Riding

I haven't mentioned it, but I have had the opportunity to ride my horse for the past month. As a kid, my parents had Morgans, and I had a fun gelding to ride. Riding was nearly a daily occurrence if the weather was nice. I had a friend just up the road who also had a horse and we had a great time together. Some of the stuff we did with our horses, my mother would have had an absolute fit over....but nobody broke any bones, and if we did fall off, we just got right back on.

As I moved on to college and then got married, horses just didn't fit in. I sold my gelding the summer before I got married and used the money to buy my wedding dress. Priorities, don't ya know!!!

In 1998, hubby and I bought a broodmare, and thus began Knolltop Morgans. Breeding was fun and having new foals was a great experience for all of us, especially for the kids. With so many other priorities, riding was never very high on the list of things to do.

All that changed when Storm got back from Nationals. Despite the fact that I may have ridden 10 times in the past 20 years, Trainer Mike said there was no reason I shouldn't be enjoying my own horse. He didn't have to ask twice and soon I headed to the barn and took my first ride on horse that I brought into the world! What fun it was! And believe me, she was very forgiving, considering it had been a lot of years since I spent any time on the back of a horse. Since that first ride, I have been faithfully riding twice a week. I am no longer so sore I can hardly move, and actually look forward to my time in the saddle.

We are still marketing her, but on the off chance she doesn't sell within the next few weeks, she will come home for the winter. If that happens, I suspect I will spend some time in the saddle this winter.

It is really special to have the opportunity to ride an animal raised from birth on our farm. And big compliments go to Trainer Mike for getting a three-year old mare steady and safe enough for me to enjoy.