Tuesday's horse class: riding!

Wow! Today's horse class was amazing! I was able to ride 2 horses, Breezy, and Jesse. I'll start from the beginning.... I arrived and walked into the paddock and started grooming Alfie, a white Mustang. And man does that horse shed like crazy!  It didn't help that is was a windy day.  After brushing him down, and cleaning his hooves, I walked down to the riding pen.  Lannie, ( my teacher ) told me I was to ride Breezy, ( I was a little nervous because Breezy is a little jumpy etc. ) I buckled my helmet on, swung into the ring, and boldly walked right up to her.  It took a couple of minutes to get Breezy to stand still in front of the mounting block but she finally did long enough for me to mount her.  As soon as I was settled in her saddle she jumped, and I landed down hard on her saddle, ( I now have a sore spot, thanks Breezy! ) She was skittish the whole half hour I rode her. But it was exciting, and surprisingly, I wasn't scared.  I learned to stop her and to make her go into a walk, ( although most of the time it was a trot.. she doesn't listen well ).   I learned to, um what's the correct term, where you go up down up down in the saddle with the rhythm of the horse?  Ah well, I'll have to learn the correct terminology soon.  Anyway, I learned that.   Lannie said I have perfect form on a horse.  But I can always improve, I know. :) Soon after Lannie told me to go get on Jesse.  I don't need a mounting block for her! She is SO gentle, and cute!  Another helper\teacher put her on the lunge, ( Ya I knew the word for that one! ) And I did some balancing exercises on her.  Then when I was through with that lesson, I practiced some more mounting and dismounting on Alfie.  Okay, so now after the riding Lannie showed me and the other students how to untack. She showed us how to take off the saddle and bridle, then she asked me to go with her and untack Breezy down in the main barn.  We walked her into her stall and I unbuckled Breezy's saddle all by myself, and slid it off her back. Then the lessons were pretty much over. It was an enjoyable afternoon and a memorable one!  To finish the day off, I went over to my brother Josh's house for dinner, ( Josh, you make the best ribs! ) and cake.  I also fiddled on his stupendous new ipad. :) Well, it's late now so I'll end here.   If you made it this far, thanks for reading!       In Christ, Lydia