Back In The Saddle Again

Last fall I was asked if I'd be interested in taking lessons on one of the horses at Hope Therapy, Sasha. She's a 20 year old Thoroughbred mare who doesn't get ridden much but needs to be. I was also told that if one day I'd like to lease her and start showing her in dressage that the option is open for me. Dressage is basically the horse and rider doing a pattern in an arena that consist of either walking, trotting, or cantering. There are lots of fancy videos on You Tube but that definitely won't be me... :) Then Marianne's husband suffered a horrible, almost fatal heart attack so all lessons were put on hold while she and the family worked on getting him better.


While taking lessons again and being back on a horse sounded like the greatest thing since slice bread I also had reservations about it. Only because the last time I had a real lesson I think I was 10....which was umm 21 years ago. I'm much older now, much more out of shape and not a dare devil on horseback like I used to be. I can remember times throwing on a halter with some reigns and going swimming with our horses. My friend Kim G and I used to hop on horseback all the time with a bridle and no saddle and go explore the woods. I think about all the crazy things I used to do on a horse and now the opportunity to ride was here again and I was scared. Funny how growing older changes ones personality a little bit.... not that I'm lacking at times in personality but just changes how you view things/think about things.


However, I got over my fears or maybe it was more my pride for that matter. I think I was more prideful than anything because I used to be a pretty good rider at one point and now I was starting over. So whatever it was that was ailing me I got over it. I had my first lesson two Sunday's ago, in the 100 degree June heat. I told the trainer, Adrian, to take it slow with me and pretend I've never done this so all I did was walk, worked on leg positioning and hand work. It felt so good to be back up there. It all started coming back to me but I do now I need to start working out to lose weight (so it's easier to get in the saddle...haha) and working on my flexibility. But it's a good excuse and it's a good distraction in my life right now.