Riding Atut

Atut, Anne's distinguished gray Trakehner gelding, is a phenomenal dressage horse. He's been shown up to Fourth Level and is just as quiet and pleasant as you could want. Anne and I had discussed me having a longe lesson on him this weekend, and that's exactly what we did yesterday

After warming him up off the line, Anne handed the reins to me. Then she had me knot them up out of the way. We proceeded to do about twenty minutes of work at the walk and trot on the longe. Anne had me working hard! I rode with my hands above my head Anne called "Turn left. Center. Turn right. Center," and so on until she felt like I really had my seat underneath me. I'll admit it was a little scary twisting around in the saddle while bouncing at the trot! Riding without reins made me really focus on my legs and seat, and old Atut is so well trained that those aids alone are enough to get him round and lovely- no reins required. I'm hoping I'll be able to transfer that feeling of total balance and harmony to future rides on my horses.

In other news, me and my basketball drills game is featured on the wonderful Lessons in Therapeutic Riding blog! Go check it out- not only is it fun for my fellow therapeutic instructors, but it's a fun activity for able-bodied kids at summer camp.