Show Jumper Material

What a busy, but incredible day! I ended my busy day with a riding lesson at my new barn, a local world-class show jumping academy. Boy, the lesson went so well! I've always seen myself as an average rider with average skills and just assumed that was the way it would always be. That is...until I found myself at this new barn where I feel like I've found my true calling!

In the past, I've had my fair share of these...

Not me, although this is a pretty cool moment to capture on film!

...but I know now that all of the many years of hard work have paid off. This lesson made me realize that I'm not just a novice rider and that I do actually have show jumper potential. Hooray!

We worked on lots of broken lines to the left while continuing to build on the five key principles of jumping. Most jumps were around 3 feet, which looks a little something like this...

Not me either (I wish)!

Someday I'll have my instructor snap a photo or two so you can see me in action.

When I got home from riding, I felt incredible!

I was also very, very thirsty. I drank this entire 1L bottle of water in under half an hour. I just couldn't get enough.

Because it was so late at night, I didn't want to make a big dinner. I baked some spinach and feta spanikopitas in the oven and munched on six of them along with a small glass of chocolate milk.

I love just how much spinach is packed into these little pockets of phyllo pastry. The feta cheese isn't overwhelming either, just enough to give them some flavour.

After my "spanks" (what Casey and I call spanikopita) and chocolate milk, I served myself a bowl of frozen mixed berries with a few tablespoons of Nesquik Plus chocolate syrup on top.

Finally, it's time to end my day and get some serious zzz's. For anyone who ever said that horseback riding is easy, my night's sleep tonight should prove just how much of a workout it can be!

Question: Have you ever ridden a horse before? What did you think, was it a workout?