Major; My handsome boy

Assalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh!

I know I just uploaded a post yesterday, but because I am too free at the moment, I'm writing another one right now. As I have been telling your guys in the previous post, since the semester break started a month ago, I didn't have a proper holiday as most of my time were spent on various events and cadet activities. So this time, I am going to share with you about one of the cadet activities that I have attended during the early semester break.

On 11^th May 2015 to 15^th May 2015, I have been attending a horse riding course along with my other cadet skots. It was a 5 day long course but we learnt and experienced a lot of stuffs. I have never riden a horse before so I was quite nervous about this horse riding course. Seriously. The course was held in one of the Royal Brunei Army camp's saddle club.

On the first day, we had a few lectures about the type of the horses available and what should we expect during the whole 5 days course. I gained new knowledge and it was amazing. I started feel excitement buzzing through my veins. I missed some parts of the lectures though as I was asked to go to the Rimba camp for another briefing together with three of my other skots. But when we came back to the saddle club, we found that the others were still in the lecture room and that we didn't miss much.

That first day, we were divided into 4 groups and each group was then assigned to a horse, supervised by a coach. Our coach proceeded to show us how to take the horse out of the stable in the most safest way. We were then taught on how to ready the horse for riding, in which we had to groom him first, and make sure that the saddlery was put on the horse's back in a right way. We were also showed on how to clean the stable.

Once we have carefully tacked the saddlery on top of the horse, we proceeded to the field together with the horse that has been assigned to us and one by one, each of us, with the help of the our couch, we hopped on the horse. It was my first time so I was a bit scared. Plus, the horse was big and tall. Major is the name of the horse. A very strong name, don't you think? On that first day, all we did was got on the horse and walked a round around the field guided by our coach and that was it. Basically, that was just the introduction and to give us the feel on how it feels like to be on top of a horse as well as to overcome our nervousness.

The next day, we were again divided into groups. Each group has three members. I was with Amal and Syikin and our horse was Major. Yes, Major. It seemed like Major and I were meant for each other. LOL! So that morning, we started off the day by cleaning the stable. The place was so smelly that we had to wear face mask and trust me, you could still smell the shits through the mask. Then, as what we have been thought the day before, we groomed Major and put on the saddlery on his back. Major was kinda in a bad mood that morning and he refused to the let us groom him. He didn't even let us to brush off the dirts under his legs. Once, we have secured the saddlery onto his back, we got back in to the class to have breakfast. And when we finished, Amal, Syikin and I quickly went to see Major and were surprised to see a big pile of shits next to where Major was standing. Hahaha XD and we were like, "Ohhh that is why Major was in a bad mood. He was having a stomachache" XD

Once everything was ready, I grabbed the rope that was attached to Major's neck and carefully guided him to the riding field. I was the first to get on his back that day. Unlike the day before, that day, we didn't have a coach to guide us while we walked the horse around the field. Coach said, the main ingredient in riding a horse is to be confident because horses have the special ability in which they can sense the riders emotion. In other words, they know if the rider on their back is feeling nervous or afraid. Horses are naughty creatures, according to what was told to us. Some horses, if they sense that the rider on their back is feeling scared, they would scared them even more.

To be honest, when I was up there, I was more than just nervous. Because I have fear of height, all I could think of when I was on Major's back was "I am going to fall. This is too high. I'm going to fall". However, after a few minutes walking with Major around the field, I slowly gained my confidence and became less afraid. By the end of the day, I was totally enjoying myself and was sad when I was told that the time was over and I needed to hop down.

That day, after finished the riding practical, we took the horses out of the field, untacked all the saddlery off their body and sprayed them with water. Major was looking so blessed and relieved when the water hit his giant body and I could see that he really liked it. I guess, being under the sun for so long had got him hot and uncomfortable. I felt bad for him. We let the horses rest for the rest of the day and got back into the classroom for another lectures.

On the third day, again we started off the day with cleaning the stable after taking out the horses. As Major's rider, I was incharge of his stable. Thank God, his stable was not that messy as compared with the others. Good boy, Major.

Then, as usual, we groomed Major and put on the saddlery on top of his back. Major still didn't let us to brush the dirts off his shoes. He didn't listen everytime we asked him to lift up his legs. He was totally ignoring us. It seemed like he still hadn't open up to us yet. I wondered why didn't he like us. When I looked around, I could see that the others didn't have much trouble with their horses. Just right next to us, Amoy and Jannah were having a good time grooming their horse named Rosilla. Rosilla listened to everything she was asked to. I couldn't help it but to feel jealous and when no one was listening, I asked Major, "Why can't you like me?" and of course, he ignored me.

That day, we continued the basic riding practical. We started by walking the horse around the field as usual, as a warm up for the horses. Then when, everyone was ready, we started to trot with the horses. Trotting seems easy when I watched the others doing it but when it was my turn, I was screaming the whole time! It was just baby steps running but I still felt like as if Major was going to throw me off his back. Coach said that it was just my imagination and that I was not even going to fall but the fact is I almost fell! I would already be on the ground if it weren't for this one coach who grabbed my leg and got me stable on top of Major again. At that time, I already lost my confidence and I know horse riding is definitely not my thing.

After riding and untacking the saddlery off Major, we sprayed him with water. Major was sweating all over his giant body and again, I felt bad for him because earlier we were told that trotting is always exhausting for the horses because it is not their natural movement and when they trot their movement is actually restricted. They were trained heavily before they were able to trot.

The next day, the first group to ride the horses got to challenge musical ride, while trotting, of course. It was fun to watch. Everyone did well and I couldn't imagine how would I manage it if I were riding that time. I was in the third group. Yesh, the weakest group. LOL! Honestly, I was going to avoid riding that day but one of the coach caught me and in the end I was still forced to ride. What happened the day before when I was almost thrown off Major's back kept haunting me. And I was really scared that the same thing would happened again. Before we started, I put my hand on top of Major's head, in between of his two fluffy ears. Coach said, if we do that, we will be able to connect to the horse. So I tried it and whispered, "Major, I know you don't like me but I really like you and I trust you so please, trust me". I'm not sure if he understand that but for a second there, I thought I heard Major talked to me – in his language of course – as if he was saying that I could count on him.

I got on top of Major, still feeling nervous. But I trusted him. And when the coach ordered to trot on, Major started to trot and I was panicking because I seriously felt as if I was going to fall. I pulled on the reins and Major slowed down. In the end of the day, I still wasn't able to trot properly but at least I didn't fall which was already enough for me to feel grateful.

The next day, which was the forth day, was our last chance to ride on our horses because on the last day we would all be busy with the closing ceremony. That morning, I arrived early and started cleaning the stable after taking Major out. I had no idea why but something was different with Major that day. Usually, he would hissed everytime I tried to brush his body and hair, but that day he was quite obedient. He even lifted up his legs when we asked him too. I'm not sure but I think he knew that it was our last day. I still wasn't able to trot properly like the others but I felt blessed because Major seemed to understand me quite well that day. He didn't act like he usually act. He was being sweet and cute. We gave him a lot of carrots too and I think we fed him too much that he fell asleep in the field with me still on his back. Everyone was laughing at us when he did that. I had to pat his side to wake him up.

On 15^th May 2015, it was finally our last day. We were very busy preparing for the closing ceremony that we didn't have time to clean the stable nor taking care of the horses. The ceremony started around 9 that morning and ended around 12 noon. It was a very messed up event but alhamdulillah we managed to wrap it up wonderfully and even got complimented.

It was only a five days course but we learnt a lot. I also managed to overcome my fears... a bit. Eventhough I still can't do trotting properly, at least I have experience in riding a horse and the other basic things like tacking and untacking the saddlery, grooming and cleaning the stable. And most importantly is that we had created a special bond with our horses. In my case, I know Major didn't like me at all at first but as days went by, I could feel that me and Major were getting closer and closer and he seemed to start accepting me. I don't feel the five days was enough but there was nothing we could do.

That day before we parted, I promised Major that I will definitely come back with a lot of carrots!\

And we actually did! Thanks to my skots who offered me to go with them to visit saddle club on a Friday. On the way, we bought a lot of carrots and together we went there. When we arrived, we found out that the horses were not in the stable. They were let loose wandering around in the field. Major was put in a field that was far away from the saddle club so I couldn't meet him right away. I watched as my other skots fed their horses and felt really jealous. That was when I realized that I really missed Major.

Once my skots satisfied having a reunion with their horses, we went to the field where Major was put. I was so excited. There were a lot of horses there and I couldn't see Major anywhere. I almost cried but then I saw him! He was eating some grasses somewhere at the other side of the field. I called out for him. I thought he wouldn't hear me because he was so far away but to my happiness, he suddenly turned to me and walked to where I was standing.

He remembers me! And that is enough for me. I nearly cried. I fed him all the carrots I had. That day was a very unforgettable day for me. In shaa Allah, one day, I will be visiting him again.

Thanks for the memories, Major.

Thanks, PKT.

Alhamdulillah. Thank you, Allah.

- Miki Ariake

PS: Please ignore all the spelling or grammar errors, because I'm too lazy to check and correct! :D

Live your life colourfully

Assalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh~

Hi. How have you been? I hope there are still people reading this blog. I'm sorry for not updating for so long already. I have been very busy. Yes, semester break has started a month ago but my REAL holiday has only started today. Yes, until yesterday, I didn't have proper holiday. I was busy attending events and cadet activities.

Hmm. I am sorry once again but I'm not here today to write about JENESYS because I know JENESYS post will be very long with a lot of photos and I still don't feel like typing a long post. Plus, I haven't properly organize the photos yet. I'm not sure when will I be able to post about it and I can't promise that it will be soon. However, in shaa Allah, I will try my best to fulfill the promise I made as soon as possible.

Anyway, I am here now to share about my experience participating in a run event called Run With Colours. Have heard of it anywhere? It was the first in history that such event being organized in this country and so it was quite happening with a total number of over 4k participants.

I registered for it together with a friend. She was also with me when I participated in Ukhwah Run, organized by my university and that was when we decided together to register for this Run With Colours as well. Both of us do not think that we are fit enough to register for the 5km one so we both registered ourselves under 3km one. It was a good move for myself too because Run With Colours would be my very first official run event.

When semester break started, I was planning to have a run practice at least thrice a week, but I didn't have a partner. I couldn't go alone. Other than that, most of my time was also taken by cadet activities. Due to that, I didn't get enough practice to ready myself for the Run With Colours event.

The event was held on 7^th June 2015, on a Sunday. Actually, during the whole week, I was busy practicing for a parade competition with the cadets. Luckily, our Jls (coaches) decided to give us two days off from practice which was on Saturday and Sunday.

On the day of the event, I arrived at the venue a bit too early than the said time but there were a lot of other participants who have arrived as well. It was around 5:30 in the morning and it was freezing cold. While waiting for my friend, Fathiin, the emcee of the day gave a short briefing about this run event. It was a fun run, hence, there shouldn't be any kind of competition and participants could run as slow as they want to. The point of this run was to enjoy. The participants were also told to be aware that at certain points of the route, there would be some volunteers who would throw coloured powders at the participants. Therefore, the name of the run, "Run With Colours".

Right before the run started, Fathiin finally arrived. Thank God she arrived on time. She missed the warming up session tho. Due to the event had about 4k participants, we were divided into four goups and were released at different time. Fathiin and I were in the last group to be released that day so we started off late. But it didn't matter because there was no competition. We both started slow and arrived at the first checkpoint where the volunteers showered us with orange powder. Our white T-shirts were no longer white :) It was really a moment to enjoy. We kept running and found the next checkpoint. This time it was red coloured powder. More colours added to our shirts. The participants screamed in excitement and some even stayed for awhile running around the red checkpoint. I could see that no one was here to compete. They were all here to have fun. Oh well, it was a fun run after all.

The last checkpoint was blue powder and jaannn! Everyone turned into smurf. Lol. I had fun, but was a bit disappointed as well because I was looking forward to purple coloured powder... Yes, there was no purple and I wondered why.

At the end of the day, I checked my instagram account and found out that a lot of my friends also participated in the run but maybe becuase there were too many people, I didn't get to bump into them. Anyway, it was a great experience :)

She's a great partner. Me left, Fathiin right.

With Ray and Jila. They were there as the volunteers.

- Miki Ariake