My second riding lesson

I had read about despooking horses. So I decided to bring carrots for the horses...in a Wal-Mart bag. I wondered if the sound would bother them.  Nope.  They watched and waited for the carrots and gratefully ate them. Didn't even bat an eyelash.

Then it was into the barn for a refresher course in what I had learned at the first lesson. I found the halter and lead rope, got it off of the rack, and we went through the gate to "get Shorty". I put the halter on this time! Then I walked Shorty around the round pen, while Robyn went to get the saddle. Robyn put the blanket on Shorty, and then she put the saddle on. YAY!! I am going to fail Q & A because I can't remember the type of saddle it was, or at least the way it straps, anyway you wrap it like a tie at the top. Then I had to walk Shorty around the pen until his girth lessed a little so we could tighten the saddle a bit more.

Here comes the awesome part........I put my foot in the stirrup! Yep my left foot to be exact, by the way you do everything on the left, getting on, getting off, putting the saddle on, taking it off, putting on a harness, everything!

Then Robyn told me to stand up, on the stirrup, don't get on the saddle, just let me see you stand up in the stirrup. So I did. Yes! Then, she told me to mount. And so I did. Way Cool! Then she told me take my feet out of the stirrups and hold my arms out while she leads Shorty around the round pen. O.K. I read about this. I knew it was coming, I was ready, I was on, I was balancing, but I must say, the muscles you feel when you are hanging on with your thighs, oh my, where have those been? And where did they come from?! We did this for a while. Robyn turned, and walked straight, went in circles, any different kind of walking. I loved every minute of it.