First Ride at the New Place!

  I finally had my first lesson since the end September. As you may recall, all the horses have been moved from Silver Rose after it was sold and now live at a place called Third Day Farms, a nice eventing facility. It's a beautiful place with nice white fencing surrounding each of the paddocks and arenas. The barn is a beautiful white with a green roof, and the stalls inside have small turnouts attached to them for the horses to be turned out. All the horses from Silver Rose seem to be near each other, in the paddocks behind the barn and next to the dressage arena.

The barn, which you face as you come in.

Turnout for the horses in the barn, which is to the left of the barn if you are facing the front.

Dressage arena, which you reach after you pass on the left side of the barn.

The round pen is in front of the barn.

the jumping arena is in front of and to the right of the barn,

 When I arrived, Meghan showed me where everything is. Moe is on the end right next to the dressage arena. Also nearby are two sheds, where the tack is stored. I grabbed Moe, tying her up next to the shed, not in the barn---everyone tacks up outside, right next to the tack shed. Fall is here, so Moe was looking quite fluffy. I was also using a new intercom that my trainer now uses in lessons. All her students now wear earphones during the lesson so she can talk directly to them rather than shouting across the arena.

The paddocks that are across from the jumping arena.

The paddocks where the lesson horses are. Just turn left when you reach the turn in the picture above, pass those paddocks and make one more left turn, and these are on the right.

The tack sheds, which are across from the paddocks pictured above.

 My riding wasn't the best; I had to spend the whole lesson reviewing basic things and getting used to riding after a month break(well I have been riding the pony but not very much). For some reason I had trouble putting my leg on Moe, gripping with my knees instead, stuggling for balance as I flopped around. I felt tense the entire time. As I rode around the arena and on circles and serpentines, I focused on using my calves, pushing Moe forward and balancing with me seat, not on the bit. Of course Moe was becoming tense and worried because of the way I was riding.

Fuzzy horse!

My position looks pretty nice here.

 Around halfway through the lesson, Meghan asked me if I was comfortable cantering. I said that I was, and made a 20 meter circle to the right. I took a deep breath, then asked for the canter. I had to ask a couple times because I was unbalanced. Once I was cantering I finally began to relax and focused on enjoying the canter, which really helped. I softened my hands and sat deep in the saddle. At one point I felt a strange change in her gait, realizing that Moe had done a flying lead change, either because she just wanted to or from conflicting aids, I'm not sure. Either way, it's cool I experienced my first flying change even if it was by accident.

My favorite from yesterday's lessons. It also looks the part where my riding was best that lesson.

 After a few circles, I trotted and tried cantering left, also on a circle. Moe sometimes has trouble picking up the left lead, but she picked it up nicely after just a couple tries. It went smoothly, but after several circles I lost my balance and she fell out of canter, not picking up the correct lead again. Instead of trying many more times, Meghan had me change directions and canter right several more times.

 To end my lesson I rode past the front of the barn, around the corner to the left, through a path that went between to groups of paddocks, and around to the left again, past the tack sheds where I had tacked Moe up at. This path is quite a bit shorter than the one at Silver Rose, but it was nice going around and exploring the new place. Afterward I hosed Moe off at the wash rack, which is next to the jumping arena near the barn. It's a neat place; I like it.

 Hopefully by my next lesson I will get back into things again. For now I am riding just once a week though.