Shaggy and Cookie

For Christmas Sterling got us horseback riding lessons. We had the week of Christmas off together, so we took two of our three lessons then, and had the last Saturday morning. When we first arrived, they had to choose a horse for each of us. Sterling got Shaggy, the "gentle giant" and I got Cookie, "super laid back." Shaggy was pretty chill the first lesson. Cookie, on the other hand, was more like a chocolate-chip jalepeno cookie; sweet with a bite. She did not like Shaggy either. Whenever Sterling and Shaggy came nearby, she would get mad, and I momentarily feared for my life. It went well, though, and we learned the basics. Our last lesson this morning was a little review and then we learned trotting. It seems like it should be so easy, but now I understand why they tell you your legs will be sore. I went first, and the instructor was leading my horse as I practiced trotting. Sterling just couldn't wait and decided to figure it out on his own. Shaggy was a little more independent on Saturday, which increased the questionability of Sterling's decision. He went into a different part of the field (since our horses couldn't get along). It was the part with the jumps, which apparently Shaggy was headed straight for. We are off trotting and hear, "ho, HO!, HO!!!" Luckily, he got control, and stopped before he catapulted off a 7' horse. The instructor then informed him to be careful; if the horse is lined up, he'll jump. Good info to know ahead of time. So, then we switched, and I was left to practice on my own. I could barely get sweet little Cookie to walk much less trot. I tried squeezing my heels, making the clicking noise, commanding "Cookie Trot!" in a sweet voice and in the best man voice I could get. But to no avail. We slowly meandered around the field while Sterling trotted with Shaggy and the instructor. It was fun though. We decided when we're rich, we might try to perfect our horse riding abilities! Here are some pics.

Our first and second lessons (we combined two at once)

Cookie and me.

Shaggy and Sterling

Here you can see how huge Sterling's horse is! Pretty sure it could eat mine.

Lesson 3:

Here my horse looks like a horse, instead of a snack!

Now it's back to fun-size.