Blog Hop...

This is a neat idea I found on another blog I subscribe to... Its called The Blog Hop.

Share a memory from:
1. The first horse experience you can remember.
2. Your first "aha" moment--when something really clicked for you as a rider.
3. Entering the ring. Could be your first show, or another time when simply entering the arena could be considered a "debut" of sorts. 

1. My first horse experience that I can remember is actually one that I hold very dear to my heart. My grandparents, God Love Them, used to raise QH's and App's. My grandfather used to always tell me when I would go out to the barn to see the horses  -  "Erin Jo, you be careful with them horses. They are treacherous!" It used to always make me giggle every time he said it. Now that he is gone, I long to hear him say it just one more time. My mom and I joke about it often.

I miss this man so much!

2. My first "aha!" moment had to be when I was taking lessons every week from my awesome trainer, Mary Alice. I was riding my evil paint mare, Majic. Majic was a bit of a pest. She could be very high maintenance, and was constantly getting into trouble. But, she was a nice riding mare, and her and I seemed to click. She used to do this whole lunge/rear/crow hop/buck thing going into the canter. We worked for a while on getting her to just go softly into the canter. I would get frustrated, Majic would get pissy and Mary Alice would laugh at me. Finally one day she made me ride without my beloved stirrups. You should have seen the look on my face when she told me to lope! But I know better then to question my trainer! Ever! So, I asked for the lope. Majic did her lunge/rear/crow hop/buck thing and I, somehow unbeknownst to me, used my legs, my seat and my hands to make her cut it out. We stopped and did it again. This time I was ready for it. The moment she tried to lunge, my feet went under her belly and my hands asked for her head to come down while my seat pushed her forward. A nice soft lope was the result. I'm pretty sure we both cried that day. My aha moment was that sometimes, things that you think are there to help you, IE stirrups, can sometimes be your henderence. She took away my comfort zone so that my body and my brain would work together like they should be!

3. The first time I showed was on Majic. I was pretty sure I was gonna puke. She was antsy, I was antsy, and everyone on the rail that was rooting for us, was antsy too! Thankfully, after the first class, I was much better. Majic was def one of the best horses that happened to me. She was kind and thoughtful, evil and bitchy, spooky yet sane and most of all, she loved me. She took care of me..even if it was against her better judgement!

Miss Majic!

There's my Blog Hop!