PONY Bloggers: Meet Alex and Skye!

It’s time to meet our our next PONY Blogger – Alex! She’s 13 years old and is going to be sharing her adventures at her riding stables – with her fave pony Skye! 

Hi, PONY readers! My name is Alex and I’m 13 years old. I have regular riding lessons at a local stables – I’ve been riding for a lot longer, but I had to move stables, and have only been going to my current one for about four months. I love it so much – all the people are really friendly, including my teacher, Linda – she’s helped me gain so much jumping confidence.

My favourite pony to ride is a piebald called Skye – I really love her! She has the most amazing jump, but also she only has one eye. Most people would expect a cob with one eye to be the least likely jumper on the yard, but Skye loves it – because of this her nickname is Skye Bird! She sails over any fence you direct her towards. Not only that, she’s amazing at flatwork, too, and super friendly to handle. I’ve found out that her fave treats are carrots, so I make sure I always take one with me for after my lesson. It always makes me smile when I come to ride and see Skye’s face poking out over her stable door.

Lately, I have been learning how to canter over jumps. The other weekend, when I got to the stables for my lesson Linda told me that there were just two of us in the group that day. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but Linda let us go over the jumps lots of times and raised them up if we were confident and wanted to go higher. It was really fun and I learned so much. Afterwards I untacked Skye myself, which is the best feeling – spending some time with her and thanking her after my lesson was the greatest.

Riding is full of ups and downs, though – and another memorable event was a lesson a couple of weeks ago when I nearly fell off! My previous riding instructor used to say that every good rider falls off, which worried me because I’ve not fallen off yet! Anyway, I was riding Skye towards the first jump of the lesson and, as we landed and cantered away, I slipped forward. I fell onto her neck and was sure that I’d end up on the floor. Somehow I stuck on, though – so I guess I’m still waiting for that first fall! After the lesson, I felt sorry for Skye for sliding onto her neck, so I fed her a carrot as a treat. I hope to learn to improve my balance and sit up more after landing, so I won’t fall forward and will keep control of the horse for the next jump.

My goals for the future are to learn more about horse care and stable management, and also join the advanced jumping group one day. Right now, I’m working to keep cantering over jumps and, in flatwork, to strengthen my balance and position. I also enjoy riding different ponies, so I am not just practicing on Skye, even if she is my secret favourite (don’t tell the others!). I cannot wait for my next riding lesson!

Bye for now!