And We Finally Picked One!
Yep! Finally did it! We picked which horse ranch my daughter will be taking riding lessons from. It was a pretty easy choice seeing as Ranch #3 was rude and Ranch #4 returned my phone call 2 weeks later! We went with #2 due to their friendliness and the fact that they were closer. And with gas so high, that was a major factor!
So today she started lessons. The entire family packed up to watch her start on a horse.
Here’s Nicki - the school horse she was riding. (Man is it hard to photograph in a barn! The bright sun from the door, the darkness inside… just too hard to get the exposure right!)
“I felt like I was on top of the world.” (Kayla’s words describing the experience of riding on Nicki.)
Stirrup at the ball of the foot, heels down, back straight, hands low, look ahead not down… so much to remember.
She walked and trotted alone. Kayla admitted to being a bit scared trotting.
The instructors watching Kayla (in the background). The middle one is Suzannah, Kayla’s instructor.
One of the other student’s horse started limping a bit. After Kayla’s lesson, they switched horses and Kayla untacked this one instead of Nicki.
All in all, a great first lesson. I took a TON of pictures but will share more throughout the week. Me thinks this post is picture heavy as it is! 
By cbmrj777 on Apr 28, 2008 in Kayla
What a wonderful gift you are giving her. A lifetime of memories come from all that encompasses riding. I can smell my old barn when I see these pics. Thanks!
Mental P Mama | Apr 28, 2008 | Reply
Oh good! I’m glad you found a stable you liked. I still can’t get over that one rude stable. LOL. I guess they just don’t want more business…
Kacey | Apr 28, 2008 | Reply
I took riding lessons for sixteen years of my life. There is no experience from my childhood that I look at with greater affection. Only once I got married did I not have horses and that will not last long because my wonderful husband wants me to have them again. My advice: steer clear of the show world and let her enjoy riding for what it really is… then let her go to shows as a teen. I worked as a catch rider at shows for quite some time and loved it. All the joys of showing without the expense!
Blessings!
Lacy
Razor Family Farms | Apr 28, 2008 | Reply
Thanks, Lacy, for the advice! I want her to enjoy riding, too, without pressures. Showing is something that is far off if she even gets interested at all. :)
cbmrj777 | Apr 28, 2008 | Reply
Christine, I think you did a pretty good job with that picture inside the barn. Congratulations on finding the right fit for your daughter. Look how happy she is already! Have fun and keep the riding stuff coming!
Kate | Apr 28, 2008 | Reply
Christine, I think you did a pretty good job on the picture inside the barn. And look how happy your daughter is already! So glad you took the time to find just the right fit for your daughter. Way to go.
And keep the horse posts coming! My gosh, I just love that last shot.
Kate | Apr 28, 2008 | Reply
Kate, the inside barn photo is HEAVILY GIMP’ed. LOL I had to really mess with the exposure, curves, and such. Plus I used a high ISO on the camera. And with my FujiFilm, really anything above 200 or sometimes 400 is very noisy. My camera just has those limitations that are hard to work around. We have riding lessons again today. Maybe I’ll have a better time of it.
cbmrj777 | Apr 29, 2008 | Reply