she and him

she had a big lesson the other day.  lots of firsts.  first jump, first time picking his hooves on her own (doesn't sound very exciting, but watching her lift and then balance that big foot all on her own was like watching a special kind of dance between the two of them), her first real bit of cantering, and...... her first fall.  her teacher (a good friend of ours) had been telling me at the last few lessons that I should be prepared for it, that it would probably come soon as she was starting to be more confident and taking on new things at her lessons.  she practiced emergency dismounts, just in case.  and then last week, after taking him over a little jump several times and with both of their energy levels pretty high and excited, she trotted and cantered him around on the lead rope for a while and as he came into the short end of the circle he started to break into a canter and things got a little wonky and off she came.  I had been trying to get a photo of her cantering and ended up getting that first fall.  it went as well as a first fall can go, I think.  she stayed pretty in control and slid/fell/jumped off, landing mostly on her feet and then rolling to the side.  he stopped.  our friend congratulated her on an excellent first fall (keeping things light, you know) and popped her right back on him to ride him around a bit stirrup-free (she had broken the safety strap on one stirrup) to get them both feeling better after the excitement (he seemed more upset by it than she did- he is good old horse who really looks out for his smaller riders).

I haven't been bringing my camera with me (generally, wherever we are) as much as I used to, and I'm so glad I did that day.  and I'm so grateful that she is able to have this horse, and these experiences, in her world.