ELISA corpus file Englisches Seminar Universität Tübingen What I do 02 What we do Well, I'm Harold Grantham, I'm the owner of the Broken Saddle Riding Company, have been for the last eleven years. I used to be in the horse racing industry back in New Jersey, worked around horse racing. Wasn't making any money, and the woman I was seeing at the time decided that she wanted to come to Santa Fe. So I decided to come along with her, because I was very much in love. And I ended up in Santa Fe, and taking care of a horse ranch called the Dead End Ranch up in Santa Fe. That's where I got my introduction to the Tennessee Walker and the Missouri Fox Trotter, which is a smooth riding horse. These people I was taking care of their horses for, they owned Tennessee Walkers and Fox Trotters. And at that point I was only used to the Quarter Horse and the Thoroughbred. How I got started 04 Getting started I started this eleven years ago. Came up with the name 'Broken Saddle', because when I started the business, my saddle broke, so I came up with the name 'Broken Saddle Riding Company'. And been doing it now full-time for the last nine years. Took me about two years to get it going and it's been just a lot of fun. Been out here in the Cerrillos Hills, where we do most of our riding, for the last nine years. We've been riding in the hills and the Silver and Turquoise mines and the canyons. Meet a lot of people from around the world, and mostly from the United States, but I've met people from Japan, England, Afghanistan, Germany. Been just a real rewarding business, because you end up with a lot of people who are beginners, don't know how to ride, and you can get them feeling very comfortable about being around horses, and also of being able to ride them. So, that part of the business, I have always cherished, and I always look forward to the day every day, just working with people that are beginners. They're a lot of fun. The horse breeds I have 02 What we do Fox Trot Breed Association came about in 1948. 1947 they were called the Ozark Mountain Horse. And their connection to New Mexico is they used to come across the old Santa Fe Trail, with people on them, of course, and then in 1948 they reorganized and called themselves the Missouri Fox Trot Breed Association. And it's a very comfortable riding horse, has very good endurance, about thirty percent of the blood is Arabian blood, so they have very good endurance and they also have a very smooth gait, which keeps people down in the saddle. Therefore, with beginners, a very, very smooth ride makes them feel more comfortable and actually at the end of the ride makes them feel like they know how to ride, when in fact they probably don't. But for the two hours they're out there, it gives them a very secure feeling. They have a very good disposition, the Missouri Fox Trotters. The Tennessee Walker, which is the other breed I have - I have nine Tennessee Walkers and seven Missouri Fox Trotters - the Tennessee Walker, also a very smooth riding horse, used to be used on the plantations in Tennessee. And the ranch managers and the owners of the plantations used to use them to ride the fence at a very quick gait, which is called the running walk. Another very smooth gait, keeps you down in the saddle. And they would be able to sit on the horse and stay in a running walk, and be able to write down on a piece of paper what might be wrong with the fence line, and keep moving. So it was - that was what got the Tennessee Walker going. People also recognized the smooth gait, and the disposition also very good. Daily routines and special jobs 10 Job routines You wake up in the morning, feed the horses somewhere between 5:30 and 6:30, and then you start cleaning up, make sure the corrals are clean, the horses are clean, check to see if there is any horses that might be injured. And then my routine, of course, getting the horses ready for the customers in the morning ride, making sure that the schedule fits each wrangler, and we get out and go, come back, put the horses up, brush them off, and they get showered once a week. And then we go back out on the evening ride, and then we put them up again and feed them. And we're back home around nine o'clock at night, so it's a pretty long day. For barbecue rides and parties of ten or more, we have an area back in the hills where we can bring the horses. We start there, and we'll have a chuck wagon, music, that type of thing. And it's usually geared to the people looking for a Western theme to their parties. And a lot of corporate kind of business comes through that way. That's a lot of work, and sometimes with people drinking alcohol and riding horses, it can be a very tough part of my day. A riding lesson - meeting the clients 10 Job routines So, during the ride I can work with you all on what you might need to know about horseback riding. I'm Harold. And your name is? Susan. Susan. Sharon. Sharon. Hope. Hope. And Steve's the other. Who? Steve is the other one. Where is Steve? When groups come, we tend to forget names. But I'm going to also tell you your horses' names. Very important to remember your horse's name. Sometimes if I need to talk to you real quick, and I blank out on your name, I'll just yell at your horse's name, okay? So you'll be a horse for just that couple of minutes, all right? Okay. That is that? Now. A riding lesson - beginners' mistakes 10 Job routines And this is were the beginners sometimes get themselves in trouble and feel insecure. When they get up in the saddle, they're going to sit in the saddle and at that point they're subconsciously going to realize that the ground is no longer there for them. And at that point, a lot of times - and I did this when I was a kid learning to ride, so it's not something terrible - what you end up doing, when you sit there and you realize the ground's not there you have two options: most take number one, door number one, they'll grab and hold the saddle horn, which is the mistake they make. So what you want to remember is you take door number two. Option number two is to throw your weight down into the stirrups. There's only two ways that you think you're going to feel secure. One is only going to work, the other's not going to work. Grabbing the saddle horn does not work and I'll tell you why. When you grab it, you get a little nervous and you grab up here, you're going to shift all your weight above the saddle. So you get your weight mentally and physically, believe it or not, more so mentally - but you get that weight shifted above the saddle and the horse is moving forward you should feel like you're going to drop out of here. Okay? It just makes sense. So the saddle horn is used for groping, tying up your horse when you're out in the middle of nowhere in case you're wondering why it's there. If you grab it, you hold it, since you're paying me to ride I'm not going to tell you to get off the horse and walk home. So if I turn around and see you holding it you don't have to go like this real quick. But I just we know that if you ride with your weight down in the stirrups it's eighty percent of riding. You're going to have a base underneath you. You're going to have the ground, you see? That's what you're looking to do, it's to get yourself another ground since you don't have it when you're sitting on the horse here, in the saddle. You definitely want to take your stirrups and remember that that's your base, it's eighty percent of riding. No way in hell you're coming out of the saddle if your weight's distributed down into the stirrups. Okay? So, those who grab the saddle horn, again, what they do when they grab it, they shift their weight up, and the horse is moving forward and at that point surely you're feeling like you're going to be left behind, so it's important to throw your weight down into the stirrups. Okay? Now. A riding lesson - getting started 10 Job routines I also want you to remember here: communication with my horses - 'Ho! Ho!' talk to them all you want and they're not going to listen to a word you say. Okay? We will use the reins, this'll be your communication, with the reins. And this is the steering wheel and brakes, just like you have in a vehicle, you have in the form of the reins. Okay? And I'll show you that with the first rider up, which is going to be you, Susan, right? Yes. Okay. You got both reins together in one hand, the remaining part of the reins in the other hand, here. All right. That way, what you're going to be able to do here is you don't need any hand to hold the saddle horn, so you can hold this hand's going to give you the ability to slide. This one back a bit, okay? Let me get back to the stirrups here. These stirrups are set for whoever rode before you. Right. And whoever rode before you is pretty damn close to your leg length. Apparently. And what you're looking to do and how you figure this out - and you don't need to be a scientist to figure this out - is, you put your weight through your knees and down into the heel. And at that point you should feel pressure in the back part of your in the heel, the back part. And the way this saddle is setting up for you, I'm going to get you a different horse so you get to ride two horses for the price of one. Come on down. All right. How What's the best way to come down? Just keep your left foot here, and swing around, come down. What do I hold onto? Nothing, you just keep just hold just swing around and then you hit the ground with that right leg and then don't get stuck in the stirrup. It's going to be a difficult sport for you I can see. Okay. A riding lesson - up in the saddle 10 Job routines Now, what Hope is going to do here is replace what Susan was going to do and she's going to show me, show us, what we want you to do. Okay, that's a little bit too short. Watch your weight - your weight goes through your knees down into the heel. The heel's the back part, so already the weight is directed to the heels so your toes are up, you see. Now as you do that you're going to feel your thighs go into the saddle. The pressure between the thigh and the saddle, that's how you hold the saddle, it's with your thighs. This is the original Thighmaster. So you hold on to the saddle with your thighs and not with your hands. A lot of people sit up there and what they do is they'll put their weight down in the heels, toes outward, and you'll feel pressure between your thighs. That's the key to riding, is to really act like you're a pair of scissors up there, and you're going to hold cut the saddle with your legs. Your legs are a pair of scissors. Every time you start bouncing around a little bit, you put your weight down in your heels, like you have, and your toes will be up slightly and out slightly, just like you have is perfect. And at that point you should feel pressure between the thighs and the saddle. And that's where you are going to get all your security. Okay? People sometimes say: 'I've never been on a horse before' And then I say: 'This horse is going to be good for you because it's never had anybody on it.' Sorry. I've had Sarah for seven years.