I’ve taken up horseback riding.

On my 26th birthday, I drove out to this farm and had my first lesson. After a long few weeks of calling, scrolling through facebook pages, driving out and knocking on doors, I found Leann. I’ll spare you the details…but it was most certainly an answer to my prayers.

Leann took me out on Scat and taught me the basics. The primary focus of the lesson was how to post trot. I tried, but just couldn’t get the hang of it. But it was fun nonetheless. We walked the horses back to the barn and called it a night. I went home and buried myself in google searches, “how to properly post trot”, “how to saddle a horse”, “how to ride a horse western style for beginners”, “what are the parts of a saddle called”, and so on.

I came back a few weeks later, ready to put my homework into action. Leann had me take Scat out again, but this time, we went into the round pen. Scat began to trot and I smoothly transitioned into my post trot. Leann yells, “Wow, you really did do your homework!” I laughed and said, “Well, I’m really trying to learn! I’ve been watching videos and reading all about how to post trot.”

We talked about how I’ve realized that being a student as an adult is entirely different from being a student as a child. At least for me, that is. I never understood the concept of how being a student means you don’t know. It means the teacher should know more than you. And that’s not embarrassing.. When I was a kid, I was so afraid of looking stupid, that I was too worried to ask a question. Leann shared how she sees that very often in her younger students, and said that if their heart isn’t in it, they’ll forget everything she taught them the week before.

Scat and I walked, trotted, loped, and cantered around the round pen until the sun went down. One of Leann’s students walked down and propped herself up on the outside of the round pen to watch me. Leann said to her, “Would you believe this is only Grace’s second time out here?” The 12-year-old’s draw dropped. I guess that means I’m doing alright.

Last night, after my lesson, I finally had the courage to pull out my camera before calling it a day. Jennifer (the blonde one) went back to the barn and I heard her say, “Miss Leann! Did you know that girl is a photographer? How cool!”

They might be admiring me, but little do they know how much I’m admiring them. The farm. The hard work. The simplicity. The nature. The barn life. It sure is something to be admired.