Rider qualified

So excited I'm now qualified to have a person sit on me, I passed my exams a week early! It all happened a bit by accident. Zippy & I headed off on a new adventure today in the horse trailer. We ended up at Sarah Stewart's yard www.newhostables.co.uk she is Lynette's riding instructor.

Lynette had packed all my gear into the back of the car and she told me we were going to check that our ground work was well enough established that we could start planning for my riding exams. So I knew it was an important day. The journey took about 30 minutes and I got very excited so I was quite sweaty by the time we got to the other end. Zippy was her usual cool self, we travel really well together now - our first journey did see us bickering a bit, but no more!

So tied to the trailer eating hay and watching horses and cars go by I had all my tack put on and then went into a sand pit, but I wasn't going to be allowed to build sandcastles! I had to work - hard! Lungeing first, Lynette got told off for being too easy on me, so we both stepped up a gear and I put my best hoof forward and showed Sarah how Dales can trot. I was loving it whizzing around on such a great surface I had to put in a few bucks to test out the surface, it was fab. Lynette & I both agreed I couldn't work at this pace in our usual back paddock exercise area, it's very wet grass and I would slip. So she has promised to ask a lady down the road to see if I can use their arena and if not we will go on more trailer adventures to other new places.

I was then tested on my canter as I can't practice this back at home, again I was so excited I added some of my own details with bucking etc, which meant I was asked to move forward even more - phew I was quite glad when I was asked to stop. Sarah was very impressed with my square halts, I do this naturally as I'm not in dressage test mode - I'll have to stop the square halts for dressage!!!

Well tired & having behaved so well I was expecting to go home, but oh no Sarah had other ideas, a green mounting block arrived & Lynette stood on that - which was fine, I've seen her standing on steps to groom me, never understood why she was doing that because really I'm not that tall!

Then Lynette & Sarah went a bit loopy slapping & hitting the saddle, I just stood there quite bemused by the going on's. Once when they finished hitting the saddle Lynette decided to lean over me, she looked very funny upside down & I'm sure that's not how she rode Zippy yesterday. Well after several attempts of trying to get on properly they finally worked out how to do it and yippee I am rider qualified as Lynette sat on me with feet in stirrups.

Tired we did a quick check of Lynette's long reining skills & we did a good team effort, working a nice figure of eight in the round pen, so I was allowed to go home. Everyone admired me and I got tonnes of praise & even some treats. What a wonderful weekend I wonder what next week will hold?