A new chapter in Aaron’s riding career

Aaron started riding four years ago at Helping Hands Therapeutic Riding Center (HHTRC). He went from being led around on a lead rope, to riding on his own, to competing in the show ring. Every Monday night for four years we have driven one hour both ways for a one hour lesson. During these four years Aaron got to know and love Scooter, Skippy, and many of the other great horses at HHTRC. The highlight of the last two years was having the opportunity to work with a truly wonderful horse trainer, Lacie Robinson. Lacie gave her all to helping Aaron improve and she pushed and inspired him to achieve things that he never thought possible.

Sadly, our time at HHTRC must come to an end. In August, Lacie had a falling out with the program manager, and had to leave HHTRC. Since Lacie left, Aaron has worked with other trainers, but it is just not the same. One night as we were riding home from a lesson Aaron told me that he really wants to continue to improve his riding skills and to work on some of the more advanced showmanship skills that Lacie had taught him. I was thinking the same thing, but I was glad that he came to that decision on his own.

So, we started looking in earnest for another trainer. To my surprise it has been very difficult to find a barn that specializes in western pleasure (as opposed to english). After an extended search I finally found a trainer that could work with Aaron. The best part is that the barn is only 20 minutes from our house.

We had our first lesson tonight. I was very impressed with the trainer, Sarah. Aaron really seemed to click with her. Aaron got to ride a retired show horse named Buggs, and he did very well on him. We have agreed to start riding with Sarah twice a week.

While we will miss HHTRC, I really have a good feeling about our decision and I am excited to see Aaron take this next step.

Here is a short video that I took at the new barn.

Aaron Riding Buggs from Jeff Carroll on Vimeo.