John's Lesson
John's lesson was yesterday morning at 11:30. He showed up to the barn at 8am. ... I think he might've been a little nervous :)
Once John got on and Traveler started moving Erin (my trainer) absolutely fell in love with him. It's true he's the cutest old man, is the perfect size for John, and their temperaments are almost identical.
To make things even better, John's mom came to watch. I've only seen her watch John ride once before and that was a little over a year ago when I put him on Traveler and had them cruise around in the arena and introduced the idea of a lease to her.
I was sure that his parents were feeling cranky and bitter about the lease. They're not much involved beyond check writing so I've been making all of Traveler's appointments (to match Darcy's) and letting them foot the bill. Not to mention that I convinced John that he needed to move Traveler to Darcy's new barn which makes them drive considerably farther than they used to when he was boarded down the street from their place (and John insists on going to the barn every day).
However, to my surprise, his mom expressed her gratitude at letting John use Traveler and gave me the impression that she thought I was upset with the lease situation. I had been, a little bit, but once I realized that I was getting the best of both worlds by being able to make all of Traveler's decisions and having someone foot the bill for a horse that would've been mostly retired and who I frankly haven't had enough time for. Traveler loves having the personal attention that he missed when I was trying to baby two horses and although sometimes I have to remind John to do things I really don't mind, and I get the sense that he feels more secure with that too.
Anyway, back to the lesson. I snapped a few shots and took some crappy video but once his mom showed up she wanted to chat about her horsey childhood so I missed quite a bit. Erin mostly focused on getting Traveler straight and the result of different combinations of leg and rein aids. When Erin explained that all John had to do was turn his shoulder to get Traveler to turn it was like a lightbulb went off in his head and his face lit up like "Wow, Awesome!" It was fun to watch.
Afterwards John said that it was the most instruction he'd ever gotten in a lesson and the most postitive feedback he'd ever heard in a lesson as well. His face was red and he was covered in sweat but he was beaming ear to ear. His mom was especially happy and talked of his last trainer who he'd been with for two years calling her "she who shall not be named." Then she paid for a month's worth of lessons.
She went home without him. Honestly we couldn't find him for awhile. We looked out across the pastures and there he was sitting under a tree watching Traveler graze.