A Change of Pace

This morning I went out with my friend Aimee to take pictures of her and hang out while she had a riding lesson. Aimee and I have been friends for a LONG time... we used to ride at the same barn when we were kids. Now, I don't have a horse anymore and Aimee is working very hard to train her Warmblood mare, Izzy.

This is Izzy:





Aimee and Izzy are a great team and it was wonderful to spend some time around horses again. Aimee still rides with the same instructor as I/we did when we were younger, but they recently moved to a new barn.



It was a beautiful morning, with lots of sun and almost perfect lighting. Aimee started Izzy out on the longe line. Izzy is still young, so it gives her an opportunity to get out any excess energy before Aimee gets on.





Isn't she beautiful?





After letting Izzy go around in both directions, Aimee got on and warmed her up.









Izzy is quite the character... and has such an expressive face! I loved photographing her.





They worked a lot on some basic dressage stuff... getting Izzy to round her neck and back and become "soft" and quiet. Izzy was a team player... sometimes :)





Next, Aimee had Izzy go over some trot poles...



And then, she practiced some jumping. Izzy is just learning, and thinks that jumping should be done at FULL SPEED.



Aimee did very well with her.













Izzy's favorite part of the day:



A fun time was had by all!