I'll answer both Q's!
For the first one, i actually had a course of horse riding lessons 8 yr ago and i felt quite scared about getting up on a horse to begin with but when i approached my horse, i instinctively felt that i should just show some friendliness towards it and so i just stroked it loads (Can't recall if it was a girl or boy!) and said hello to it
and when i got up there at first it was like yikes this feels so high ( and my legs were so sore after!, but then i kept telling myself that i should stay calm and not show my nerves
so it went pretty well on the whole!
i was pleased at how well i handled my horse, but on the last lesson i think i pulled the reign a certain way 'cos then it went from a trot to a canter
i kind of had to hang on (Obviously!) but i managed to get it under control&didn't ever get thrown off so all in all, i think i was ok with it&i've always been keen to do more but haven't had the chance
i loved being up close to the horses! They're beautiful animals.
That's another long answer!!!!
For the swimmimg one, that's a short answer for that&that is no i can't&i've tried&tried so hard to, but to me it's almost impossible
my mum can do it and she can't understand how i can't 'cos she can!
What's the longest book you've read?