out of rope.
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