My Weekend!

Good morning. 

Hope you’re well. 

I’ve had a nice weekend, seem to have done lots but nothing at all really. 

There wasn’t any dancing on Friday, so I dropped up to see my mum and helped re-hang some curtains. She’d had new windows installed and having had them taken down to avoid being dirtied or damaged so I put them back up for her. It’s always nice to chat and catch up and I’m lucky to have her only 10 mins away. 

On Saturday you might have seen on TicTok that I had a horse riding lesson. I’ve had this on my bucket list for a while having never even sat on a horse, so having David give me this for a birthday present was brilliant. I’d bided my time and planned the 1/2 assessment for a nice sunny morning, but blow me on Saturday when said lesson was arranged it had me getting onto the horse in a huge downpour - yes it was raining just over the area where the riding school was! I’d left sunny weather on the coast for torrential rain! How annoying was that!

Do you have a bucket list?

I’ve got a few items on mine which I keep adding to and many of them have already been fulfilled.

Here’s are few I’ve already done. 

Visited Venice

Traveled on the Orient Express

Been to St Lucia

Owned a Mercedes Soft Top

Eaten in The Ritz

Built my own house

I’ve got lots of other things I’ve still to do, and one of them was to learn to ride a horse. 

I’ve never actually sat on let alone rode on a horse, unless you count pony trekking the same thing. I did this in Wales when I was about 14! The pony’s just followed each other and there was no finesse to it. No leading or commanding the pony to do anything, it just walked & followed!

So with David knowing it was on my list he decided to surprise me with this for my birthday. I booked the 1/2 assessment and 1/2 lesson for Saturday morning. It was tipping it down and having left a sunny coast line, where I live, I arrived to the stable’s unknowing if the lesson would go ahead. It did! I wasn’t dressed in the best attire and soon realised I was going to get soaking wet. I did! The leggings, long boots and thin jacket just didn’t cut the mustard. Next time I’ll be better dressed. 

I had to include a photo of the aptly named hose called Dave didn’t I!

My horse was called Lola, they called her a lazy horse - which was probably just as well. She did everything she needed to do and wasn’t fast or unhelpful at all just plodded around the arena at a calm and peaceful pace. 

Taylla, the trainer told me how to get on her with the aid of a step. That went well. She then explained how to hold the reins. This I was literally all fingers and thumbs at and seemed to forget which was up down, forward or backwards along with knowing my right and my left! Poor girl must have thought silly old woman!! Any way once I’d grasped, quite literally, the reins we set about walking - which she lead. With rain dripping off my helmet we slowly walked around the course and I started to get the hang of it - but she was still holding onto Lola! Eventually she let go. Hold the reign out to the side you want to go and when the horse is walking straight hold it back together. Yes I’d got this under control and carried on walking around the course and then through cones Taylla had placed in a line. I was actually riding a horse on my own. Well that would have been enough for me, but soon she said we would be trotting! I figured that would be easy, well again it was but a bit sore on the bottom and leg area! She started to instruct me to push into the stirrups and push my bottom up and down as Lola gathered speed! This didn’t go well at first but eventually, after the instructor telling me to say “up down” in my head I got it under control and was galloping trotting around the course. I felt really good and even the rain didn’t dampen my spirits - I was riding a horse on my own and leading her the way I wanted her to go. 🤍

Before long Taylla instructed me to turn into the middle and bring Lola to a stop - pulling back on the reins and digging my heels in a bit. So once I’d come to a halt she told me to take my heels out of the stirrups, lean forward, swing my leg over the back and jump down! Yep I even managed all that! Hooray and well done me. 

I was pleased I decided to only do the half hour assessment class because I was knackered. I hadn’t realised I’d feel quite like I did. I thought I was fit but all the movement and use of muscles was quite different to what I usually do and I can honestly say I felt worse the next day! 🥴

I’m excited for the next lesson, which I’ve yet to book and who knows, I might even take it up as a proper hobby, although I reckon it’s quite an expensive one to have!

Thanks so much for joining me today. Have you ever been horse riding and do you have a bucket list? Do let me know in the comments below. 

Until next time.

Cheerio. X