Horses Week 1!

Last Monday I started riding horses again at 3 Gaits. The horse I rode was True. I started the lesson by making sure the stirrups were the right length and leading her around the arena to the mounting ramp to get on.

After I got on True, I practiced getting her to stop on command to make sure she was listening and behaving well. This can be challenging sometimes because there are other horses and riders around during the lesson and we all have to be careful not to run into each other.

Once True and I were warmed up, we practiced going through a serpentine obstacle course. That was confusing sometimes because everyone was going in different directions at once! It took me a couple tries before I got the hang of it that time, but it's just something that takes practice.

After we did the serpentine, the horses were ready to do some trotting. Trotting is one of my favorite things to do during lessons and it's something I think I have come a long way in. I can trot independently now unless True starts to go too fast for me to control. The class started by trotting individually to make sure the horses behaved, but once we had all trotted on our own a couple times we did a group trot!

 At the end of the lesson, the horses and their riders were tired after the busy session. Since it was my first time back after a few weeks dismounting was a bit tricky, but it only took me two tries to get down. Sometimes it takes me a lot longer. Once everyone had gotten down, the horses got to have their treats. I can't wait to learn more next time!