Maybe I am a Horseperson After All.

Okay, the title of this post might be a stretch, but I am certainly having fun and learning so much!  I took my first riding lesson, EVER, this month.  It was awesome.  I rode Noel's horse, Maize.  Maize is a great horse for building confidence.  It went so well, that later in the week, Noel agreed to let me tack up and ride Maize on my own.  I even took Maize for a small walk outside the arena.  Baby steps, but I know one thing for sure, I need to stick to bomb proof horses like Maize.

I saw a post on Facebook from one of the local trainers, Grace Robinson, advertising for a small clinic geared toward green and anxious horses.   I have heard great things about Grace and sent her a message.  I told her I am a very green 'non-rider' with a young and green horse.  I asked if this clinic would help me learn a few more things to do on the ground with Levi.  She thought it would be a great fit.  She told me that the clinic is three hours and the first half, everyone will be doing ground work.  For the second half, only those that are ready and interested would be riding.  Sid was working, so I loaded Levi and hauled him up to the clinic.  Sidney showed up right after it started and observed the first half.  I learned so many great things.  

One of my favorites was so simple, but it made so much sense.  We had our horses lunging around us.  At one point, Levi got a bit spunky.  Grace said, "Well, that is his opinion, not yours, keep him moving forward."  Sure enough, he snapped out of it.  It was good timing, because about 10 minutes later, the horse next to us, blew up.  I was freaking out inside and Levi got a bit excited.  I just kept telling myself, "that is only his opinion, not mine, keep him moving forward."  Sure enough, things fell into place.  Afterward, both Grace and Sidney asked me if I had noticed the craziness.  I told them, yes, I was dying inside.  They were both surprised, as I did not seem to miss a beat.  Yay!  The old adage, fake it till you make it really paid off!

The second half of the clinic, Sidney worked with Levi.  They did a bit of ground work first.

After that, Sidney got in the saddle and did a few new exercises with Levi.  They were amazing.  I have a video that I will need to load up.  For now, here is a picture of the dynamic duo.  Levi was so quiet under saddle.  He is still two, and still nutty, but he is coming along so nicely.  He is getting giant though.  He is already significantly taller than Pigeon, and still growing.