Although this blog pertains mainly to Electric Fencing and Environment issues, I have other pursuits to comment on. I have ridden horses for as long as I can remember and have photo's of me on a horse in nappies - a very long time ago.

I was reading another blog where the writer was describing his first fall off a horse, to be honest I cannot recall my first fall as there were so many but I can certainly describe the most memorable.

It occurred in a practice game of polocrosse taking place at Rhodesdale club in Zimbabwe when I was in possession of the ball and heading full gallop to the goal when my buddy Andy Watson came across at virtually right angles, we collided and all four ended up on the ground in a cloud of dust and bodies. Lying there all I heard was a soft laugh coming from the midst of the cloud and the words "That ******** stopped you..."

Fortunately we were all OK and only superficial damage to a saddle was evident. However I made sure Andy bought me a beer.

Another very scary occasion occurred when I was on a casual ride on the property we had, when cantering round a corner I came upon a family of cheetah sleeping and sunning themselves on the path. As we were less than 5 meters away from them they exploded into action and the horse exploded in the opposite direction. How I stayed on I will never know as his reaction to being in among a group of predators was understandably violent and instantaneous. Fortunately the cheetah were as surprised as the horse and ran in the opposite direction but the adrenaline was flowing and the heart was pounding. Had I fallen off - I would have been up the nearest tree in an instant.