Heels down, back straight, legs sore

I had my first riding lesson on Sunday. I used to take lessons (years and years ago now), but it has been quite a while since I've spent any amount of time on a horse, and I've switched disciplines from the more formal English over to the slightly more casual (but no less challenging) Western, so I am essentially beginning at the beginning. The main differences between basic Western pleasure and English pleasure would be the tack (your riding equipment) and how you hold your seat and handle the reigns. Western saddles have a saddle horn, and are generally wider and heavier than English saddles (the one I used on Sunday was a show saddle and weighed 35 pounds...). The construction of the saddle can affect how you hold your seat (maintaining balance, the straightness of your back, and how you position your legs and feet). I have some work to do on being able to keep my heels in the proper position, so I've been asked to do some exercises to stretch my ligaments and tendons. And I was having some steering issues, since I have to re-learn the Western reign: one handed, instead of two, and held just over the horse's mane to use the pressure of the bit, along with body position and leg pressure, as part of the directional cues. My instructor gave me a cursory lesson in grooming and tacking 101, since she expects that I should be able to get the horse ready for my lessons myself after a few more run-throughs. This is something I don't remember my previous instructor doing, and since I am thinking about looking into a lease agreement at some point, I'm grateful for the amount of contact and interaction that is encouraged as part of the lesson. Roxy is one of my instructor's competition horses, trained to follow both physical and verbal cues. Although she has been used as a barrel racer and for Western eventing, she has a pretty mellow disposition. Although she got a little obstinant once or twice, she overall seems to be very patient and willing, which is a benefit to me. My instructor was also very patient with my initial missteps, but I hope to make serious improvements over the course of the next few weeks.

Tomorrow night I'm going to volunteer training for the therpeutic riding program. I've already chatted a little bit with a couple of people who are involved with the program, and I'm looking forward to meeting everyone and helping out, since this gives me not only a chance to assist but even more contact and experience being around horses to expand my comfort level.