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Are equestrians and motorcyclists really all that different?
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to the Throttle and Roast podcast. I'm your host, Niels Meersschaert. In this episode, we'll explore the transition from the horse to the steel horse and see if we motorcyclists are really all that different from equestrians.
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So let me start by explaining a little bit of, I do have a bit of a personal connection to horses, and this came from really when I was a very young child. My grandmother actually had a horse farm in Maryland. So I grew up seeing and even riding horses from a young age. And where I live today, we have a number of horse trails running through a lot of the properties around here. So even just as I'm looking out the window from where I'm recording this, I can actually see horses running through the trails more typically in the spring, and the fall, it's covered in snow right now, so I'm not going to see any horses right now. But in the spring, and the fall, I typically do see them a lot. In the summer, it can get quite hot and therefore the horses won't be out. But I would say I do see them quite often. But the reality is that I've not ridden horses since I was around ten, and since that time I've really only ridden horses maybe twice with many years separating each of those times riding. So I certainly wouldn't call myself an equestrian, but I do consider myself a motorcyclist. But I do have an affinity and appreciation for horseback horseback riding and my history, if you think of it, really isn't all that different than many others. Well, many of us now rely on cars or even motorcycles to get around. Before the 20th century, the horse was the primary method of transport for thousands of years.
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the best definitive evidence with both art and written documentation suggests that horses were ridden as early as 2000 to 1500 B.C. But there is some strong evidence that suggests that there was an even earlier form of horseback riding in the copper age, around 3600 to 3100 B.C. in Kazakhstan. some evidence, although not very clear, suggests it could have been as early as 10,000 B.C. So no matter which date we use, people have been riding horses for a long time.
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So I want to get into some of the things that create some similarities between horse riding and motorcycle riding.
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the earliest control mechanisms for horses included things like nose bands, the hackamore a martingale, but more generically it's the bit the bridle and the reins are often used to control the horse. And if you think of this, the reins are sort of like the handlebars of a motorcycle. And when you start to think of some of the riding similarities, while you can drive a horse, if you're in a cart or a chariot, if you're directly sitting on it, you're riding it. And the same goes for motorcycles. You ride a motorcycle even though there are some non riders who will sometimes say, I didn't know that you know how to drive a motorcycle and you feel obligated to correct them and say, No, I ride a motorcycle.
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The other thing is horses can sense your tension and therefore having a relaxed approach to the controls or the reins typically will result in a smoother ride.
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Same thing goes on a motorcycle.
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If you're gripping super tight, you're going to have all these wobbles and every bump in the road is going to be over amplified because you're have that monster grip onto the handlebars. The other thing that we want to do on both a horse and on a motorcycle is look ahead. Don't stare down right in front of the front wheel or right in front of the horse because it's going to give you that lack of control. You want to get that head up, look far out. Now, the other thing, and this is probably the most clear overlap, if you will, between horses and motorcycles motorcycles is really our riding position in that we are straddling the bike much like a rider straddles a horse. And while we have pegs or floorboards, a horse will have stirrups and both of these are used for control. Now, if you're on a cruiser, you may not be used to using your feet for control other than hitting the brake and shifting gears. What I mean by control is actually adjusting the weight on the bike.
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So on most motorcycles where you'll have mid controls or even rear sets, you're using your feet to accentuate some of the control on the bike. And this is the same thing that you'll do when riding a horse.
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Now, of course, riding a horse is not exactly the same as riding a motorcycle. A horse is, of course, a living creature with its own mind that may ignore some of the commands that you're giving to it. Now, while we may anthropomorphize our motorcycles and think of the engine vibration as having a similarity to the movement of a horse below us, a bike will pretty much do exactly as we ask it to. Horses, especially from those that haven't been fully trained, can have that mind of their own and may just be like, Yeah, whatever. I'm not going to pay any attention to what you're suggesting on the on the controls. So they're not going to be exactly the same. And in fact, if you look at a lot of the expenses for horses, they'll often be far, far more expensive than a motorcycle. So there's absolutely a difference. You do need to put your feet down to steady the bike, whereas the horse will maintain its position.
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now another area where you're going to see a similarity between motorcycles and horses is that there's actually a tremendous amount of variation.
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There's not just a single style of horses or a single style of motorcycles. So within the horse culture, you're going to have things like dressage. You can have cross-country rides, you can have paces, and the related fox hunting, you'll have show jumping, horse racing. And of course you have working horses.
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And originally these might have been driven to pull a cart or chariot. People often think of the famous Clydesdales pulling the Budweiser cart with all the beer in it. But of course, now they're mostly used for ranches, for controlling other livestock.
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You also have some style of riding, so there's English or classic riding, and this will typically have a flat saddle and usually both hands are on the reins. Whereas in the United States, Western riding is actually the more common, and this is derived from cattle working the saddle tends to be larger and heavier than an English saddle, and it often has a saddle horn into which you typically are going to connect a rope that you're working from the horse. the big thing is that because of the needs of certainly out west, when you're riding and working with cattle, you are typically riding over long distance in rough terrain.
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This is why those type of saddles were built. so if you think of it with this, demand of riding in rough terrain, having that longer distance, it's really almost like the essentials of what an ADV bike is today, or an adventure bike really is that cowboy aspect of that horse. The other thing to think of is certainly in Western riding is that the rider, attire typically has denim jeans and boots, which isn't all that different than the typical cruiser style of riding would be.
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So there's a lot of overlap into there. And when we think of motorcycles, of course, you have some of the styles that I just alluded to. So you'll have that cruiser style, you'll have that adventure style, you'll have sport bikes, show bikes. So there's going to be a lot of variation into motorcycle styles, just like there are in horses And not to beat a dead horse, but there are more connections between motorcycles and horses, especially if you look at some of the common words.
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We always say that you ride both motorcycles and horses. We sit on a saddle and after a crash we may need to get back in the saddle. If you're really looking to get out on that ride, I know for me, I've been sitting here in the winter weeks now and we've had essentially snow every few days. So the roads have never gotten clear enough in more than a month at this point.
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So it's really frustrating. So I'm certainly feel that I'm champing at the bit because I want to get out and ride. And of course, that saying is usually someone who's impatient, but it is referencing to that horse. Of course, when we're talking about horses and the power that they can create, this is usually the way that we're referencing the comparative performance characteristics of one motorcycle versus another using horsepower, Indian motorcycle, of course, has some of their dark horse variants. So there's really a very clear combination and connection into the horse and the motorcycle, certainly from Indian. And of course, when we are testing out a new bike, we might be saying that we're putting it through its paces, which is really a reference back to horses again. And when you are getting towards the end of your life, you might be thinking about hanging up your helmet.
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And this is quite similar to hanging up your spurs.
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We've talked about some of the long history of humans and horses. We explored some of the controls used for horses and how they are quite similar to motorcycles with the reins and the handlebars, the stirrups, the footpegs. We also looked at how there are some commonalities with riding both horses and motorcycles, but also some clear differences, and explored how the various styles and sports of horseback riding echo the styles and sports in motorcycling. We even discussed how some of the terms we use cross over between horses and motorcycles. So my question for is have you ridden a horse in addition to a motorcycle, and what aspects did you find similar? Text the show through the link in the show notes or leave us a voicemail at throttle and roast dot com slash voicemail. Thanks for listening.
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listening. I'll talk to you next week.
