Remember Pamela the, 6 year old gaited, mare I started working with several months ago? The quick recap, you can read earlier blog entries for more details, is she was very worried and tense which caused her to want to run back to the barn as soon as her beginner owner got on.

Michele riding Pamela bareback.

I actually had two simultaneous objectives. One was to help Pamela get more OK with being ridden so that she could offer a safe and pleasurable ride for her owner. The other was to help her owner, Michele, become more confident and relaxed while riding so that she could offer a better ride to her horse!

Michele has been hard at work developing her own skills riding my school horse, Tulsa. And she’s come a long, long, LONG way, going from fearfully wondering how she would stay on without a horn to hang on to–to riding bareback with confidence!

I took this picture with my phone today during her lesson. Don’t they look like two relaxed and happy campers? Just the way I like it. 🙂