Horseback Riding! ( #s 3-7 )

Horseback Riding #3: Today I rode Prince. At first he was acting a bit weird like he was irritated by the mouth piece, but besides that, he was a very good horse. Today was the day that I was let off of the leash and told to ride by my self... Stoked!
We have just been practicing walking, trotting, and galloping (the movements) and going from a to c to m (link for more info on that). We also practice jumping by putting a pole on the ground and riding over it while standing...

Horseback Riding #4: Anne was my horse today. She is an old competition horse, while we were in gallop I nearly fell off! It was so much fun! Bente always tries hard to keep us on the horses but if we fall off we have to bring a fluffy sweet treat called "flødebollers", so my mom made a joke that we should just bring them anyway to encourage Bente to try even harder to keep us on the horse. We called them the "non-fell off flødebollers"...
At the end of each of the classes, we go on a walk with the horses outside, which helps us connect even more. I love riding out in nature with the horses. I feel peaceful when I do so.

Horseback Riding #5: "No Name"... Bente unfortunately can't remember his name, but Bente does know that he is a "real" horse. He is a purebred palomino so he is a beautiful chestnut color (palomino link here). He is super tall and I needed help getting on, though my aunt said that I didn't look small on him.
Bente told us to go into trot and I think by now I've got the hang of it. Up, down and up, down. My muscles are definitely stronger!
After the riding we went on a walk. "No Name" is a new horse, so he was very curious about the surroundings. When we got back, there was a family wanting to buy a horse so Bente took "No Name" with her. I was pretty sad that I didn't get to brush him down. He is my favorite horse so far.

Biking: My mom and I biked out to the horses a few Thursdays ago. It was loads of fun to just see (and feed) the horses. I felt more than happy to see "No Name" again. He definitely deserved more than 1 small apple. I am not sure, but I really hope that he is still there next weekend!

Horseback Riding #6:
I went to Bente's stable to find out that she wasn't there. I was already geared up and I didn't want to leave. It turns out that Bente went to a horseback riding competition with her daughter in Jutland. There was an elder man there who we've seen before. He has always wanted to ride and he always loved horses, but unfortunately he has never gotten the chance. Later in his life, his grandchildren began riding so he thought that maybe he should start also. Now he had the time and the money to do it. Anyways he helped us take "No Name" out. We got him saddled up and then I took him into the riding house. I didn't really like being without Bente because I didn't know what I should do.  Should I walk or trot or should I go from A to C? I still thought that it was fun and I got a lot out of it- now that I had a competition the next day and I haven't been out there for 2 weeks.

Horseback Riding #7:
Today, I went to my seventh horseback riding lesson. I picked out "No name" and we saddled him up and took him into the riding house. We were told to tighten the "gjoren" in the riding house and not in the stables. So that's what we did and then we waited for Bente. The horse was getting anxious and so it kept nodding its head. I started yelling no to him and then he just go frustrated and scared. It went up on its hind legs and stood up. I was terrified. My mom had to let go of the head gear and we both backed up.
My mom got hold of the horse and started walking him around to calm him down. As he started to settled down my mom asked me to go and get Bente. Everyone came rushing in because they heard me scream. Bente explained that once we get all of the gear on the horse and get into the riding house we have to get up on the horse and start riding. I'm glad she explained that and we learned something new. I got up on "No Name" and after that everything went fine. I actually thought that that lesson was the most fun so far (well, besides the first part - which was a good life lesson)! We mostly trotted and also galloped (I preferred to be on a leash and not on my own even though Bente offered). In trot, we went up and down and stayed in the seat. At the end we went outside on a nice walk through the forest. I had such a great time and I was sad for it to be over...

 

More pictures at Picasa web.