The Ride

I slip these beauties on every Saturday morning and head out to the ranch.

The air is cool and the horses are still feeding.

I smell the breeze and the fresh grass. 

Blue sky above has just welcomed the morning.

A peace fills me as I walk among the horses.

I greet my companion I will ride.

Together we prepare, she stands and let's me groom.

Trust with a saddle and bridle.

She allows me on her back and is patient with my human ways.

During the ride, we work as one.

We move together as her hooves touch the sand and the wind blows across our faces. 

At the end, I lead her to cool water, scratch her soft neck,

 and thank her for bearing my burdens during the ride.

Horse Love

Every Saturday morning I go spend time with these lovely creatures.

I take western horseback riding lessons and I get to ride in an arena as well as trial rides. 

There something so peaceful about riding a horse, although you can never be off your guard when riding.

Horses are flight animals, meaning that whenever they fear something, they want to run away to protect themselves. 

This also means they can spook at the slightest thing that they are unsure of and it's happened a few times when I was riding one. 

Riding is harder than it looks. You need to have leg strength to steer with your legs more than the reins. You also need to have good balance, because if the horse moves in a direction you're not prepared for, you may fall off. 

Currently I'm working at posting at a trot, which means moving up and down on the horse as it trots so you don't hurt their back during the bumpy ride. I've been riding since June and still have so much more to learn. 

I'm going to continue riding horses for a long time, and I hope some day I can own my own horse :)