Cimbing ROCKS!

Here is Dad, the family climbing expert! He has been trying to get us to climb for a while, and we finally agreed to go.

Now, as a general rule, I don't post pictures of my behind...but I'm hoping it's so far away it looks really small here! :-) This was my first time on the climbing wall and I made it to the top! Yay, me!

Here is Super, on her way up...

And Dude, rappelling down...

It was fun to try something new! Hope you're making time for fun, too!

Lovely day for a trail ride

Those tiny white dots in the distance are the kids, after they took off and trotted ahead of me. I don't ride. I just take pictures and yell, "Wait up, kids!" We saw a red fox near the trail, but he was too far away to get a decent photo. I did get a few shots of the last of the fall leaves.

Une jeune cavaliere balayee par les vents

Yesterday's crazy spring weather made me think of a long-forgotten lullabye:

Vent frais

Vent du matin

Vent qui souffle aux sommets des grands pins

Joie du vent qui passe

Allons dans le grand vent frais

Vent du matin...

I remember singing this to Supersim when she was tiny.

That tiny baby had a riding lesson today!  She is looking great and making so much progress.  

She did her usual serpentine warm up.  She went over a couple of poles at a walk, practicing keeping her horse in a very straight line.  Walking in a straight line may sound easy, but horses tend to amble from side to side (especially older lazy horses) so going perfectly straight can actually be challenging. 

Then she practiced the half-halt, which is what you use when you are trotting or cantering, and want to slow down to a walk.  You have to have good control of the horse during the walk-to-trot transition, and her horse wasn't taking direction well, so she directed him to halt and back up.  I don't know why, but horses HATE to back up.  So if a horse is feeling rebellious, you can usually keep them in line by stopping and backing up a few steps.  Basically, it's a gentle way of reminding the horse that you are the leader. 

The teacher stood in the center of the arena and had Supersim ride around the wall, changing speeds and/or directions at every letter.  "Now walk...now trot...now turn left...now turn around..." etc.  This is when you really need to direct the horse well, and Supersim did a wonderful job!   From my point of view, I couldn't even tell you what she does with the reins and what she says to the horse.  It's very subtle, but the horse understands and complies. Then her teacher asked her to practice small circles, then wider turns, and finally, the wide easy turns required for riding fast.  

Finally, Supersim did several laps around the arena at a trot.  When her teacher let her take the poles at a trot, she looked so focused, and she did it in perfect form.  She really does look graceful and natural when she posts, and I'm not just saying that because I'm her mother!

Supersim's Riding Lesson

Supersim had a great lesson today!  It's cold but sunny here, and not too muddy, considering how much snow we got recently.  Dudeman has a sore throat today, so Supersim had the teacher all to herself.  She groomed and saddled her horse with almost no help; the teacher only had to step in when the horse refused to take the bit.  A year ago, she was very nervous about cleaning out the horse's hooves; today, she looked like a pro.  

It was an extremely busy day at the arena, with multiple lessons going on at once, but Supersim was able to stay focused and concentrate on her lesson.  She warmed up with a serpentine along the wall, then trotted around the arena a couple of times.  Her teacher set up three traffic cones along the center of the arena, and after a couple of practice walks through the cones, Supersim took them at a trot.  I think we have a future barrel racer here!

After her lesson, she took her horse for a little trail ride around the arena, with me tagging along on foot.  Her teacher told me that if she continues to progress at this rate, she'll be ready for the next level by summer.  But the best part was the look of pride and accomplishment on her face.  She knew she did well today!