Yippee!

Sarah and I went to our first horseback riding lesson on Saturday. We're taking 4 introductory lessons, after which I'm sure we'll want to buy our own horses and take daily gallops through the Arboretum.

So the place we are taking the lessons is Boston Equestrian Center http://bostonequestriancenter.com in Oxford. Really beautiful stable as you can see from the website. Our instructor is Moroccan/French, and tres amusante. He keeps up a running line of patter, which I cannot always catch, as I am trying to hear him while my teeth are chattering as I bounce up and down in the saddle, and go around and around the ring, and his accent is similar to the Candlestick guy in Beauty and the Beast.

My horse was a beautiful bay named Independence (Indy), and Sarah had an equally beautiful horse named Flame. That's him in the photo.

the instructor calls you by the name of the horse: "Flame, good for you! Indy, show more enthusiasime! Do not concentrate so hard! . . . If you want to boost your ego, thees ees not the class for you! Don't be a seesy (makes cartoonish crying noises)!"

I didn't fall off, and I had a lot of fun--can't wait till next week. Alas, this can't end well. Liking to ride a horse will lead to wanting to ride a horse often, and that is an expensive hobby. Why can I think of so many ways to spend money and so few ways to make it??????