Saturday's Lesson

 Saturday I used my new riding clothes for the first time. Meghan was busy finishing up with the Pony Club testing(the local Pony Club meets at the same place I do lessons), so I went to go fetch Reno while Meghan was busy. I tied him by the tack room with a quick release knot and began grooming him. He wasn't too dirty this time, but his hooves were a pain to pick out. Early that week, it had rained to the point that the arena was too muddy to be usable, so his hooves were filled with so much mud that I couldn't even see the frog or the the sole. It took a few mintues to pick all the mud out. By that time, Meghan had finished up testing the Pony Club girls.

 Once Reno was clean, I put his boots on and tacked him up. The process moved more quickly now that I have practiced putting all the tack on a couple of times. After he was tacked, I lead him to the mounting block, got on, and rode toward the arena. Unlike the previous two times I have ridden, another person was in the arena, doing circles. It was not difficult riding with someone else in the aren, though.

 I started by walking, then halting at some of the dressage letters that were at the side of the arena. Next, I did several circles around a couple of the jumps. After that, I did some trot work. I practiced holding my balance while posting and I trotted the short side of the arena several times. By the end of the lesson, I was able to hold my balance for a little bit while Reno trotted the short side of the arena. To cool Reno down, instead of riding the loop around the barn, I walked him around the arena two times. Near the gate, he started to trot(I guess he really wanted to get back to his paddock), so I slowed him back down to a walk. I dismounted, the led Reno back to the barn.

 I untacked him, groomed him, and picked out his hooves and led him back to his paddock. Meghan said that next time I'll be able to do a lot more trotting. Yah! My older brother, who is away in college, will be able to watch this time. I can't wait.

 I'll upload the pictures later once I get them off the camera.