Childhood dreams become a sore reality..

My name is Kim and I am 42 years old. I live in the town I grew up in with Mike,  my husband of  9years, my 19 year old son Cody, a Siberian Husky named Nakota, and a crazy 4 month old kitten named Jocelyn. Its quite the menagerie.

I have always wanted a horse. I wanted one from the time I could walk and my father took me to a riding stable near home so he could go to the parts store alone. I was in love with these beautiful creatures at first site. Nothing to me smells better than a horse. I can be around them all day long and not get bored. So whats my point? Sounds like any other female most people know. Well...

 A little over a month ago I said to my husband I want to learn how to ride again. Just so you know all of my riding has been on horses who either didn't want to be ridden or they belonged to friends. I basically learned how to not fall off. I am also no skinny minnie in any way shape or form. Some stables or equestrian centers do not like heavy people on their horses. I dragged him off to Equine Affair at the big  E fair grounds in Mass and started my journey to horsemanship. I had a blast and believe it or not so did he. We met this fabulous woman from MO who owns a business that caters to us larger girls. Her name is Apryl and she owns The Curvy Cowgirl. She carried a brand of woman's larger apparel named The Fuller Fillies line. Fantastic stuff. I bought my first pair of breeches and half chaps from her. I love them.                                                          So the search for a lesson stable started. No easy task mind you. Some offer certain services only, some offer all and have no master of any. I started with ones that were easy to get to from home as my work schedule is evenings. I ended up in one of the most wonderful places. 

So my training began. My instructor Melissa is fantastic and so sweet. She is an accomplished rider and has a formal degree in this field. I called this farm and on the other end of that phone was a friend. I met with Melissa for the first time the 3rd week of November . She has a wonderful farm in center Columbia.
The first thing she did was show me around her farm, some of the horses near the barn and the crazy other animals on the farm. She then asked me what kind of lessons i was looking for. I told her that i have always wanted to learn Dressage but that I have no formal training. i can stay in the saddle but that's about it. She thought about it for a few seconds and asked if i wanted a horse that needed to be pulled along or a step up from lazy. A step up would be good. I cant deal with having to ride and push the horse from behind. She then said she had the horse for me.
His name is Louis.
Louis is an 8 year old Pinto. He is 15.3hh and is adorable. He is owned by family in western Ct. They don't come to the farm very often so Louis is used as a lesson horse. My first lesson was that day and as you can imagine, i was a nervous wreck, but Lou was a dream. he feels what your doing and compensates for my stupidity or I should say, lack of skills.  She had me just walk with him to see how I did. the second lesson was to see how my posting was.
Let me tell you people, posting is NOT as easy as it looks on TV. First off, I have no lower body strength at all. i have the upper strength from lifting stretchers for 9 years. So getting my legs to lift my hind end is quite the spectacle. Melissa is so patient, thank god. I am now on my 4th week of lessons and finally getting the whole pelvic thrust thing. Still sloppy but at least I'm getting something accomplished. i also now have bruises in place that I never thought I would get them. Sore legs are one thing.

I love being in the saddle and eventually I will have my own horse. The deal is 60lbs off, all the finances cleared and I can start shopping.   So my journey begins at 42.