April 22, 2015 
On a recent trip home to Upstate New York, my mom and I planned an afternoon outing to visit my retired OTTB 30 minutes outside of town. I offered to drive, thinking my mom might like the chance to kick back and enjoy the scenery. Instead, she quickly declined.
“No, that’s okay honey, I can do it,” she said cheerily, adding more quietly, “you kind of drive like you ride.”
Though initially offended (twice) by this assessment, I gradually came to see that maybe my mom did have a very small point. After all, when your other “ride” is a horse, it can occasionally be difficult to distinguish between the two. If you’re a jumper rider, a barrel racer, an eventer, or just a bit of a hot dog in the tack, chances are you might be getting that reputation behind the wheel as well (even if you’re the last one to find out).
Here’s how you know your driving may be taking a back seat to your riding.
1. You believe cars should go forward from the leg too.
(via arbuying.jalopnik.com)
It’s all about response time.
2. You count strides between cracks in the highway.
(via groupthink.jezebel.com)
And it’s amazing because you can be going 70 mph, and you hardly ever miss.
3. You’ve never been late for the farrier, but your last oil change was in 2012.
(via gifbay)
That’s how you do it, right?
4. You insist on maintaining two horse lengths between you and the other vehicles.
(via whatta-ho.tumblr.com)
It weirds out your friends, but you’ve always been big on safety.
5. Sometimes you cluck to accelerate.
(via reddit.com)
Just force of habit.
6. Cops don’t scare you half as much as your trainer does.
(via reddit.com)
She tells you to slow down too, but somehow, it’s way more impactful.
7. You sit down in your seat to break or make sharp turns.
(via reactiongifs.com)
Your car goes better when it’s balanced.
8. You aren’t great about keeping your eyes on the road when you pass horse farms.
(via flickr.com_Adam Franco)
“Is that a palomino!?”
9. You believe strongly in the principle of “impulsion”.
10. You treat stop signs like half-halts.
(via moviegifss.tumblr.com)
11. Rough roads mean nothing to you.
(via jarrison.tumblr.com)
You can sit the trot to almost anything.
12. U-turns offer the perfect opportunity to work on your rollbacks.
(via gifhogday.tumblr.com)
Land, turn your head, ride to the next fence—er—lane.
13. You already have a mouth like a sailor.
(via pixgood.com)
Road rage does nothing to help your cause.
14. Wearing a seatbelt encased in 1,800 pounds of steel makes you feel slightly overconfident.
(via giphy.com)
