by PreciousAndMe, age 13

Hello, horse girls!

I’m back with another real-life story since I just went riding. I was pretty nervous this morning, but I worked through it eventually.

I was given the chance to ride a chestnut known as Toby. He was gorgeous — a blaze and a mane of every shade of brown, from mahogany to almost-black brown.

We set out on the hack (a ride on the local trails) and he was amazing. Up front were Tinker and Dot, two of the shorter ponies who were being ridden by little children. Tinker is a bright chestnut with a white face and stockings, whilst Dot is a spotted pony.

I have to admit, I improve lots on hacks; I sorted out my lower leg position and heels, and I experiment with different aids. Toby was so responsive and amazing. I fell in love almost instantly.

There’s this gate that we have to pass through. Now, the little ponies (Tinker and Dot) are incredibly sassy and decided to have a freak out when we got to the gate. The poor kids almost fell off!

Toby just sort of went “eh” and carried on. He’s such a calm horse. I have no idea how many times I hugged him on our ride.

We came to a point where we had to turn around, and Toby decided to be a bit naughty. He just stopped and refused to budge. I managed to turn him around though. On the way back, Tinker and Dot decided to be incredibly cheeky again. They started trying to bite the person leading them and then tried to bite each other.

Then we saw Crystal in a field, cantering around like mad. Toby was interested by the commotion, but didn’t make an effort to investigate, luckily. We got back and I dismounted, running up the stirrups. Toby started nudging me — which, really, was pushing me into a wall.

So I took him back into his stall and untacked him. I hugged him and said goodbye. I was really pleased with how well the ride had gone, and I’m so glad that I got to ride a new horse, though I do miss riding Precious.

She hasn’t left, don’t worry! I saw her, actually, returning from a cross country lesson. Which reminds me!

Harry, a grumpy and sneaky Haflinger, was tied up with a quick release knot in the yard. He looked a little fidgety when we arrived. Maybe five or so minutes later, he had pulled back and untied himself. Harry casually started walking across the yard with the lead rope on the ground — such a cheeky horse!

That was my day! Very interesting indeed, and I’ll try to upload some photos soon. See you next time!

PreciousAndMe xx