Back in the Saddle

On Wednesday, I returned to horseback riding. The winter was so nasty and the weather has been so uncertain until now that it hasn't been possible. But Wednesday was really nice (against the weather report of rain) and it was nice to be back at the barn.

I love the smell of the barn. Hay and horses is an amazing and intoxicating smell. While Christine (a teacher in the art department and fellow rider) and I waited for our lesson, I joked that the child in the ring we were watching posted better than I did. Christine commented that I canter better than any of them, which was very kind.

The new instructor is my speed, though I secretly enjoyed watched Alyssa and Sue (our club sponsor) argue. I was on Spanky who is the most beautiful shade of red ever. He's tall, but not to tall that I couldn't mount him on my own if he was saddled with a western saddle. The lack of pommel on the English saddle makes that impossible. The problem with Spanky is that he's a little lazy and a bit of a follower. I gave him a regular pep talk about how he should be his own horse and not listen to the gossip around the stables, after which he stopped following the others so much. Breakthrough!

We trotted for an hour, getting back into the rhythm of posting. The new instructor commented that I had a Western post and we worked on correcting it. She means that I sit far back in the saddle, making posting a lot more work for me and the horse. After I corrected it, there was definite improvement. At the end of the lesson, I dismounted and undid Spanky's saddle, then took him back to the barn. I removed his bridle and brushed him down, promising that at some point I would get him on a Western saddle and we'd go trail riding. He was a Western horse, so I think we had an understanding. I hung out at the barn for awhile and just enjoyed being there.

I like horses. They're not particularly fragile (getting one to move when you're dismounted and they don't want to is a full body effort) but as a species they're incredibly gentle. When we're waiting on the line and Spanky starts dancing because he wants to run, there's that moment where I just want to let him so we can see how fast we can go. But one of the differences between English and Western riding is control (as well as the use of reigns - didn't realize that so much until recently). So Spanky and I don't run, but I think we have a secret understanding that, in a different saddle, we would.

As a side note...2 days later, I'm still extremely sore. So out of shape...