It's snowy and sooo cold here today and it has been for a few days. Indy was supposed to have a riding lesson on Saturday, but we had to postpone it till the roads clear and the temperature rises a bit. Indy had her very first horse riding lesson last Saturday and the weather was much different then.
Even though she's only six (about to turn 7), Indy's been on a horse many times; being led around a round-pen or in the pasture, or riding on my lap or cowboy Danny's, but this was her first real riding lesson.
Melina, the oldest daughter of some good friends of ours is a very experienced rider and is who is giving Indy the lessons. It was easy to see that Indy likes "Lena" as Indy calls her and looks up to her and paid close attention to all she had to say.
Indy and the schoolhouse have a good-sized little pony here at the farm named Casper that is very gentle and well-mannered. Perfect for little ones her age to learn to ride on.
Indy's always been very brave. So getting up on the pony, or holding on isn't something that she is afraid of.
Letting go and putting her arms out when she was told to was a little scarier.
It was so sweet to see her so happy and so comfortable sitting in a saddle. Getting to learn something herself, something she can be proud of.
Especially knowing how much her Mama loved horses and loved riding.
Joey had a horse named 'Velvet' growing up and spent all of her early adult life working as a veterinary assistant at horse vet clinics in Indiana and Tennessee. A couple of times after we were married she even competed in the Celebrity Cutting Horse competition in Fort Worth, Texas. This is something I found online from one of the times we were there, ten years or so ago...
It was a wonderful first lesson and a first step for Indy. She's already looking forward to her next lesson, one day this week.
So am I...
