After a long, long wait due to various outside circumstances, Ava and I have finally begun horse riding lessons. It took some searching to find the right place but it’s finally happening. We found an amazing arena and fantastic instructors and I am so thrilled. Ava’s doing exceptionally well with no fear and pure excitement. I’m actually surprised how well she’s taking cues.

She’s young but she’s being shown the ropes all the way around. Here she is walking Flash to be groomed and tacked.

And of course I had to exploit the perfect photo op.

Here is her instructor showing her how to groom.

Doing it on her own. Lesson 2, she still couldn’t call to memory the name of the tool. That’ll come in time, though, as she does it more often. After all, she’s 4.

She was all over getting onto the horse before anyone was even ready. It didn’t help that her instructor and I were chatting it up. I found a new friend, and that interfere’s enough that during her next lesson I vowed to sit in the corner of the arena and watch so that our incessant yapping doesn’t get in the way of the lesson. Luckily, during the most recent session, my instructor was there so I got involved in talking with her and that allowed Ava to have the time she needed. They did lots of things like balance techniques and weaving in and out of cones, but because I was talking to my own instructor I didn’t get any photos. Needless to say, Ava’s learning and it was exciting to watch her guide Flash left and then right with the reigns, giving gentle kicks to encourage him.

I snapped this photo after Ava ran through the cones with Flash. She was so proud of herself. I can’t express how excited I am to see her go through this experience.

She loves it so much and it’s so fulfilling to see her excited about it, too. Watch the very short clip below for a quick look at Ava trotting with Flash for the first time.