Horses!

Today was so cool. Karen called me up in the morning just as I was about to mix up 2 loaves of Amish Friendship bread, and she asked if I wanted to go with her to ride her horse today. Um....YEAH! So I met her at her place at noon and we drove over to the barn where she keeps her horse Showdown. He is 19 years old, short for a horse (apparently) and super nice. He lives at a barn with another horse and 4 miniature horses and some chickens and cats - Marmelade was born in that barn! So when we got there, we cleaned out his stall and then got him saddled up. First I led him around a bit and then I clambered on and we focused on steering with my feets and the reins. Then we tried to get him to trot, which requires continually jabbing him with your heels and clicking with your mouth. Trotting is a lot faster than walking...when we trotted, I had a really hard time keeping my balance and I basically forgot everything that Karen had told me to do! It was fun...but a little scary...just scary enough that I think it is wicked and I want to go again. Then after I had had enough, Karen rode him for a bit and then we unsaddled him, put him out to pasture, and then went to see her other horse, Ranger, who lives at another barn nearby. I didn't ride him! Karen lunged him for a bit, and then she stretched him and then rode him. It was fun to see her doing that. I've seen her compete before, but this was different. Then she showed me around that barn and introduced me to all of the horses. It was a great day!Incidentally, when riding, don't forget to wear stretchy pants of any sort, preferably jeans - I didn't and I ended up splitting my slighlyt snug, old, non-stretch jeans on the but and I didn't even know until we went to the second barn...that's hot!