In the legendary words of Big & Rich, save a horse, ride a cowboy. Chris Van Vliet has apparently never heard that song. Chris is horsing around in this week’s Keeping Up with Chris.
Chris Van Vliet: “There are a lot of horses here.”
Tricia Sales, owner: “Yes, there are.”
Chris Van Vliet: “How many in total?”
Tricia Sales: “There’s 14.”
Chris Van Vliet: “Fourteen of them!”
Silver Lining Equestrian is in South Florida’s wild, wild west — better known at Southwest Ranches — where that right there will hopefully be me.
Tricia Sales: “We teach hunter jumper-style of horseback riding lessons.”
But before we get to any of that, first I need to meet my horse.
Chris Van Vliet: “So who’s this?”
Tricia Sales: “This is Manaka.”
Chris Van Vliet: “I brought some treats to win Manaka over. Oh, you see those treats, don’t you?”
(Chris feeds horse)
Chris Van Vliet: “You ready? So you like me now, right? We’re friends?”
Next, I gear up.
(Chris puts helmet on)
Chris Van Vliet: “What do we think?”
Tricia Sales: “Looks good.”
Chris Van Vliet: “Oh, yeah? You’re lying.”
Now that I look that part, the fun begins.
Chris Van Vliet: “OK, you ready, Manaka? Remember, I’m the guy who fed you carrots. Don’t forget that.”
Tricia walks me through the basics, and I saddle up.
Chris Van Vliet: “All right, I’m on a horse!”
Tricia Sales: “Are you nervous?”
Chris Van Vliet: “No. Should I be?”
Gotta love that blind confidence, right?
Tricia Sales: “So stand up.”
Chris Van Vliet: “Oh, this is terrifying!”
Tricia Sales: “Straight up.”
Chris Van Vliet: “I have no balance for this.”
I’m just a few minutes into it, and it’s clear that…
Chris Van Vliet: “There is a lot more to horseback riding than just sitting on the back of a horse and riding.”
Look at the others: graceful, majestic. It’s as if they were born to do this! Then look at me…
Chris Van Vliet: “I feel like I’m going to fall every time.”
Chris Van Vliet: “My horse riding skills are so bad that we are going to switch to a different horse. This is Dante.”
I learned the basics on Manaka, but now Dante is going to be the horse I jump with!
Chris Van Vliet: “Little nervous. We’re good, right? Hey, I said we’re good, right?”
OK, it’s time. Although you may notice the obstacle is significantly lower for me.
Chris Van Vliet: “OK, here we go. Ohhh, crap!”
(Chris falls off horse)
Chris Van Vliet: “I’m OK! I’m OK!”
Chris Van Vliet: “Oh, I didn’t do anything right. Well, I landed fine. Wow.”
That was scary, but as the saying goes, I get back in the saddle.
(Chris goes over jump)
Chris Van Vliet: “OK, OK! I didn’t fall this time! I didn’t fall. We kinda did it in slow motion, but we did it!”
I’m not quite sure that what I did there at the end really counts, but all right. What should I do next? Send me an email at keepingupwithchris@wsvn.com.
FOR MORE INFO:
Silver Lining Equestrian
14001 Luray Road
Southwest Ranches, FL 33330
(847) 529-8977
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