First Riding Year

 A year ago yesterday, I rode a horse for the first time. As you may remember, or if you are a new reader, his name was Reno, and he was a small bay gelding that once did Western pleasure and was the most laid-back horse I have known. It's hard to believe that a year has gone by already. In some ways it seems like it has been forever, but in other ways it doesn't seem very long ago at all. A year ago I struggled to halter a horse and didn't know how to handle or tack one, much less ride one. I really didn't know much at all.

Reno

  Now, a year later, I know so much more. I am comfortable handling, tacking, and grooming a horse. I can now walk, trot, canter, leg-yield, do a little jumping, and have even learned how to get a horse on the bit, though I still need to practice that a lot. In my first year of riding I have ridden almost a dozen horses, including Reno, Ginger, Moe, Chester, Bentley, Roxie, Ronnie, Frankie, Romeo(the horse I test rode but never ended up getting) and a few others that friends outside the group that rides with Meghan have. Over the summer I got to ride Chester, the chestnut Thoroughbred/Percheron that I leased and learned so much on. He was the first horse that I regularly rode and he taught me how to canter and how to ride a challenging horse. It really is true that challenging horses have the most to teach us.

Chester

 More than that, I have made friends and had many great experiences. Some of the funnest moments include the Pony Club mounted games night, when all the girls were playing fun games on horseback. We had done pole bending with apples in our hands so we couldn't use the reins, egg races, a musical chairs game with dressage cones, and even a bareback dollar game. One of the greatest times I had with my friends was at the barn slumber party. All my friends and I rode bareback around the barn and in the arena, swapping mounts when we were in the arena to see how riding other horses was. It was a great, fun experience. After dark we watched horse movies and had a horse scavenger hunt, looking for items such as brushes, girths, halters, and saddles.

Moe

  I learned so much this year and have come so far in my riding. I can't wait to see what this next year of riding brings.

Riding Lesson Pictures

I have lots of pictures from Saturday's lesson, so I'm am only posting some of the best. Click here to read about my lesson.

Leading Reno to the barn.

Grooming Reno

Picking his hooves

Putting on his boots

Here I am learning how to put a bridle on.

In this one I am just mounting. I used a large mounting block to get on
more easily.

Now I am heading to the arena, that fenced off area to the right(it's kind of hard
to see). The white building is the barn.

I'm in the arena now. 

Here I am practicing turning.

In this last picture, I am beginning my trail ride to cool Reno down after the lesson.
I had two cross to bridges as I circled around the barn and one of the pastures.

First Riding Lesson!!!

 Saturday I had my first ever riding lesson! It was so awesome; I was smiling the whole time.

 When I arrived at Silver Rose Ranch, where I would be taking the lesson, Meghan, my instructor, came up to talk to me. To my surprise and delight, she told me I would be getting my horse from the paddock. That made me really excited because I had been hoping to tack my horse as well as ride it. We walked around the barn, passing lots of bales of hay. On the way to the paddock, we stopped to remove the blanket of a grey OTTB in a small fenced area. Then, we reached three paddocks that were side by side. In one was Moe, a dark bay. Moe had once been a 3rd level dressage horse before her owner went away to college. Ginger, a chestnut jumper, was in the middle pen. Reno was in the last pen.

 Reno is a bay ex-Western pleasure currently used as a therapy horse. His calmness made him perfect for a first-time rider like myself. Meghan explained that I would start out by riding Reno, then as I progressed, I could move up to Ginger then Moe. After her explaination, we both entered Reno's paddock. Meghan taught me how the put the halter on. Once I did that, I led Reno to the barn and hooked him in the cross-ties. When he was securely hooked in, the two of us went to the talk room to bring out his gear. First, we got his grooming bucket. Meghan demonstrated how to groom him and how to safely walk behind. I groomed him a little, picked his hooves, and began to tack him. We started with his boots. I learned how to put them on properly. Next, we brought out the saddle pads(we used to:a fleece one and the regular one). I admit, I put the regular white one upside down at first, and Meghan had to correct me. Once the pads were on the right way, we fetched the saddle and girth. We put those on before grabbing a helmet, the bridel, and the reins. Surprisingly, the first helmet I tried fit comfortably. Yay! Meghan told me parents and I a little about fitting a helmet before teaching me how to put the bridle on and how to get the horse to open his mouth. We were then all tacked up.

 I led Reno to a large mounting block, one Meghan used for beginners to easily hop into the saddle. I mounted and was ready to roll. I learned about proper EQ---head up, heels down, back straight---all that good stuff. I started by learning to stop and go. Then, Meghan introduced steering. she also taught me about tightening the reins to make a horse stop if he just keeps on moving. After practicing all that for a while, Meghan asked if i wanted to do a quick trail ride around the barn to cool down. I was excited about testing my knew knowledge outside of the arena. While I ride, I talked to Meghan about various horse related stuff---she asked if I had learned about horse colors, and I identified Reno as a bay. I then pinted out a chestnut in the pasture nearby the barn.

 We also talked about OTTBs. I had told her I wanted one, and talked to her a little bit about Lynn Reardon(she owns a OTTB adoption center in Texas) and some of my blogging friends who also had OTTBs. I told her about the horse show I went to several weeks ago and Sarah, from Eventing in Color. Meghan told me that there is a schooling show coming up next week. Some of her students will be there.

 By then, we had reached the mounting block again. I dismounted, then untacked Reno and picked his hooves again. The cross-ties were being used, so we had to tie him to a metal loop using a quick-release knot, which Meghan taught me. I sprayed Reno with fly spray and led him back to his paddock.

 Riding for the first time was an awesome experience. I can't wait until my next lesson this coming Saturday. I have lots of pictures, but I can't upload them yet since the internet is down. I'll upload them from the camera later so hopefully you can see them later this week.