Pappy teaches us to ride.

We moved to Colorado when Sean was 11. Horse country! When I was little, we'd had an old horse and I had spent many happy hours riding him around bareback, falling off and getting back on. How fun would it be to find a horse that Sean could sit on while I led him around?? We searched several nearby stables but no horse seemed suitable. Then my niece, Megan, who had accompanied us on our quest, suggested we go to a place where she had taken some lessons. No sooner had we gotten there, but we met an instructor who told us she was thinking of giving her old school horse to a theraputic riding center. Instead, we worked out a lease and then and there, Sean had a horse to ride!!

The horse had not only been a schooling horse, but he'd originally been cavalry trained. He was a grey, 22 year old Arab called Pappy. I'm sure his registered name was more sophisticated but we only knew him as Pappy.

As it turns out, Pappy changed our lives. Pappy's owner, Vicky, was so kind. I hadn't been around horses since I was little. She showed me how to pick out Pappy's feet, how to saddle, bridle etc etc correctly. Sean and I went over to the barn nearly every day for a year!

We'll post some pictures of Sean at that time because he was a very skinny kid then. He looked about 7 or 8 really. Sean sat in the saddle and I rode behind him. We had the use of the indoor and outdoor arenas, and the other riders graciously gave us right-of-way at all times. Most of the other riders were there to practice their jumping, so their horses were going pretty fast sometimes. Even so, they were all extremely careful around us, as we made our way around the outside of the arena.

The owners of the barn, Carl and Laura, were just fabulous to us. Laura was another instructor there and she had a lovely calm way about her. She always made sure the other riders knew to give us right-of-way.

Sometimes we rode bareback too, with Vicky's encouragement. She pointed out to me that she had learned to ride bareback, and so had I. We agreed it was the best way for a child to learn to ride!!

Once we were cantering (bareback) around the inside arena. We had the place to ourselves. The turn was a bit too quick and the two of us stayed together while the horse came out from under us on the turn. We fell down to the sawdust, still positioned as though we were riding. Sean laughed and laughed! His laugh was SO LOUD! It echoed all over the arena as we got up, brushed ourselves off, and got back onto Pappy who stood patiently waiting for us.

Sean loved cantering the best. Vicky commented once that Sean had a totally natural seat - he was always in tune with the horse's motion, as though he'd been riding his whole life! Sean certainly loved every minute of it!

More Sean horse stories will be coming in the next installment - and pictures too!