So look who’s hopping on her horse and going for a ride - all by herself! It’s Barbie. Barbie has been on horseback before. Previous incarnations had her wedged onto the saddle like a clothespin, with her feet arched chronically from constantly wearing high heels. My sister had the Barbie Olympic set many years ago, and Barbie was decked out with jodhpurs and yes, high heeled black boots. Buy jamming her on her palomino horse, you could have her pounce around over some very cute plastic jumps. After she rode, she could become butterfly stroke swim Barbie, as you skidded her over the painted pool on the same plastic mat as the riding ring. Her feet were perfectly arched for kicking through the water.
But today, Saddle and Ride Barbie can actually mount and ride off by herself. Slip Barbie’s elegant hand into a slot in her horse’s mane, press a button on the opposite side and Barbie leaps on without her tiny toes even touching the stirrups. If she were human, this would be an impressive feat of athleticism, hopping astride a 15.3 hand horse without bending your arms or legs. Barbie also does something I always wished I could do - a flying mount on the move. Yes, this has been perfected by many Pony Club PPG riders and die hard ride ‘n’ tie competitors. I envy Barbie, again without bending arms or legs, leaping into the saddle and landing squarely, if not a bit stiff leggedly in the saddle as her horse walks off robot-like with a rather alarming squealing noise.
To get her to do this, you first must engage her hand in the mane by holding her above the horse. This bit of assisted levitation gets her in position. And I have a feeling, that getting her set up to mount her horse is where the whole thing might get a bit tricky. I foresee a lot of Barbie mounting fails. Thank goodness she is wearing a bright pink helmet. Truly, she might also need a torso protector. If I was a kid, I could see myself rigging up one out of squares of toilet tissue and sticky tape, which incidentally, makes pretty decent miniature horse blankets and saddle pads.
And, Barbie’s horse never breaks out of a walk. I can imagine the interesting gait I’d get out of my horse if I were to try such a maneuver. I think I might suffer a Barbie-like mounting fail, with my horse doing more than a stilted walk.
I do like this toy however. I have a niece who is about the age to want something like this. Although she’s got about forty bazillion toy horses already, this is just cool enough to add to the collection. I like that Barbie is wearing a helmet. Her long flowing locks aren’t just blowing in the wind, which looks romantic, but isn’t a good role model for safety. Especially with the number of falls I expect her to take. Barbie and her horse are probably going to require the equivalent of a wagon load of hay to keep them in batteries. I don’t like that Barbie’s hand is looped into the reins. Bad horsemanship Barbie! And those feet? Still arched from wearing high heels? That’s going to make ‘heels down’ difficult. Don’t worry, my niece will straighten you out.
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