" Well I wouldn't start from here!"

If I was going to start riding again from scratch would I prepare any differently and would it make any difference? Because I have been posting updates of my progress on my blog I can’t go back and pretend I  did things differently. The story so far is I am afraid set in the cement of the Internet.

On reflection though, perhaps I wouldn’t start at my age (52). The younger the better, for one thing we learn slower, mentally and physically, as we get older. But what alternative do I have now, I don’t have a time machine and the only thing pondering on my age will do is make me older!  If your age is putting you off you have to face up to it you’re not getting any younger so get on with it.

I would not have been quite so heavy and certainly it would have helped if I had been fitter, when I started riding. But this is akin to not going to the gym until you have lost weight and toned up. I asked around about my weight and was told I was fine. (Well that the horse would cope!) Any good instructor will take your physicality (height & weight) into account and choose your mount accordingly. I was half expecting a giant cart horse to be brought out to carry me round when I arrived for my first lesson. Not the exquisite “Flaire” who has borne my weight with ease. Riding is great exercise and I am certainly fitter now and healthier, but no lighter yet I am afraid!

my new boots -I ate my Christmas dinner in them!

Knowing now that I am committed to riding I might have brought some riding gear to start with, instead of turning up in my sloppy Joe’s.  No eyebrows were raised I was just ushered into the shed to choose a hard hat and borrow boots and chaps for my lesson. I was told I could borrow their stuff as long as I wanted. It was par for the course.

After all it would be madness to spend a lot of money on all the gear if you didn’t like it. Not that that was going to happen to me, I loved it from the get go!

 Now I am well and truly committed to riding, buying presents for me is now a doddle I really love all the proper gear now and Santa brought me fabulous boots and chaps, Valentines Day arrived and so did “sticky bottom” jodhpurs, a real boon for getting a good seat. Early on I invested in my own helmet/hat. Acquiring the gear that works for me has been fun.

Friends I have met through Horses(note all the new gear)

So would I change anything, well that’s not going to happen, Its no good getting directions  from A to B if you are at C.  You are where you are and you have to navigate from there, obstacles, challenges an’ all.

So go on get going!

Alison