Gen 7 Chapter 3

It was the last day of school for the summer and my Mom and Dad told me I could go over to Chelseas’ house after school. I was so excited because her Mom had just gotten them a second horse and she said we could take them out for a trail ride!After getting off the bus my excitement suddenly turned to nervousness. I had never actually ridden a REAL horse before. Sure I had dreamed about it, read about it, but ever actually done it? Nope! “Come on Gabbie!” Chelsea called after me. I felt numb all over but somehow I managed to pick up my feet and follow her out back to her barn to get the horses ready.  Once we began grooming the horses my nervousness began to fade a little. I absolutely loved being around horses, I knew this was what I wanted to spend my whole life doing! I just wished I had been able to do it sooner. Well, here goes nothing! I slipped my foot into the stirrup, grabbed the saddle horn and prepared to mount. I paused for just a moment to pinch myself and make sure this wasn’t just another dream. Then I took a deep breath and pulled myself up into the saddle. Chelsea was already up and ready to go well before I was. “Relax Gabbie, we’re just going for a little trail ride. You’re going to be fine, your horse will just follow mine the whole time. I promise!” she said. “Ohh okay, if you say so.” I replied, trying to relax once again. It felt so good to finally experience what I had been wanting my entire life. But I can’t deny that it was also the scariest thing I had ever done. Chelsea was right though, my horse followed hers, never once tried to veer off course. All I had to do was sit back and enjoy the ride. Once I let myself relax I felt the excitement come back. Then my brain was bombarded by ideas of what I could do with my life that involved spending as much time as possible with horses. The possibilities were endless, but unfortunately the trail ride wasn’t and before I knew it we were already back at Chelseas’ barn. After we unsaddled the horses and put them out to pasture Chelsea began talking to me about lessons. I had never really thought about it before, but what Chelsea said made sense. She had been riding ever since she was able to walk because her Mom taught her how and now she said she could help teach me. I agreed immediately and I couldn’t wait to get started!So the next day I met Chelsea and we got started. I wasn’t as nervous this time since I knew what to expect but I still had a looong way to go if I wanted to be an accomplished rider. Chelsea directed me on my posture, how to guide the horse and much more. This riding wasn’t as fun as what we had done yesterday, I’ll admit, but it was something I had to do if I ever wanted to become a horsewoman. Just like everything else in life you have to learn to walk before you can run, which is especially true of riding. After about 20 trips around the ring at a walk I was bored! Yes BORED! I wanted to trot, canter, even gallop! But I knew I wasn’t quite ready for that yet! After a couple hours of instruction Chelsea asked me to dismount. As I awkwardly climbed down off my horse I knew why cowboys always walked bowlegged! I was going to pay for all this riding in the morning, but I didn’t care! I was finally getting to do what I had always wanted and I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth!