My Adventure into Horse Riding

I have owned Arabian horses in Egypt for 10 years, but the horses I have ridden in Egypt have never been my own. 

The horses my friends organised for me to ride were quiet, well behaved Arabians, who just followed along.  I didn’t have to worry about them suddenly deciding they wanted to gallop full speed across the desert.

Why do I not ride my own horses?  Good question.  My mare and stallion were not put under saddle until they were eight years old.  The staff at the stable where they live have been taking them for regular rides into the desert over the past year, getting them ready for me to ride.

Watching my Arabians being ridden has made me realise I will never be competent to ride either horse unless I can handle a spicy horse.  I need to take proper riding lessons and learn how to ride a horse, and more importantly get the horse to stop if I need it to.

I procrastinated for a long time; I must take riding lessons.  That was my goal but I just didn’t do anything about it.

One day while I was thinking about how great it would be to actually ride my own horses out in the desert with my friends, I finally decided I need to find a riding school near me.  I jumped on the internet and found one pretty close to where I live.  So, I phoned.

“Hi, I’d like to enquire about horse riding lessons, and do you take older folk?”  As it turns out my age (67 at the time) was no barrier to learning to ride a horse.  So, I organised my first lesson.

5 May 2024 I turned up, a bit anxious, horses are really big and I might fall off.

My instructor, Amelie Wouters-Reek, really lovely and made me feel at ease straight away.

The horse, Julius, another Arabian, and such a gentleman.  I have since been given the opportunity to purchase him, and I didn’t hesitate.

My first lesson went really well.  Amelie and Julius were both so patient with me and by the end of the lesson I was thinking, why did I not do this years ago when I first started thinking I want to learn to ride a horse properly.

I’ve now been taking lessons with Amelie for several months and it’s all done at a pace I am comfortable with.  When I think back to my first lesson and all the things I have learned about correct posture, aids (reins & legs) keeping the horse focused on me, keeping the horse moving, I realise that I’ve learned a lot, and I’m learning something with every lesson.   

The coolest thing Amelie has introduced me to in the last month is join up with my horse.  That has been very helpful.  So amazing when you have a horse trusting you so much, they follow you whichever direction you go in, like a little puppy.  This has been so helpful in confidence building for me, the connection with your horse is so important.

Amelie is a very experienced instructor and I am so lucky to be learning from such a knowledgeable, and experienced rider.  I have fallen into the most perfect situation I could have imagined for learning to ride.

If you, like me, have been thinking of learning to ride but you just haven’t made the move to find out about riding lessons, why not send Amelie an email on info@equusamie.com?  I can guarantee you will not regret it.