Horse riding

Diane wanted to go horse riding, so I asked Terri for advice (she keeps horses) and Terri gave me the name of White Fences Equestrian Centre up in Manor as a good place to go. We were not disappointed!

We arrived at a really impressive facility. Here is the indoor school/dressage arena, complete with mirror on the back wall:


Here is a stable block, all bright and clean:


There was a show jumping arena, a lunging ring and many fields filled with horses. It's a big place. And they have many white fences. Lots of rosettes, too.

Here's Diane with her new friends. I do hope her cats accept the new arrivals once she gets home. ;-)


We were here to do some trail riding. They assured us that the horses were docile and suited to beginners.

This is Diane's horse, named Frosty. He is wearing a Western saddle. We were excited to try riding Western style. Neither of us had been on a horse since we were kids, and of course we did English riding, which is quite different.


I got it all wrong at first, naturally, until I got the hang of the neck rein instead of English reining. My horse, Charlie Brown, was a veritable eating machine. Every tree we passed got nipped at, especially if it was a Mesquite. Apparently those are tasty.

The lady in front here is instructor Angel, who was guiding us around. The other lady was just out for a ride; I think she got bored with our slow pace and disappeared off in front after a while. Diane and I were really enjoying the Texas trail, it was very pretty. And they grey skies were a blessing, it was not even slightly cold, it was perfect.


Angel took the camera, so the next few shots are by her. Here's Diane and I being all Western! All we need are Stetson hats ;-)






And finally, Diane with her horse.


We had a great time riding here and would definitely go back. Once our legs have ceased to ache ;-)