Riding

3 or 4 weeks ago I had a call at while out eating at one of our local restaurants from a lady that was wanting to know about riding lessons. We had spoken to her a few weeks earlier, but I couldn't place her.We finally connected, and I knew whom she was immediately. She brought her girls over to meet me and then to sell us cookies for a fundraiser that the kids were doing at school. So we bought some cookies to boot.

Anyway, I talked with them and set up riding lessons. The girls are cute, sweet girls, freckles and very nice mannered. So the following Saturday after our first deer hunt we started lessons. I pulled out our best horse for lessons, Tomasa, and she performed like a champ. She is the greatest almost horse. She knows when a rider doesn't know what to do, and she makes them quit daydreaming or being afraid. She has mostly one speed, I call her my everybody horse.

The girls both started learning how to groom a horse, and I then saddled her up and we went to our round pen and started. The older girl probably rode a handful of times, and the younger maybe a couple of times. They both did extremely well.

This Saturday we will have another lesson, and I will be starting on some real basics for them to learn. I feel really strongly about learning the anatomy of the horse, including their hooves, as well as all the parts of saddles and bridles. To me, if you are going to take the time to pay for lessons, and you are paying by yourself for these lessons, (the oldest is 12, the younger 8, and they are earning their money for the lessons) I feel its important for a lesson to include all that is possible.

I also feel its important to learn gaits, colors, different styles of riding, grooming, feeding and such. If they do well enough that their parents decide to buy them a horse, then I feel they need to do their part by learning everything possible about the horse. I start with basics. I never showed or rodeo'd but I did work at a couple of Arabian ranches and helped work horses as well as groomed and have done a lot of trail riding and just riding with my girlfriends. A girls dream, romance and happiness rolled in one.