Letting go

Sabina and I arrive at Pony Club. We saddle up Tornado. "Mama, can I get on?", asks Sabina. She's keen. "No! We need to get gear checked first." This is the problem with parents buying kids ponies (rather than kids learning at a riding school first) - the "rules" get overlooked.

Finally, she's allowed to hop on. We go into the beginners class. All the other kids are on ponies on a lead. "Mama, let go", come the instructions. "Really? Are you sure?", I ask. "Yes mama!". I unclip the lead rope. "Now you let me know if you need me", I smile.

Sabina steers her pony around the arena with such a serious face that the instructor keeps asking if she is ok. But she does an amazingly good job, negotiating around the other ponies, and stopping behind them when required.

As time progresses, Sabina starts smiling and even laughing. She does endless loops of the arena, and not once does she say that "it's boring". In the final lesson, Sabina is actually trotting unassisted, laughing all the way. At the very end, I am allowed to clip the lead back on so that she can trot over the trot poles. I think we even manage to sneak in a stride or two of canter.

Of course, throughout the entire exercise I am doing loops of the arena too. Mostly at walk, but also at trot. Umm, I mean running. Given my post operative state, it's a reasonable effort. I am very glad when the whole thing is over and we finally head home.