Photos of Titan

The horse here has been training for about 6 months with me and this is how he looks now. The has more muscles in his back legs and front legs. He also gained more balance and can now canter slower than before. This means that he has more muscles to carry his own weight and mine. He also has a stronger neck, which is good because he can then put his head round.

In the picture, you can see that the horse's head is round, which means that his head is vertical and the top of his head is higher than his withers. The reason why the horse's head should be round is because then his spine is being pushed upwards, which makes is more comfortable for the horse to be ridden because then his back isn't being pushed down as I ride him. This positions is very difficult to keep as I am riding the horse because his neck isn't strong enough, however it can be rectified over time.

My riding equipment

These are some of the important riding equipments that I use.

 these are called chaps, and they are used to protect my calf and also for "ticker skin" around my legs so that I can ride the horse with more power and in comfort.

The reason why I wear chaps instead of tall boots is because, they are easy to put on, and I can easily take them off without having to take my whole shoe off so that I can walk around without feeling like a penguin.

 This is my leather cleaner, which is a leather oil to also make sure that the leather on my chaps and boots don't crack. I also use it to clean the dirt off my boots and chaps.

these are my riding gloves, they are not necessary for all riders, however they are important to me as I have thin skin around my fingers, therefore need to wear them to avoid my skin from peeling while i'm riding.

my riding boots (short boots)

choosing the right kind of boots is quite important to me because of the comfort and how easy it is to ride in them. As shown in the picture, the under side of the shoe has a lot of grip, which reduces the slip when I'm putting my feet in the stirrup. This helps me gain confidence while i'm riding.

 As show in the pictures, riding pants (also known as jumpers) are special because they have grip on the thigh areas and they are also extremely stretchy which makes it easy to move. They are also double layered on the calf area so that it reduces pain while riding and makes it comfortable.

riding whips (long whip, and short whip)

this riding whip is used for dressage also known as flat work. This is good for flat work because the length of this whip reaches the back legs of the horse which makes it easier to control the straightness of the horse. The tip of the whip is soft so that it doesn't hurt the horse while riding. The act of the whip is just to remind the horse to use his hint legs for energy and strength.

The short whip is used for jumping. This whip is actually called a bat, and is it used for jumping because it doesn't disturb the horse's movements while jumping. We usually bat the horse on the shoulder to give more confidence before a jump. It is used only at some occasions, usually when the horse is being lazy or when he is scared to go over a jump. The bat doesn't hurt the horse because it has a large surface area on the tip which only slightly slaps the horse. Imagine someone slapping you on the leg when wearing thick jeans...that's how it feels for a horse to be whipped on the shoulder. It doesn't hurt.

Riding helmet. This is used to protect my head incase I fall off the horse.

Youtube videos

videos of me training Titan

the reason towards this training session is so that the horse learns to use his hint leg muscles and to push up wards with his legs instead of forwards, which is something that race horses do.
By doing that, the benefit for the horse is that he gets to build up more muscles in his body and have better stability when cantering.

In the video you can see that the horse is very forwards and not using his hint legs enough to push himself up and over the jumps, he also doesn't know the distance required to jump over the pole.

This horse is physically tall and long, which I call "lengthy". This means that the horse is more bouncy while cantering and trotting, and this is a downfall for the rider. In my opinion this actually trains the rider to become better and build up more muscles in the legs as you need more strength to control the bounce of the horse.

In this video you can see that my body is accepting the horse's movements, however not properly done, as the horse is not properly accepting my hand movements on the reins. However, the horse is still remaining his calm motions and emotions, which is good.

my inspiration

The reason why I changed my title to this is because I realised that my connection towards such animal is infinite, and I can also feel the horse accepting my leadership towards us together. Riding a horse is not only about your balance and skills, it is about the connection towards the animal and the animal connecting to you. A horse has it's own thoughts running through it's mind which means that it also can get bad days and good days, unlike a motorised vehicle.

For this documentary, I will be specifically talking about one horse that just retired from the racing industry, this horse is special to me because he was rejected by others because he was considered as a "crazy horse".  In my unstable mind this meant "my kind of horse", therefore i asked the owner if I could ride him for a day...by the end of the session, I created a bond between the horse and I. Even the owner himself couldn't believe his eyes as I rode the horse (Titan) around the arena. All I did was accept his movements through my body and also accepted his thoughts through mine, which meant that together we became one. Teamwork between horse and man is the key to success in riding, as the horse won't perform it's best if it doesn't accept the rider and the rider won't perform his or her best if he or she does't accept the horse.

Moreover, I just want to let a message to other beginner riders that being the perfect rider is about having a connection with the horse and not just being perfect at riding. Yes, knowing how to ride is a key, however you can't ride perfectly with a horse that you don't have a connection with.

my connection with a horse

I have decided to change my title to a new one which is

"My connection with a horse"

Moto GP

So on the 23rd of October, I went to Moto GP, and discovered an amazing feeling of being in a real bike racing environment. It felt as if the bikes were shooting past me at every lasting lap. Experiencing the pure power of speed is something that can never be done through television, which is why I went to see it myself at the Sepang race track. Never have I ever heard such noise that would roar through the exhausts from one ear to another. My eyes couldn't even follow the bikes as they stormed pass one by one.
As a bike rider myself, I feel as if the race was something that made me want to ride faster on roads, however i can't...for obvious reasons. I wonder, if bikes went so fast on the roads, would the speed cameras be able to take photos of them? I mean fast as in 300 kph kind of fast...not my kind of fast. Anyways back to the point... when I went to the Moto PG, not only did I experience loud engine noises and fast movements, but I also experienced being in a huge, but I mean REALLY huge crowd that was as if the crowd was louder than the bikes itself! and every time a bike would pass by, they would just yell louder as if they wanted to beat the noise of the bikes. It gave chills and excitement throughout the race.
People might think "whats the point of going round and round on a track?" it's not about just going around a track many times, its about having the will to win and showing people what their capabilities are.
Also, forgot to mention earlier, I saw Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez, which in my opinion Rossi is a better player than Marquez because of his his will towards winning out of pure talent instead of trying to bring other down to win (Marquez...) the accident that happened to Marquez was definitely something that he deserved as he was trying to push Rossi off just so that he wouldn't win.
Anyways, In Conclusion I would just like to say that this experience to me was something that i have not quite experienced in my life and am glad that it happened. I even tried to take some photos of the bikes, however most of them were photos of nothing because of my amazing skills of photography (sarcastic tone)