Luvs My Ponies

Hello! As many of you may now know, NARHA (formally known as North American Riding for the Handicapped Association) has changed their name to PATH (Professional Assoication of Therapeutic Horsemanship) International. You can find out more about this fabulous organization at http://www.pathintl.org/.

As you may know, I was going after my instructor certification with this organization this year. I attended the workshop and certification process, but I was not passed. I made an error in my teaching...I did not explain my riding skill that I was teaching to the students. I passed the riding test, but not the teaching portion.

The news isn't all bad. All I have to do is record myself teaching another lesson and send it in to PATH. I have to pay a resubmission fee, but it's not bad. Plus I had a really great time at the workshop and met lots of great people. :)

So, my certification has been set back a couple months, but don't worry...my name will be on Registered Instructor status soon! And I can't wait! :)



Cappy and I before our lesson with Ryan

I just had one of the best experiences of my life! Yesterday I got a lesson with a Grand Prix level dressage rider and trainer. I am one lucky girl! His name is Ryan Bell. I took the lesson on my favorite pony and he really liked him. We had planned on doing some jumping, but we were making so much progress on the flat that I asked to keep doing that rather than jump and he was ok with that. One thing we were working on was Cappy cantering from the walk. He has never learned that and it was cool teaching Cappy something new. He was such a good boy and tried super hard for me. Through Ryan's coaching, I felt like I was riding a totally different pony and I felt like a different rider. It was awesome!

I was going to have another lesson with Ryan while he is still in town, but sadly, the other pony I was going to ride was a little off, so I'm not going to ride him tomorrow. So I guess I will have another lesson when he's back in town.

At least I have had the opportunity to watch some of the other lessons he has been teaching. You can learn a lot from just watching and listening to a lesson. In fact, Ryan wants me to record other people ride so that I can look back on it and reflect and learn. It doesn't sound like a bad idea.

I wish I had pics of my lesson, but the girl who was going to take them had to go ride, and I didn't know this until after my lesson. Oh well. I guess I'll get pics next go-round. :)

It's not every day you get to take a lesson with a Grand Prix level trainer and I am very fortunate that I was able to take a lesson since he is so busy. I totally plan on taking lessons with him whenever I can when he's in town. :)

Haha, Grady's posing for the camera

 Hi, everyone! I recently got a new dressage trainer. This now makes 3 trainers for me. I am super blessed! Our lesson went very well...it was actually my first official dressage lesson! I am very excited about our new journey that's about to begin and I thought I'd share some pics :)




I love how long my leg looks in this pic



This is the most relaxed at the canter I've ever been!



I love Leslie <3

So, that's it for now. I'll continue to keep everyone updated :)

My first taste of cross country...sort of :)

Hello all! First, thank you for coming to visit my blog. For this first post, I'm going to tell you who I am and what I'm about.

First off, I work at a barn. I've been there for almost two years. It's my first barn job and I absolutely love it! It is a facility that offers three types of riding programs: hippotherapy, therapeutic riding lessons, and regular lessons. I assist in the hippotherapy and therapeutic riding lesson programs and I train with both of our trainers in the regular lesson program.

I am starting to teach riding lessons of my own in the regular program. This summer I am going after my NARHA (North American Riding for the Handicapped Association) riding instructor certification. I am super excited about it! Then I will be able to teach in our therapeutic riding program as well.

I have come a long way in the two years that I've been with horses. I think that is because I know this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I didn't get into the horses till I was 20 and I'm so grateful that I have them.

I will be keeping you updated on what I'm doing, so check back often. Again, thanks for stopping by!