The first time I ever got on a horse was when I was 12 years old. My friend had horses and figured I'd like to see. Right when I hopped in that saddle, I knew I wanted to learn all about horses and riding. I started taking lessons from my friend's older sister, Mallory. Although it wasn't a professional lesson ranch and more of a for fun thing, I learned a lot. I learned how to feed, groom, tack up, and ride all at once. Since I was still learning to fully tack up in the beginning, Mallory made a rule that I couldn't use a saddle until I knew how to fully saddle up.

   

I'm incredibly thankful she did too, riding bareback has many benefits. Such as improving your balance and really being able to feel the horse move in sync with you. We began to work on practicing barrel racing. 

   

Around a year later, I had to stop lessons there because she was busy with college. I stopped riding for around half a year, and the entire time I couldn't stop thinking about riding again.

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I found a new place, but it was not what I was expecting. I learned that everyone has a different way of teaching and that there is no right or wrong, but it was like starting new again. The horses there were not completely trained, and because of that there was lots of bucking, rears, and spooks, but I was persistent.

   

I'm thankful I had the opportunity to ride there, and the horses being sensitive really helped me to be prepared for the future. 

   

I left that barn a few months in and decided to take a break. I was out of the saddle for a year, which was longer than I had hoped. I was nervous to start somewhere new again, but I couldn't stop thinking about how I felt when I rode or was around the horses. 

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I started at a new place called SR Performance horses, and instantly fell in love. I had so many new opportunities I never had before, and although it was like starting new again, I learned quick. I now know how to ride completely independently again, without needing assistance.

   

I've learned how to jump, rope, work more patterns, train horses, goat tie, and do more barrel racing! I haven't been at this place for a year yet, and I'm hoping to improve even more to where I'll get the confidence to compete or race. 

 

In the beginning of my lessons, I worked on getting used to everything again, trying to remember as much as I could. Around two months later, I decided I wanted to do liberty.

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Liberty is a unique way of riding, very similar to bareback. Like bareback, you ride with no saddle, but you also ride with no reins, making it incredibly hard to hold on and steer. The main way people find balance in horseback riding is having a saddle, which also provides stirrups and a horn. Liberty isn't only riding; it's actually mainly known for its groundwork, which involves teaching horses different tricks. I learned how to ride liberty, and even though I didn't work consistently on groundwork, I still know a lot about it. 

 

When I began liberty riding, it was a very slow process. I started with taking off the saddle, the gradually moved onto taking off the bridle as I improved. I rode liberty with a bareback pad. The reason for this is because of the horses' boney backs, or their sweat. It doesn't provide anything to help with staying on or balancing. I continued liberty for a month or two when I decided I wanted to work more on barrels as well. 

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Along with my lessons, I've made many friends, and volunteer every Wednesday. This includes feeding, training, and much more. During the summer I also volunteered at a kid's camp and joined the advanced camp for myself. I now continue to learn more and more every week, getting closer and closer to barrel racing competitively.