I remember my childhood memories of horse riding piece by piece as I gradually reintroduce myself to riding after 25 years.
Surprisingly (well, to me!) the most significant memories have been triggered by physical movement and sensations in my body during lessons that instil joy back into my mind, body and soul with every 30 minute lesson I have with my instructor each week.
Not being very tall in stature (a petite 5'1"), I'm one of the few 35 year olds at my local riding centre that gets to enjoy the process of re-learning riding on a group of spirited and independent ponies.
My first 'accidental' canter with a strong-minded chestnut mare pony, Gem, brought back the memories of building trust with my chestnut pony, Strawberry, when I was ten years old.
Back then, it was a weekly group lesson. I didn't have the 'fear', I didn't mind being 'partially supervised' as part of a group and enjoyed building up communication with my pony. We had very similar energies and would often both get very enthusiastic and want to 'overtake' other ponies in the arena to make the lesson more interesting. Believe it or not, my 10-year-old self used to whisper 'let's canter' in Strawberry's ear, and then I'd laugh as we glided around on the inside past some slow coaches.
Fast forward 25 years, a pandemic and exodus from London later, the bustling and non-outdoorsy city (unless strolling around parks) that I'd spent the last decade in was no longer home. I was living back near my childhood home, confronted with fresh air and lots of green.
As I found myself with more time and more uncertainty than I'd experienced before, I became aware that I was entirely disconnected from my physical body, living by my thoughts, to-do list and quest for more freelance PR contracts.
Completely unsustainable, this mode of existence highlighted how I'd been consistently channelling my energy into the future - the next day, the next event, the next train; the next job or gig - never pausing or being conscious of my breathing or how stress was absorbed in my body.
Something had to change, but I didn't know what.
It turns out that my partner has much better riding credentials to me, which offered a gateway back into the world of horse riding. A former Swedish show-jumper, Theres often recounts the hours spent each day over decades that she has spent riding. When pandemic restrictions eased, I booked her a lesson and sat in the arena to watch....and so my love of horse riding was ignited. I wanted a go!
I'd describe my first lesson (based on video evidence) as a sack of spuds on a skateboard on a beautiful buckskin coloured pony called Whiskey. My main take-out? Ponies and horses are noble, they quite literally carry you and accept your faults in the moment.
I've now been attending weekly lessons for nine months. Filming footage of each lesson weekly helps me reflect on what I need to work on holistically, driven by my desire to be a better rider, be at one with whichever pony I was offered, understand them and work as a team. My confidence and posture has improved in life, and I hold my head up high knowing I have made a commitment to work on something for myself and for the ponies I ride. This spark of joy is exactly what led me to develop Solhäst. So much riding wear I've seen is not sustainable and it doesn't represent the values that we should hold dear - protecting the environment for our horses and ponies, who give us so much.
Of course, due to the nature of riding schools, it can be difficult to build up a relationship with a pony, so I always make time to arrive early, do some ground work if possible, and understand the pony's schedule - how many lessons have they had? Have they been outside? When did they last eat? Which horses have they spent time with? Do they like being tacked up?
It is an education, however, among the countless articles and videos I've devoured since returning to riding, one of the pieces of advice that has stuck with me is 'work on the horse first and then work on yourself.' This important step of listening to each pony, gathering information and using intuition has helped guide me during lessons, when instructions can be overwhelming - and I know that a journey of building trust begins from here.
How have you built trust with your horse, pony or riding school horse/pony? I'd love to hear your experiences.