Angela Dorsey’s Blog
Another Fun Writing Exercise
Okay, here’s another writing exercise for you.
Write a story about the first time someone goes riding.
I won’t say any more because I don’t want to direct you too much. I think it’ll be fun to hear of all the different ideas that you have!
55 Responses to “Another Fun Writing Exercise”
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July 4th, 2008 at 8:46 am
I stared in awe at the Haflinger ponies walking in circles, being led by a man in a white t-shirt. There were kids with huge grins on their faces riding the ponies, and I was next in line! I had been horse crazy for all of my eight years, and couldn’t wait for my first ‘real’ ride! Then, it was time. I walked straight up to the mounting steps, and hopped on (with a little help from the man). Soon, all the ponies had other kids on them, and off we went! But halfway around the circle, the horse in front of mine stopped to ‘relieve’ itself! Then something exciting happened. My pony didn’t want to step in the other horse’s manure, so without a word ( or whinny) of warning, it up and jumped right over the pile! I instinctively hugged it with my knees and went right with it. When it landed on the other side, I could hear my family cheering. Face flushed and huge grin on my face, I dismounted at the end. That was my first ride!
This is a true story, actually. When I lived in Florida we went to a zoo that had pony rides, and this actually happened! I tried to tell it like from a little kid’s point of view.
July 5th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
That is such a great story, Mirriam, especially since its true. Thanks for sharing!
July 7th, 2008 at 7:56 am
It was fun ^_^
July 7th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
I opened my eyes and looked down. The ground was rushing underneath me extremely fast! I found myself struggling to hang on to whatever I was laying on. What was I hanging on to?
My vision was a little blurred. I then noticed my hands were wrapped around some sort of course string. I was bouncing all over the place. All of a sudden my memory came back to me!
The house! The house was being attacked and raided! Where was my father though? All I can remember is my dad rushing toward me with a horse. My vision finally returned to normal.
“I’m riding a horse! I’m actually riding a horse!”
The horse was a grulla mare, a fast grulla mare! I noticed I didn’t have any reins, nor a saddle. It wasn’t too hard to stay on her though. She had a very smooth gallop.
I looked behind me. I thought I saw another horse in the distance, but I was still a little dazed from my blackout. I wasn’t even thinking about my home anymore. I concentrated on the wind blowing through my hair and the freedom I felt.
“Wait a minute! You’re Flash, my uncle’s old mare. I thought I recognized you!”
“Ashley! Ashley wait up! Whoa, Flash!”
Flash slowed from her gallop to a trot, then to a stop as she breathed heavily. I turned around.
“Dad! Dad, what happened? I woke up all dazed and then I noticed I’m on a horse!”
“You blacked out,” he said, “I couldn’t carry you with me on Geronimo, so I put you on Flash. She saved your life. Right after you blacked out, the house blew up. Flash went straight into a gallop and carried you away from the burning pieces. Your first ride on a horse probably wasn’t what you imagined, huh?”
“Actually, I love the feeling! Thank you, Flash! I’ll love you forever, even though you aren’t mine!”
“I wouldn’t say that. Your uncle told me you could have her.”
“YES! Don’t you worry Flash, we’ll find a new home. You’ll have a great big pasture, too!”
Flash looked at me straight in the eye as if she was saying, “Let’s go! What are you waiting for?”
July 7th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I walked into the stable. The sweet smell of horses filled the air. I couldn’t believe I was actually going riding!! The instructor helped me up onto a pony named Atlas. He was a very pretty cream color with spots on his rump. The lady told me to squeeze and click to get him to go. I did as told and soon we were outside. His mane blew in the wind as I walked onto a trail with a group. I was at the end. Soon we were trotting around a bush. It was bumpy and scary at first but I got used to it. Before I knew it we were back at the stables. I jumped off and stroked Atlas’ face. “Thanks for everything.” I kissed him. And that was my home for the upcoming summer. Mom and dad just didn’t know it yet.
=]
? How do you like.
♥
July 7th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
I like! I like them both actually. Great stories, guys!
July 9th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Yeah, great stories!
July 10th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Another good idea for a story, is to write it in the horse’s perspective.
July 11th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Like in the second and third Freedom books.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:05 am
My footsteps pounded the earth as I ran. I darted in and out of the huge trees surrounding me. I threw a quick glance over my shoulder. The three men were still chasing me. The one who had tied me up back at my house was gaining on me. I struggled to untie my hands as I ran. Why did they want me dead so badly? I had promised them I would never tell anyone what I’d seen. I wouldn’t dare testify in court about the robery and assualt I’d witnessed. But they just wouldn’t believe me. My mom wouldn’t be home from work until eight o’ clock that night, and I had nowhere to go. The only place where I had a chance of loosing my pursuers was the forest, but it wasn’t working very well. Suddenly something pulled hard on my foot and I found myself on the ground. I struggled free myself from the vine that was wrapped around my ankle. I pulled free just as the men came crashing through the brush behind me. I climbed to my feet and ran toward a clearing in the distance. My ankle ached with pain but I couldn’t slow. The men were less than twenty feet behind me now, and they were still gaining. Just as I was sure they would catch me, a small horse stepped onto the path in front of me. Its coat was black but its mane was darker yet. It had a single white star on its forehead. The horse looked at me with dark, loving eyes. I know it sounds weird, but I knew it wanted to help me. There was a log lying next to the horse. I used the log to climb on the horse’s back. One of the men grabbed for my leg and tried to pull me off put I clung to my rescuer’s mane. Before the man could try again the horse took off. It careened through the thick brush of the forest. The trees thinned as we aproached the clearing and the horse sped up. The forest stopped not far after the clearing and we were soon galloping across an open feild. I dared to look over my shoulder, and much to my pleasure, the men were nowhere in sight. I recognized the feild as Mr. Trimble’s feild. He was a nice guy, who I knew would help me. I rode the black, mystery horse toward Mr. Trimble’s house. I patted the black’s gleaming neck. Not bad for my first ride on a horse. Not bad at all.
July 14th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
And not a bad story either. Not bad at all! Very exciting and visual!
July 16th, 2008 at 7:37 am
Really cool! (was that really your first ride?)
If it is, you have an E.X.I.T.I.N.G. life! 
July 17th, 2008 at 8:10 am
No, that never really happened to me. My first ride was when I was about six years old. I loved horses and so for my birthday they rented a pony named Cupcake. Someone was leading the pony, so I wasn’t exactly riding, but it was still great fun!
July 19th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Angela? I have a favor to ask…could do another entry in your blog specialy for me to post my story Vesta, so other girls could comment on it and give me some help? I really need some public opinion! I know this will probably be a ‘no’ thing, but could you think about it anyway? Thanks a lot!
July 19th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
How long is your story, Mirriam? Do you know how many words?
July 21st, 2008 at 8:03 am
Uuuh, no, but it’s quite long…you can see for yourself here. (It’s in 3 sections on my LIveJournal page.) http://aewin_elf14.livejournal.com
Thanks for considering this, Angela!
July 21st, 2008 at 9:05 am
Why don’t you email me the first chapter, Mirriam. I can put that under a seperate header in the blog, with a link to the rest of your story at livejournal.com. That way, people can comment on the beginning of your story on the blog and they can go to the link to finish it if they want. Sound like a plan?
July 21st, 2008 at 11:45 am
Definately! Thank you sooooo much, Angela! This will really help me! Thanks a zillion!
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Hey!!! I just found the CUTEST Oldenburg colt! He is adorable!!!! http://dreamhorse.com/show_video.php?form_horse_id=1226008
That is the link to his video, he is soooo cute!
July 23rd, 2008 at 7:11 pm
What a beautiful colt. I love the way he seems to flow over the ground!
July 26th, 2008 at 9:24 am
I can’t wait to read it Mirriam!
July 26th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
That video is so cute! I wish I had seen it in real life!
July 27th, 2008 at 8:23 am
Yeah, the colt had such flowing movement! Whoever buys him is way lucky because imagine when he’s older and trained how good it would feel to be on his back!
July 27th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
What a cute video!!
July 28th, 2008 at 2:56 am
Angela? When are you going to post my story? (No rush, just wondering)
July 28th, 2008 at 7:49 am
Sorry not to have it done, Mirriam. When you sent it to me it had a whole bunch of strange characters inserted into the body of the text. It’s going to take me a while to go over it and clean it up.
I emailed you about it, but I guess you didn’t get my email. What I said in the email was that if you want to change all the type to Times New Roman and send it to me again, that it would save a lot of time.
July 28th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Okay, sure! I don’t know what happened to it to mess it up, but I’ll resend it
Sorry for all the trouble it caused! Thanks! 
~ Mirriam
July 28th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Wow, my mom and I had such a great day yesterday! We spent the whole day with the horses! We didn’t get to ride though, it was to hot. So instead we cold-hosed everyone, then in the evening when it was cooler we handgrazed everyone! They enjoy that soooo much! And when my mom had one of our two year olds out there, she was leaning on his back and everything! He didn’t even twitch.
We both think he is going to be super once we get him in training. He is already sixteen hands at the hip!
July 29th, 2008 at 4:28 am
I sent it! ♥
July 29th, 2008 at 11:25 am
It sounds like a wonderful day, Brittany. Its so cool too that you and your mom can spend so much time together on an activity (HORSES!) that you both love!
Mirriam, sorry, but it came through all funny again. I’m not sure what to tell you now to make it better. As soon as I can, I’ll go over it and fix the weird characters (my computer said they were Korean letters and wouldn’t translate them - strange, eh?)
July 29th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
WHAT???!!! That is really wierd! I’m sorry, Angela! If you want, I could just post it here. You know, Copy and Paste. If that would be easier? Or I know! Here, just click on this link and it’ll take you right to my livejournal, that has my stories on it. Girls, PLEASE comment on it, no matter what you think of my stuff! Please!
http://aewin_elf14.livejournal.com
Thanks!
July 30th, 2008 at 8:45 am
I’m not exactly a computer expert, but if the blog’s text HTML is different than the program’s HTML that Mirriam used to write the story this could be causing the problem. To fix it you might try going under the blog’s settings and changing the HTML. (It may be as simple as turning the HTML on.) Hope this helps!
July 30th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Yeah! My mom has been with horses since she was sixteen, so I’ve been with them my whole life. My mom said her and her friend Cindy used to have a pony (Sugarfoot) that they rode bareback everywhere (including her Dad’s front porch, lol). They used to have trotting races, and whoever broke into a canter first lost! That sounds like so much fun to me!
July 30th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Don’t worry, Mirriam. We’ll figure it out and post it on the blog. It just might take a couple more days to find the time. One of my daughters is getting married in less than two weeks, so I’ve been doing lots of wedding planning stuff. I’ll try Amanda’s suggestion first to see if that fixes everything. Thanks for telling us about that, Amanda. That’s probably exactly the problem.
That’s so cool, Brittany! I really enjoy doing horsey stuff with my kids too. And guess what - trotting races are fun! The horse I had when I was a teenager, Comanche, was a superior trotter. The only problem was that she liked to run too! It was SOOOO hard to stop her from breaking into a gallop!
July 31st, 2008 at 4:40 am
Congratulations! That’s so cool, Angela! Please give my best to her. I hope to get a Purity Ring someday. I have never had a boyfriend, never kissed any boy, or anything else because I’m a Christian. I’m going to court. (No girls, it’s not old fashioned. It’s simply like dating at home, where the goal of the relationship is marriage. It works!) My older sister Maralie waited for years for the man God was going to bring to her, and when she was twenty-nine, He did it! Now they have been married three years very happily, and have a son, Silas, who is adorable! Hope all goes well with the wedding! Oh, Britt, I love the name Sugarfoot! Like the Shetland Pony in the first Heartland book!
July 31st, 2008 at 10:31 am
I think its a really cool custom, Mirriam, and I’m very happy for your sister.
Thanks for your congratulations! I’ll tell Charity that you are happy for her!
August 1st, 2008 at 5:09 am
Good, thanks!
August 1st, 2008 at 7:57 am
My horse Socks likes to go fast too, lol! She is half TB. Only 11 more days until school!!!! I really want to see my friends, but I don’t want to start getting up an hour earlier every morning! I’m more of a night person
I’m happy for Charity, too! I hope she has a GREAT wedding day!
August 1st, 2008 at 8:15 am
Hey! A few days ago, I found out my sister had a couple videos of her show horse, Posie, on Youtube! If you want to have a look just click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PLixXnK6k0
Posie has some pretty lead changes.
I love riding her! But the video is of my sister, I don’t show.
August 1st, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Thanks Brittany. I’ll tell her!
Cool video. Posie is a beautiful horse and so well trained!
August 2nd, 2008 at 7:35 am
Thanks Angela! We might let my sister take her to the All American Quarter Horse Congress! It is an amazing show!
August 2nd, 2008 at 10:32 pm
You’ll have to let us know how they did if they go. When is the All American QH Congress?
August 8th, 2008 at 11:05 am
I will! It’s some time in late October, so it’ll be a while. I hope they get to go! It would be so much fun!
Today, we finally get a break from the extremely hot weather! It’s 84 degrees with a breeze, and so beautiful! I just got done handgrazing my horse Socks. She enjoyed herself
August 10th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
It sounds like you enjoyed yourself too.
August 11th, 2008 at 8:22 am
I know what you mean about the hot weather! I’m from Georgia and it’s been 110 degrees fahrenheit for like a month now!
August 11th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
That is amazingly hot!
August 15th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
I picked the horse I thought would be least likely to throw me or anything. She was a dappled gray mare and although she was huge, she had a gentle look in her eyes.
I pointed her out to the man. “I’d like to ride her, please.”
At that moment, another little kid walked up. They asked to ride a dainty red stallion the man said was named Rolfe.
“I don’t know ’bout that. Why don’t you ride the gray and you,” he said to me, “Can ride Rolfe.”
I didn’t want to argue so I climbed onto the stallion’s back. We rode around the circle a few times. I could feel his muscles very tense beneath me. Just when I began to think he’d stay calm, Rolfe flung up his head and reared.
Mom screamed, the man shouted, and I just tried to keep my balance. Then, as if nothing had happened, Rolfe came down and walked the last circle calmly.
And in spite of that, I knew I was in love! When Mom and I left, I made sure I got the man’s barn’s address so I could go see Rolfe again. It took a long time, but two years later I’d saved enough money and I brought the beautiful red horse, now a gelding, home. He still rears a lot,but it’s more out of mischief then anything else. And oh yeah, I changed his name.
Blue Moon. Because it’s only once in a blue moon you find a horse like him.
August 15th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
-Her name was Wolverina, because she was as shaggy as a wolf in the wintertime.
-She inspected her new home carefully, her tiny nose poking into all the corners. She was my rescue mustang, saved from death by me and my friend Allie. They’d deemed her “unadoptable.” It had taken ages but finally Grandpa had given in. “All right Chess, you can adopt her.”
-”She might never be fit to ride,” Allie said, but she didn’t sound worried. Neither of us were. We hadn’t rescued Wolverina to ride her, just to save her.
-Wolverina progressed very slowly. Her bony body slowly filled out and luster came to her dark coat. She almost had to learn to trot, canter, and gallop all over again, she was so weak. Allie and I fed her, cleaned her, and, when she was stronger, took her on walks through the woods every day.
-Months later, Grandpa was the one who said, “Are you girls ever going to ride that horse? She’s been ready for ages.”
-Allie and I exchanged excited glances then immediately went to get a bridle. Of course, we couldn’t both ride. We flipped a coin. I won.
-Wolverina had never been ridden before in her life. I’d never ridden before in my life either for that matter! Allie was the experienced one. But Wolverina didn’t object when I carefully sat down on her bare back. She turned her nose and nuzzled my leg.
-Gently, Wolverina began to gallop. And I started to cry, big fat tears of happiness. It was both of our first rides and I knew neither one of us would ever forget it.
August 15th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
I did enjoy myself
I enjoy doing anything with my horsey friends!
Wow! I didn’t know Georgia was soo hot! And I thought Tennessee got hot in the summer!!! It so dark outside right now, it looks like it could pour any minute! It feels good since the sun isn’t out though
Well my first week of school is over. It was pretty good. I’m in Algebra 1, so that’s kind of hard, but I guess it’s good that I’m in a high school class even though I’m in 8th grade. Although I hate math!
August 16th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Both stories are awesome, Gabrielle! I especially liked the one about Wolverina. That’s a great name too, by the way - beautiful, wild, and ferocious all at once.
I’m glad to hear that your first week at school was a good one, Brittany. I really liked Algebra when I was in school. It was like solving math puzzles.
Its been really hot here too lately, at least hot for us. In Celcius, its in the mid 30’s.
August 19th, 2008 at 9:14 am
I’m taking Algebra 1 too! But I’m in 9th grade. I’m really good at math but I HATE it! I prefer Reading any day.
August 19th, 2008 at 9:48 am
Yeah, I liked reading better too.
August 19th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
I like reading and writing too!!!!! Horse books, christian books and mystery books are my favorites!
August 19th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
This felt so natural. I felt like a centuar.
“You look like a natural!” my mother said. She’d voiced my thoughts. I felt like I’d been doing this all my life. I was one with the horse. This was my dream.
He was a spunky bay and he held his head proudly.
“Walk him over that little jump,” my trainer said. The jump was probably about 12 inches. I did. He responded like a dream. “Do it again,”she said.
I directed him torwards the little jump - and I don’t know what possessed him to spring forward into a canter. “Whoa!” I called to the spunky bay.
Perhaps he thought I meant ‘go?’
He kept going - and then - ! I felt my heart leap to my chest. With a pure surge of horse power he cleared the jump. When I landed I felt shock - then thrill.
I liked it.
My mom was in hysterics - but afterwards she told me I looked like a natural going over that jump. A startling first experience, but still I knew.
Horses were what I wanted to do.
************************************
You want to know the cool thing about this story!
It’s true!
It wasn’t the first time I’d ever ridden - and I was actually riding Jamie at a trot - I changed it a little to fit the setting.
These writing exersizes are a fun idea Angela!
August 19th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
I like the same books, Breanna. I’m in Algebra 1 and ninth grade, too My Mom (I homeschool) wants me to do geometry this semester, though. I like writing and reading best. My dad jokes that if reading was outlawed, I’d die of boredom.