The Arena

Actually learning to ride a horse has been on my bucket list for many, many years so when I finally went off the trail with a horse and into the arena instead, I had butterflies all in my stomach.

My dream is to be able to canter one day. Not gallop, but at least canter in the open fields on horseback one day.

But on this day, it ended with one simple trot. The majority of the time was spent on me learning how to sit up nicely and properly on the horse. How to push my heels down in the stirrups and sit my saddle. How to hold the reigns properly. And learning that my body language alone, communicated a lot to the horse. If I wasn’t going to sit right, none of it would go right.

The next step was learning that horses move away from pressure so just manuvering around poles in the arena and teaching right, left, front, back. I felt like I already had this down because I’ve done this with horses on trail rides multiple times. But this was different.

On the trail, the horses are so well trained to follow the trail, that they know what you’re saying with a slight pull in one direction. They’ve been on the trail multiple times and know the head horse and wrangler are watching and they must stay in line with the others.

I realized at this lesson that I was far from ready for the open fields and have a lot more to learn in the arena. I see why this is going to take some investment, time, and patience if I want to canter out there one day. There are many, many basics I have to nail down first in the arena.

Do you feel like you’re in the arena?

Maybe it’s exciting that you’re finally taking the first steps or frustrated that you’re still in the caged in dirted area and want to run free out there, but you have more to learn. Let’s find peace by piece with each lesson, you are one trot closer to your dream and thank God for where you’re at today.

“Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.” -Psalm 25: 8-9