Rhiannons Story

My First Trail Ride Ever by Rhiannon

I received a great birthday present for my 9th birthday, a special day with my dad. When my dad woke me up Saturday morning he said "Get dressed, we're going on a trail ride!" I said Yippee and ran down the hall to get ready. We took an incredibly long car ride and my dad got lost. When we finally got there we met a woman with a clipboard and she directed us to where the horses were waiting. I got to ride Kassie, my dad got to ride a very fat horse named Dolly. Our trail guides name was Elise. She said everybody saddle up and volunteers came along to help us get up on the horses.
The trail ride was 2 hours. We saw butterflies, ducks and turtles. We walked, trotted and cantered the horses, dad and I even broke into a gallop (even though we weren't supposed to). We had to go up a steep hill and Dolly almost slipped. When we were finally at the top I said "Anyone who runs down that hill would be an idiot." The trail guide told us that she had mountain boarded down that hill. "I told her she was nuts."
When we finally got back to the barn I dismounted Kassie and my knees were as weak as Jello. We said thank you to Elise and got into the car and drove off. On the way home we got lost again. When we got home I unlaced my boots, got into bed and said I am not getting out again for the day! The End.

Horseback Riding Lessons

Well Rhiannon has been asking for horseback riding lessons for years now - this year it was all she asked anyone for for her 8th birthday - so guess what she got? Today was her first of a series of 10 lessons and she loved every minute of it. We were very impressed with her lesson, instructor and the facility. Her lessons are supposed to be one hour each but this first one lasted almost 2 hours!

The lesson began with her learning how to place a halter and lead rope on the horse and lead the horse to the crossties. Then learn about the different combs and brushes and had the opportunity to groom and prepare the horse herself. She learned what different parts of the horse and bridle are called. She learned about the different saddles and bits and styles of riding. The instructor decided to begin her in Eastern hunt sea. After walking the horse into the riding area the instructor showed her the proper way to mount and ride and dismount the horse and the proper way to sit in the saddle. Then they went over the difference between walk, trot, and canter and posting in the saddle. She rode around, tried out posting and then did some fun balance exercises - including being able to lay backwards on the horse while her instructor walked the horse around. The lesson ended with the proper horse care of brushing and removing all the gear and leading her horse back to his stall.

Her instructor has a wonderful way of communicating with kids and she seemed to get along quite well. I am glad we waited until now to do this as she is really into and the program we decided to go with requires quite a bit of attention and learning as they realize focus on horse care and the sport in order o ride as well. She was interested and even excited for her homework for next week. She had a great big smile on her face the entire time and now is clearly the right time for this. More to come in the weeks and lessons that follow and look out for some blog posts from her as well.