1st Arena

Today’s adventure was another small step toward the bigger goal of a horse camping expedition in Fall 2027. Rachel, the owner of Mountain Rose Farm, has laid out a weekly schedule to get me ready for the expedition, alternating arena lessons with trail rides.

Approaching the Arena riding Billy

I had my first arena lesson and rode Billy, an old plow horse with a wide back, who seemed to have very definite ideas about how he wanted to spend the afternoon—and most of them did not include listening to me. We practiced circling the arena, riding the reluctant horse over logs and a tarp, and mounting and dismounting from both sides.

I also learned to mount from the ground without a mounting block, which involves grabbing a handful of mane and pulling yourself up—something that feels very wrong the first time you do it.

I left with a homework assignment to learn the names of my horse’s accessories: Bridle, Cinch, Bit, Headstall, etc.

Serge came along to check out the ranch, and after the lesson, we drove down to Hammondsport, one of the prettiest and most historic villages in the Finger Lakes. Sitting at the southern end of Keuka Lake, Hammondsport grew up around agriculture, lake commerce, and winemaking, and later became closely associated with aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss. Its compact downtown still has the feel of an old lakeside village, with historic buildings, shops, and restaurants clustered around the square.

We finished the day by meeting up with Jai, Jamie and Lisa at The Village Tavern, a downtown gathering place with a warm, traditional feel.