Why ride?

I had the hardest time thinking of an idea for my first blog posting, so I decided to write about something I would have in common with most of my readers, horses and specifically Dressage.

I started riding at 6, when my mother decided that if I was going to jump on the horses in the pasture at my house, when nobody was looking and break my arm in the process, that I should really take riding lessons. So after my arm healed fully, I started my lessons immediately. I still remember my first lesson. I think it must have been January and there was no indoor, so we walked through the snow in the outdoor arena. I was so happy just to be riding and it didn't matter that it was probably only 30 degrees outside.

I must say, today I still feel the same. There is something about getting on my young horse, Devlin, whether it is 30 or 90 degrees, I am still happy that I have the privilege to ride such an amazing animal who is my best friend. Although I must admit, I do complain about the weather before I get on and maybe a little bit after too, as I think most of us do but don't even notice it while riding. I just enjoy the progress that we make in our rides and Devlin is quite goofy, so he makes me laugh atleast once a ride.

The past week or two, the weather has been very hot outside, making record highs here in Maine. So we (Devlin, Taz and I) have been doing our hill work in the field more often than usual. Taz is my other best buddy, he is my very smart Jack Russell Terrier/Beagle. Taz loves Devlin to pieces, following him everywhere including during our hill work. As a half beagle, he does like to eat, so the hill work is perfect exercise for him also!

I will end this post with a picture of us doing our hill work this past weekend. :)