Moving On

Bittersweet--today was my last day riding the schoolies at the therapeutic riding center, though I might be back to occasionally lesson on my trainer's horses. Sad to leave Joey and Shadow, and all the other wonderful therapy horses I've had the pleasure of meeting there...but also SO EXCITED to start the lease next week. Decided to do half of April and prorate it :)

Lazy man Shadow

And cutie pie Joey

The manager said I can come back and ride whenever, which is nice. This past year would have likely been mostly horseless if it wasn't for the opportunity she gave me to ride there, and I probably wouldn't have started teaching if I wasn't riding regularly.

This is the COTH thread where I found the opportunity. I can't believe it was only last January.

Horseless Riders and Riderless Horses thread FTW!

Seriously, if you can WTC even halfway decently, there are so many opportunities to ride for free that I would have never known about if I hadn't done some emailing around. Rescues, therapeutic riding centers, timid/busy horse owners, exchanging barn chores for rides...I have found free riding opportunities with all of these situations, and all have gone a long way toward furthering my riding ability.

It's definitely going to be interesting to see how things go now that I will have my "own" horse again. That hasn't been the case since high school. Anyway...I guess you'll all come along on the ride with me!