Tranquil Acres
Horsemanship Program
https://www.tranquilacresguesthouse.com/
When I was in Moscow I decided I wanted to take what I called "horseback riding lessons" when I returned to Ottawa. When I was younger I've been on trail rides and the horses ALWAYS knew that I was NOT in control and I wanted to change that.
The worse incident was when we came out of the trails into an open field and my horse decided to take off at full speed. All I had to do (I know now) is pull back fairly hard on the reins and say "whoa" in a commanding voice. That would have stopped me from sheer terror as the horse headed for the only tree in the entire field. I swear he wanted to lose me with the low hanging branch because he went right for it and I had to literally ride sideways in the saddle to avoid being beheaded. I think it was after this incident that I was quite afraid of horses.
Going into the lessons (4 - 1 hour lessons) I was anxious knowing I would be getting up close and personal with these magnificent, but unpredictable animals.
Tranquil Acres is a therapeutic riding centre. This means they help people "with varying social, emotional, physical and mental health needs who want to experience the transformative powers of horses as teachers and healers".
(excerpt from their website)
My instructor Kyle is a registered psychotherapist, but to me, he is just a very relaxed and easy going guy who has made this process enjoyable and dare I say, even fun! He has a lot of patience and a good sense of humor too.
My horse is lazy. He truly is. He's 1600 pounds of laziness and his name is Monroe. He LOVES to be brushed and he loves treats even more. What he doesn't love is to move very fast, so as Kyle puts it, "he's a great teacher". He's a great teacher because he doesn't easily respond to commands such as going faster, so I really have to know what I'm doing to make him go!
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| My handsome new friend Monroe... at least I think this is him from their website. lol |
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| All ready for me to brush him! |
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| He's loving being inside the stables where it's much cooler and less bugs! You can see he's pretty relaxed. |
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| Every lesson starts with me brushing him with 3 different brushes and he usually just closes his eyes and gets very mellow because he really enjoys being brushed. After that I clean his hooves. Who knew it was really so easy to make him lift his foot? Just run your hand down the back of his leg and at what would be our Achilles heel area, just give a little squeeze and he'll lift it up for you. Mind you, Monroe gets a little lazy and I end up holding a fair bit of weight, but it's manageable. |
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| After grooming I lead him out of the stable area through a little door (and be sure I'm the one through the door first to show I am literally the leader and the one in control). Sometimes he'd test me on this one and try to get ahead of me. Same with when I'm walking him. My goal is to keep his nose about at my shoulder so again, I am the one leading. |
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| This is my favorite shot. I love his expression. He looks so relaxed. He doesn't look as big when he puts his head down as when he stands upright, but you certainly feel his size when you're riding him! |
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| He's so handsome. 🐴 After walking him around the indoor arena I bring him over to the steps where I get on him and practice maneuvering him around the ring, through posts, over wood on the ground, etc. It's surprisingly easy to get him to do just what you want. Posture is key with a nice erect spine, shoulders back, head held high. Attitude is important too as horses are very intuitive and the pick up on your emotions. You look to where you want to go... not just at your horses head. He senses this if you're looking in the direction you're headed in it'll be easy to guide him to where you want to go. If I wanted him to go faster I first had to think of something exciting and get my internal energy "up" also. Then I'd squeeze his sides with my heels. If that didn't get him going, I squeeze a little harder or give a gentle kick. As I said earlier, Monroe is lazy (that's what Kyle calls him) and so it does take a bit of motivation... especially in this heat wave we've been having. After our lesson I bring him back to the stairs where I dismount and then walk him back into the stable where he gets another brushing and a treats. |
July 9th - last lesson
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| Today was my last lesson. 😢I will miss Monroe and our time together, but today I really got in the groove and held strong when he was resisting (it was +32 degrees, I don't blame him). |
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| lol... I look a little tense here! |
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| I think the posture is good although it looks like I'm holding the reins too tight, my hands should be more forward. Good action shot Kyle, thank you! |
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| We were both a little exhausted in this heat wave |
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| Love ya Monroe and I will miss you! 😭 |
Thank you SO much to Tranquil Acres and my wonderful instructor Kyle for his kindness & patience and for allowing me to build the confidence to be much more comfortable around horses.
