Lesson Number 2!!!!!!!!

[tonkatoy]

I thanked betsy as I stepped out of the office and walked to the lessons barn hoping to find Gena. It seemed incredibly silent in the long isles. "Gena?!" I called out experimentaly causing the horses to whicker. I found Starfire's stall and stroked the chestnut mare's silky nose as I waited to see if she would come.

[Super <3]

Gena

I had been out working in the pastures, getting all of the horses watered for the hot day. There was a few beads of sweat on my brow but I just wiped it off with my arm and continued. When I stepped into the shade of the lesson barn, I noticed Anna in the isle. "Hey Anna! Ready to ride?! I had a question to ask you for the lesson today, I was going to ask to ride my new horse with you. I thought it would be a fun way for us to have a lesson, plus I need to exersize 'em today." My eyes showed excitment and I just loved dimenstrating so they know what it looks like. Also I can teach them more when I can show them what to do. My new horse was ready to go when I checked on him this morning. "You can choose what you would like to do today, dressage or a trail. Starfire would love to go on a trail and she loves you!" A broad smile crossed my moistened lips as I moved and stroked Starfire.

[tonkatoy]

I was excited, I really loved Starfire and it looked like I was going to get her as my assigned lesson horse. I hadn't been on a trail ride in ages, when I had first started riding my instructor loved trail rides. But then she let some kid who wasn't ready jump a log on the trail that was a bit big for her in the first place didn't help that the horse wasn't ready to jump something like that either. The child was in the hospital with a broken arm collar bone and fractured spine though he recovered all mobility. The horse was put down the next day, he had suffered a bad break in his leg when the pair of them landed funny and he ended up rolling over the kid. The instructor was fired and out new one hated trailrides. Despite the horrible experience (yes I had been on the trail ride) I had despretly wanted to go on one for a while. "Trail ride." I beamed and ran into the tack room to grab all of Stars tack and grooming supplys.
I had groomed Starfire to perfection, she had been curried, comed, brushed, I even show sheened her after I got the saddle on. I pulled the reins over her head and walked up to the ring and began walking around as I waited for Gena to bring out her new horse.

[Super <3]

I laughed hard when she seemed to reply quicker than lightning. "Okay great! I will go get Amor and tack him up. Meet you at the ring! Oh and just a headsup, this will be his first time on a trail." Smiling, I watched her run for the tack, then I headed out to get Amor. Grooming him was a sitch, I always kept a blanket on him to keep him clean. Running a comb through his hair never found a single knot. I placed an all-purpose saddle on him and he through his head once but never did it again. He wasn't used to this saddle, usually he wore a dressage saddle but he would have to deal. Slipping his bridle on, I led him to the ring and mounted. When he was all warmed up, I called out to Anna, "Lets go! Follow me, we will go on a trail that has a few logs and if I think you are ready for 'em then I will let you jump them. Starfire as you know, is a great jumper and trail horse. Trust her and she will know it even through the saddle." Turning Amor around, I led him out of the ring with Anna following close behind. "Amor has a bit of a problem around others but he should do fine."

[tonkatoy]

We walked out of the ring, easily flowing towards the trail. Amor was a beautiful horse, he looked like an andalusian and definently showed all the class and pride of one. He carried himself gracefully his strides perfect he had been trained very well. I returned my attention to Star, gently playing with a few locks of her chestnut mane that fell across her withers. I could feel my mare itching to go, itching to fly with the wind, and gallop as fast as she could, where to who knows, she was a strange horse but I loved her. This was only my second time riding her and I felt completely at home on the oldenburgs back. "So Gena where're we goin?"

[Super <3]

We had walked up a fairly steep hill but were now on a flat surface of the trail. I gave Amor a small squeeze of my legs and he began his collected trot. If you were looking from anywhere but on top of him, you would see that he didn't look like his hoofs touched the dirt beneath us. "Anna, look at the way he moves. I bought him, a very highly trained dressage horse." Pushing my legs in their chosen positions, Amor lifted his legs up and preformed an extended trot. My body pushed forwards in the saddle with every stride. Looking forward, I saw one of the logs that had fallen onto the trail a long time ago. "Would you like to just this? It's only about 2 foot 9." Amor and I avoided the jump and went around it. "Amor doesn't jump but you can go ahead." I halted, waiting to watch Anna clear the jump with no problem.

[tonkatoy]

I was amazed to watch how beautiful Amor was, each of his strides were so graceful, it was like he was floating. I managed to tear my eyes away from the handsome andalusian long enough to look around at the scenerey, everything was so beautiful around here. The trees were tall, majestic oaks and spindly pines that stretched to the sky. Bird song filled the air and floated about in my head. I turned my gaze down to Starfire's graceful chestnut neck, letting my hand stroke over the silky fur. Gena pointed out the log to me, and I could feel both me and starfire begin crawling with excitement, I nodded and grinned before urging her into the canter. Every stride was pure and perfect growing faster and faster, the rythem beating out underneath me. It wasn't until it was a little too late that I noticed how fast we were going, we soared over the jump, the oldenburg mare clearing the log with a foot to spare. A foot I hadn't been prepared for, I let out a squeak of surprise as I fell to the hard ground.

[Super <3]

"Slow dow-" I tried to tell her before she started over it. I watched as her body dropped off of Star. "ANNA!!" I screamed, leaping from Amor's back and sprinting to the girl. I squatted down to the dirt and made sure she was alive. I knew from the moment she hit the ground, she was uncontious. I did the only thing I knew to do, this far into the woods. I held her like a baby, which was a bit hard to do. Pushing her on top on Amor, I mounted also. I had to hold her on while we cantered back to the barn, Star following. When we made it to the office, beads of sweat dripped down my face. Wrinkles of concern were also on my scared face. "Hold in there Anna." I lay her down on the ground and called 911.