Fadedwords

The last few riding lessons I’ve felt kind of… blah.  It’s such a struggle to get muscles back where they once were, especially when you’re still carrying around 35 extra pounds.  It’s even harder when you haven’t ridden in as long as I haven’t.  It’s been frustrating because I know what I’m supposed to be doing, how I’m supposed to be riding… I just haven’t been able to make my body do it.

Tonight is the first night that I’ve felt like I’m getting back to where I want to be.  And that felt amazing.

The horse I ride, Missy, was never really trained to bring her head down or extend her stride.  We spend a lot of time working with her on that and it is incredibly hard.  She’s an older mare with a lot of spunk and a mind of her own on some things.  She tries hard though to give you what you’re asking for.  And tonight we finally communicated effectively.  There were several times during the lesson when my instructor, Elizabeth, was calling out things like, “YES!  That’s perfect!” There was one moment in particular when we came around the corner and I felt Missy drop her head, bend around the corner and just throw her legs out and extend.  I was sitting the trot and I just felt perfect.  Elizabeth yelled out, “Yes, that’s it!  Get right into it!!!” It was just amazing.

That’s exactly the kind of lesson I needed tonight.  I left feeling so good about myself.  I worked really hard and I know that I’ll feel it tomorrow.  But it’s worth it, because this is what it felt like

Amazing.