In the Saddle for the First Time

Today was Jared's first horseback riding lesson at Westwood Farms.  It went great!  The facility was beautiful and clean and the horses were well maintained. 

We arrived a little early so we had time to wander around a bit.  Chris took the morning off work and we brought the entire crew. We said "Hello" to the horses in the stalls and took a little walk on the dock.  From there, we saw a frog sitting on a lily pad and a water snake come up from the deep and eat a minnow.  Our day would normally have been complete at that point, but we had a horse lesson coming!

The first part of Jared's session was spent teaching him how to prepare his horse for riding.  I really like this part, as it teaches many lessons besides riding, including self-control and a work ethic. After they get the hang of it they can come early and do this part themselves and they will have more time for riding, which I think is a great lesson in itself.

The horse he rode was a 25 year old retired racing thoroughbred named "Ripple".  The first thing Jared learned to do was how to brush Ripple down, then how to clean out his hooves. One thing we learned is racing horses have an identification number tattooed inside the upper lip. This number can be used to look up Ripple's information and racing record.

Next Jared learned how to put the saddle and bridle on and Ripple wasn't real fond of this. After 25 years one would think he'd be used to it.

Jared did a great job of listening to instruction and I think it will really motivate him to do his push-ups and build his upper body strength.  Those hooves are heavy.

Now it was time to mount the horse.  I really liked how Steve (his instructor) was patient yet persistent with Jared.  Helping him understand in different ways how to do what he asked instead of doing it for Jared.  

Steve attached a lunge lead to the horse and they began some balance exercises.  In addition to upper body strength, the riding will help him build core strength too.

Now this is where I thought the lesson would stop.  I thought Jared would walk around on the lead for a while and the lesson would eventually end.  I was completely wrong.

Within a few minutes, I heard Steve telling Jared the basics of posting and how to get Ripple to start trotting.  The first time Ripple trotted, Jared bounced around and said "I feel like my insides are in a washing machine" and Steve laughed.  Steve then worked more on the mechanics of posting to counter-act that feeling.  Okay, I thought, that was a surprise but I'm sure this is what they'll work on the rest of the lesson.

Nope wrong again! Much to my surprise he took the lead rope off and told Jared to start walking Ripple around the very large ring (which, by the way, is only fenced in on three sides -- insert images of Jared being swept away on a runaway race horse here....).  I was very surprised, and I realized after I got home that I just stared and forgot to take pictures!  Jared did awesome.  He even managed to turn Ripple when Ripple thought going back into the barn seemed like a nicer idea than staying in the ring.

At the end of the lesson, he learned how to take off the tack, clean and groom his horse and properly put him back in the stall. A job well done.

Steve told them they could give treats to some of the horses in the adjoining paddocks and Lance helped groom Ripple a bit at the end. Jared was tired and rightfully so.

To say the lesson was thorough was an understatement. The lesson far exceeded my expectations and I look forward to continuing and I think Jared does too.  There's a great feeling of accomplishment in learning to control such a large animal and having a chance to bond as you groom him and give him treats.