Horses
Lucinda liked riding the horses at Lake Tahoe so much that we signed her up for horseback riding lessons here. It’s kind of amazing that there are places right here in the city where you can do such things.
Today was her first lesson. Cathy had jury duty, so I had to leave work early to take Lucinda over there. The directions were rather involved, but we made it all right. The place is down in the arroyo, right below JPL and just above the freeway. But despite being just steps from the city, it felt like we were out in the country.
There were three little girls in the class. They were all about the same age. For the first class, they started out brushing the horses and getting to know them. Then the instructor showed them how to tack them up and get ready to ride. They rode with just pads, rather than full saddles. Because they had no stirrups, they had to use a large log to get on the horses.
Once they were all on the horses, they rode over to the small ring to start out. They rode a few times around the small ring before going to the big ring. There, they got to trot and canter a bit. Lucinda got to canter a little, too. The instructor said that she was a fast learner, and that most kids don’t get to do that on their first day.
Overall, she said it was great fun, and she can’t wait for next week so she can do it again.
