A few weeks ago I took my first English riding lesson. I was plopped onto this unfamiliar saddle with stirrups that are absolutely impossible to keep on your feet—any fantasy of looking as poised as the fancy English riders flew out the window. I tried to remember all the directions the lovely advanced riders had given me…Keep your heels down. Squeeze with your calves. Arch your shoulders. Look up. and my personal favorite from our wonderful English instructor, Don’t move your hands all over the place like a drunk driver. With all this floating about my mind, I rode out to the Gymkhana field with a few other novices like myself. We quickly found an appropriate speed where we all felt comfortable—a molasses walk where any grandparent could surpass us easily on foot.

We finally got to the English arena after what felt like a few hours and the lesson began. The flat work was fun and challenging and way more taxing on my legs than Western ever was. Then we tried a few little jumps and ended on a high note. It was a great experience that left me excited for the next lessons. I had two more lessons after that, one in the pouring rain (okay, maybe it wasn’t exactly pouring, but there was definitely rain) and another jumping one. On my second lesson, I somehow managed to fall off my horse in the middle of a jump into a puddle of mud (yes, I’m very talented like that). But, within a few seconds I had a bunch of people helping me up and making sure my bones were all in the right places. Turns out they were and I hopped back on my horse after a few minutes. I discovered it’s not so bad to fall off your horse.

This Thursday was the start of the English Gymkhanas. They are flat and jumping competitions in which you compete in different levels (a, b and c) to gain points for your Gymkhana team. By the way, I’m on the Green team—the BEST team… Anyways, we had a really good time doing the English Gymkhana. It was not as intimidating as I had expected—It was basically a regular lesson except the instructor was judging instead of coaching. I think I did my best, which may or may not gain me any points, but I enjoyed myself and learned a lot. I can’t wait for next week’s lesson and gymkhana!