Enzo. Elegant. Powerful. These thoughts come to mind as I walk to the cross ties and get Enzo. Today is a special day.

I pull Enzo toward the mounting block. I get on and make some room for my sister’s horse, Daisy. As I bring Enzo to the tree, our instructor Lisa says, “Don’t let him get too close to the branches!” Lisa said this before to other people riding big horses like Enzo and Daisy because they are like a chainsaw cutting down branches and quickly devouring them like spaghetti.

We are both on our horses and we head over to the arena where we would practice trotting around. I feel happy to be there. We pass oak trees and a tiny pony named Marshmallow getting exercise in a tiny arena. She’s cantering around the outside of the ring, just like I want to do. And today Lisa said that we would be able to canter today. I’m really motivated to do my best.

I have done so much practicing leading up to this. I started a few months ago. The horse I first rode was Bentley. I was nervous the first time I rode because he started moving before I told him to. But the rest of that day was fun because I learned how to control the horse. I havve been taking lessons every week, ever since I went to the horse camp. Sadly my favorite horse Bentley got injured, so I started riding Enzo.

Enzo is a nice horse. His trot is smooth, like peanut butter, which is why kids call him “Peanut Butter.” My sister’s horse Daisy is always excited to go, but Enzo needs help moving because he is lazy. So I have to use a crop. It doesn’t hurt him, but he understands the noise. It means time to start moving.

As I’m trotting, I see the other horses in the stables. I see Limo, a big horse. Ollie and Bentley who are brothers, on the right is Stormy behind them. Stormy is another one of my favorite horses. A flock of birds fly overhead and a family of squirrels gets out of the way as Enzo trots by. I always enjoy coming here. It’s one of my favorite activities of the week. It makes me happy inside.

I’ve been wanting to canter since I started riding. Cantering is basically like a horse running. It’s pretty fast, but not a gallop. A gallop is a sprint. Cantering seems like fun and it’s a new experience in horseback riding I’ve never tried before. You have to build up to it and learn how to control the horse first. You could fall off or break a bone. But I’m excited because I’ve been practicing a lot and now I’m good enough to start cantering. But I’m a little nervous about this because I don’t want to fall off.

It’s time to start the obstacle course before cantering for the first time. I get to go first. The course starts at the corner. Then we go down the long side of the arena trotting to the back corners. After the corners, I go through the obstacle course which consists of three poles on the ground which you have to weave through to get back to the starting corner. This is a warm up to make sure we have control of the horse and that the horse is ready before cantering.

The first time was a little tricky because Enzo wasn’t exactly sure how to do it. But the second time we were able to perfect it. I’m feeling happy because we’re getting towards the last part of class when we’ll get cantering. But I have mixed emotions because I also don’t want the class to end. We’ve finished the obstacle course and now are ready for the next part. Cantering.

I get Enzo moving forward by tapping the crop against his back leg. I’m very excited, but also nervous. I don’t know how fast it’s going to be. Our instructor has told us that if it’s too fast, to pull back on the reins and come back to a walk. But I don’t really know what to expect.

Enzo starts to trot as I round the corner and head into the long side of the arena, I tap the crop twice on his back leg. That lets him know it’s time to canter. “ Come on Enzo!” I whisper to him.

Just a few seconds later, he’s already into a full canter. This is better than I ever expected it to be. The wind is blowing in my face as we rush down the long side. Everything seems blurry. My heartbeat gets faster and faster. As we head into the corner, he slows down and goes back to a trot. I tap him twice again on his back leg and we canter down to the end. I bring him back to a trot then walk, so we don’t run into my sister’s horse. “Wow! That was awesome! I can’t wait to do that again!” I say. Lisa cheerfully congratulates me on my first ever canter. I then give him a pat on the neck to tell him “Good Job!” However this is only my first time cantering so I can always improve on this moment. But I feel amazing and accomplished. I am proud of Enzo.

As we head back to the crosties to get of our horses I think, “Wow I have been so lucky to ride other amazing horses, like Bentley, Ollie, Limo, Stormy and Luigi because they all have their special talents that have helped me be a better rider and got me to this point where I was able to canter.” I jump off Enzo and put him in the crosties. Once I do that I go to the benches on the other side and sit down because I’m absolutely exhausted.

This has been a really amazing moment that I will never forget.