First Lesson

I just love my pony! :)

We went out to the barn for a short visit this afternoon and while I was brushing Zoe another barn resident (A) offered to ride with me. When I got into the arena, she helped me with some mounting tricks (mainly getting Zoe to stand still where I wanted her) and then showed me the correct way to steer Zoe. I was amazed at how much more responsive my horse was once I started doing things a little more correctly - her turns were almost immediate and so smooth. A also helped me with the position of my feet and legs (I had my toes down and legs/ankles too far forward).

She then taught me how to cue for a forehand turn and a haunch turn. Those will take a bit of work for sure. Zoe definitely knows how to do these skills, but she is not one to give anything to me unless I ask correctly. Which I'm not able to do yet.

At one point Zoe picked up a nice trot - and I wasn't scared. I didn't let her keep it up, because that wasn't the point of today's ride, but it was nice to realize I could handle the increased speed. In fact, I felt in control and not nervous for the whole ride. What a nice change!

As I was riding around I remembered that E's first real ride on a horse and "lesson" came from A over 4 years ago! How fitting that she should be the person to help me with Zoe and give me my first lesson too.