Here are two funny stories of mine to do with horse-riding. Katherine, i think you already know the second one, but here goes...

When i was nine, i just finished my riding lesson on a lovely mare named Caddy. I brought her to her stable and untacked her, but when i went to go out i found that i couldn't open the stable door. The kick bolt had fallen back down into position as i had shut the door, so i was locked in. The stable doors are really tall, so i couldn't see over them back then. I tried calling, but no-one answered. I thought about waving my hand in the air through the window, but i couldn't hold the heavy saddle and bridle in one hand. It was actually Caddy that came to my rescue. She stuck her head out the window and started nibbling on a haynet nearby that wasn't meant for her. Someone on the other side of the yard saw her and ran to stop her, and then found me!

The second one is soooooo embarrassing for me. I was riding a little pony called Arri. He wasn't that big, not a lot over 13 hands, and i was confident in riding him. It was going quite well, until i noticed that my best friend from primary school had turned up. It was her little sister's birthday, and she'd come for a riding lesson as a present. Well, it was time for me to go into canter, so i smiled at my friend, and she was looking forward to watching me, as i'd told her that canter was brilliant. I came up to the corner and got ready for canter, when Arri just suddenly stopped. I could not get him to move at all, so i got quite annoyed and gave him a good smack with my whip behind my leg. I wouldn't usually do this, but i was feeling very hot under the collar as i could see my friend watching me struggle. That was a big mistake. Arri half-reared, then careered off down the longside in an extremely fast trot and his neck practically vertical. From then on, he would not do anything that i asked him to, and would constantly stop for no reason and try to nip the pony in front. After a while it got so bad that i was losing control, and the instructor told me to get off so she could ride him! I felt soooooo terribly
embarrassed!!!! My friend was very understanding though, but i couldn't help feeling so annoyed. Since then though, i've ridden him again, and now we get on fine and he's quite the little sweetheart really. It just proves that you can still make up when you get off to a bad start!