Barn Tour

I have always wanted to ride. Since I was a little girl mounted on mom's canister vaccuum. But I was also allergic to horses, and my parents wouldn't put me into a hobby that would only make me sick. Now that I'm grown up, I can see where they were coming from. Besides, riding is only for rich girls, or so I'd always been told. Well, now I'm a big girl with my own darn money, and I choose to spend some of it on lessons.
So, I told myself that this summer would be the one when I start riding. Today I took the first step. I went to Hummingbird Hill Farm for a barn tour and to meet their trainer and coach Katie Thompson. This is a new location and a new venture for her, and I'm thrilled to be one of the first riders at this facility, which just opened this month. Katie is sort of in the same boat as me when it comes to having more time available than money to pay for things, and since both she and her horse need massage... I'm thinking we will have a wonderful bartering relationship. Katie and I stood in the parking lot after the tour chatting for over an hour, and might still be standing there if I didn't have a function to get to tonight with girl guides. She was super easy to talk to, friendly, enthusiastic about what she does, and trying not to sell out by expanding too fast when she knows that western pleasure riding and general horsemanship is what she loves. I admire that about her.
Next Wednesday I go back to try a complementary lesson and get a feel for her teaching style and the horses, and if all goes well (as I'm sure it will), I'll set up some future lessons, and hopefully massage appointments.
I'm so excited! I came home and polished up my boots. I'll call my cousin tomorrow and see if I can borrow her helmet until I can afford one of my own. I can practically taste the dust in the arena and feel the leather reins in my hands, hear the creak of the saddle under me and hear the horse blowing already. I have craved this with every fiber of my being for so long, I can't believe it's actually happening. I'm finally taking riding lessons!!