Riding horses is fun. Each horse is different, with different personality traits and that makes riding interesting. At least for a noob like me. Learning how to adjust to a particular horse's canter and how to get them to do what I want them to do is fun.
Scary too. The horses know that I'm a noob and some try to test me, see what they can get away with. Being jolted out of balance while trying to maintain a rhythm while cantering wan not particularly fun, but educational. I didn't fall off and he wasn't serious about getting rid of me either, otherwise he would have. He was trying to get an upper hand, but every time he did that, I made him stop and ruined his fun that way.
A friend of mine co-owns a horse and regularly goes to the stables where he is kept. I've gone with her once before and this Saturday I was given a lesson in riding. I didn't do too badly for a noob who'd ever ridden about ten times before. Mostly on horses that are not trained for dressage, only for riding with tourists.
Dexter (the horse I was riding) is stubborn and doesn't really like to do any work. Which is excellent for learning, because I need to be clear in what I want him to do. Poor thing, I confused the heck out of him a few times. It got better in the end and I learned a few new moves. I also got to practice steering with my legs only and I loved it.
Of course my thighs complained loudly about mistreatment on Saturday, they still do, in fact. No matter, they can complain as much as they want, I'm not giving up. I need muscles and riding is a good way of getting muscles in places I really want them to be. I need to remember to stretch after riding and, ideally, before riding too to not get so sore.
My friend took a couple of photos of me riding and gave me a permission to post them.
Canter on Dexter. He wasn't trying to pull me out of balance for a change here.
Once my thighs allow me to walk normally again, I'll go back for another lesson.