Books In Real Life, Episode 1: Racing Savannah

Books in Real Life is a new feature collaboration with Rachel, and it's basically self-explanatory. We’re taking some of the activities and places we’ve only read about in books we loved, and going to be doing them ourselves in real life! It’s a great way to make the books come alive, and to challenge us to be more active and do things.

(as inspired by Miranda Kenneally's Racing Savannah)

Since I was little, I've always been fascinated by horses. (Seriously, I had a major obsession with the Saddle Club series. Anyone else?) If I hadn't moved to the Philippines, I would have probably convinced my parents to let me take riding lessons in Virginia. But I did, and there aren't really a lot of horses over there, especially in my teeny hometown. I did get to ride a horse every now and then on vacations, but nothing as serious as a lesson.

Honestly, I was like a five year old when Rachel & I set off for the Garret Mountain Reserve on Saturday morning! We went through the registration process, before we were given helmets and introduced to our trail guide Lauren. She and the stable hands (I totally thought of Rory here!) helped us to mount our horses (Rachel was on Igor, and I was on Tilly), then gave us a short lesson on how to use the reins and our feet to guide the horses. Before we knew it, we were off for our trail ride!

The trail we took wound through the forested areas nearby, and meandering on it (atop these horses, of course) was quite lovely. Lauren chatted amiably with us about her experiences with riding, horses, the stables and the neighborhood (and I really loved this). Being surrounded by nature, and gifted with the perfect temperature (sunny, but cool), it was easy to relax.

Before we knew it, an hour had passed and the stables were in sight again... which meant our trail ride was coming to an end. I was sad because Lauren was such great company, the horses were wonderful and the trail felt like a whole other world. But end it did, and so we bid goodbye to the horses, Lauren & the stables... after the requisite photos, of course.

With every Books in Real Life post, we'll be including a short, three question survey about our experiences! You can see the first set of survey answers below:

1. Would I do this again? Most definitely! I loved my experience. I still think it's pretty crazy that Rachel & I were just briefed quickly, and then allowed free reign (hee, there's a horse pun in here somewhere) for the next hour. Granted, the horses knew what they were doing and were pretty tame. But they're still living creatures with minds of their own, so any number of things (getting thrown, going rogue, wandering off) could have happened! I felt very accomplished. We're totally plotting on going again in the fall when the foliage has changed colors.

2. What was your favorite part or a memorable moment? Tilly's antics were probably my favorite bit (if also slightly nerve-wracking). She was so playful, sometimes speeding up just to catch up to the other two horses, sometimes tossing her neck or rearing a little in an effort to displace the reins.

3. Anything you wish you'd known beforehand? I wish I'd realized how saddle sore I was going to be the next day! The muscle workout you are subject to when you go on horseback is pretty intense. (Still worth the experience though!)

And here are a few more titles I recommend that feature horseback riding:

Historical/regency romances (seriously, most of them have horses!)

Tamora Pierce's novels

Incarnate series by Jodi Meadows

Saddle Club series by Bonnie Bryant

Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson
Throne of Glass series
The Lord of the Rings series