This Is Just the Beginning

Howdy! Welcome to Miles in the Saddle! I'm so, so, so excited to share my journey with my black Morgan mare, Ebony, with you!

This past May, my parents went to a horse sale to get an idea of what prices were like for different ages, and breeds for when we did actually get a horse. But what I didn't expect was that they would come home with a horse lead and tell me they BOUGHT a horse!

These last 5 months have been quite something. When we got Ebony, we were told that she was trained for a few months and ridden for about 2 years on the ranch she came from, but then was not ridden for about another 2 years and put out on pasture. Basically, that told us that we would have to reteach her about being handled, groomed, saddled, and ridden properly.

She is, however, a fast and eager learner, and it only took a couple of weeks to successfully get on her bareback and have someone lead me around the pen. After a few more weeks of working with her, my friend, June, came over with her tack and we tried to saddle her. It was an experience for sure, but eventually, we got the saddle pad and saddle on and lunged her in the field so she could get used to it. Then came the fun part. I wanted to try to get on her because she was doing great with me getting on her bareback, so why not try with the saddle? She was doing great; Mom was holding her as I stood on the stool to make it easier to get on. I put some weight on her, to get her used to it, and then swung my leg over and plopped down. She was fine, for a second... then she spooked. She hit the stool over, and that freaked her out more. Then she started crow-hopping crazily. Here I was, going in circles and holding on for dear life. The start of the second turn, she stepped on the stool again and scared even more! That's when I went flying. I almost hit the fence of the horse pen, but missed it by a hair. I hit the ground, but thankfully didn’t black out. I laid there, thinking about what had just happened and hoping that Ebony was okay. After catching Ebony and handing her to June, she walked over to ask me how I was. As I stood up, I shook myself off and walked to where June was with Ebony. Part of me wanted to try again. You can't just let a horse win, you have to get back on, to show them what’s right. But I couldn't. For the next month, I was shocked and scared to ride her on my own and of falling off like that again.

Another friend was coming to help me once a week, and when she was over, I felt obligated to ride without a lead or lunge, and I did. But then Ebony spooked just a little, one day I when I was trying to trot her, and that scared me out of it all again.

I think it was sometime in August, the first time that I rode her on my own again by choice, and not because I felt forced. And I was finally feeling okay with it! A little, at least. Then later yet, I said to Mom, 'I want to try and trot again,' and it went so well! That was the start of me finally gaining my confidence back.

Finally, I started riding out of the arena and getting more comfortable, building trust. And now here we are, 5 months later! I have been going on rides with June and her horse, trotting and even loping occasionally too. So along with Ebony, I have been becoming a better rider, as well as always learning new things. I'm thankful to have my friend June who can help me and to have my parents, especially Mom, who have helped us come this far as well.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy reading this section on my Miles in the Saddle as much as I enjoy talking about it!!! if you have any questions email me at everythinginbetween55@gmail.com

-Sunny

Here are some photos of Ebony!