Books In Real Life, Episode 1: Racing Savannah

Alexa and I talk almost every single day and from our conversations, we sometimes get great ideas. I can tell you practically verbatim how this one came about:

< talking about how great Racing Savannah is > 

"I've always wanted to go horseback riding."

"ME TOO."

"We should go!"

"WE SHOULD." 

"There's a stable 15 minutes from my apartment!" 

< hours later ... > 

"We should turn this into a blog feature!"

This is just the start but the plan is: Books In Real Life will be a monthly feature where we'll think of books we love and that have something fun we'd like to recreate in real life and then we'll share on our blogs. Like Raving Savannah and horseback riding. Which brings me to ...

[ converses! / the book that inspired it all / view of the stable ] 

What that experience was like! It was such a fun weekend because Alexa ended up sleeping over the night before since our trail ride was at 10am. Our only instructions were to wear jeans and sneakers and I actually wasn't too nervous. Just really excited. And okay, I was a little scared about how I was going to get on top of the horse without looking like a total fool (spoiler alert: I did just fine thanks to a big step stool!). We went to the stables at the Garrett Mountain Reservation, signed some papers, were introduced to the lady who would be taking the two of us on the trail (who was super nice!), got on the horses and off we went! 

[ getting ready / with our new friends Igor & Tilly / on the trail ]

Horseback riding was both easier and tougher than I thought it would be! I mean the horses are trained so they're just following the leader but we had to think about how to communicate with them with our bodies and by how we held the reins. It felt mostly instinctual except when I wanted my horse, Igor (Alexa's horse was named Matilda) to move a tiny bit faster. I was worried about pulling on the reins or nudging him with my feet too hard (which in hindsight - I probably didn't have to worry!). But it super relaxing! The lady talked to us as we walked (trotted?) in a single line through the trail that went around the mountain. The weather was gorgeous, the scenery peaceful, we saw deer and passed by a lake. We also passed by a ton of people walking and/or running along the trail too and a few of them stopped to take our pictures which I thought was kind of funny.

[ Igor's pretty mane / post-riding glow! / more horses ] 

Survey time! At the end of every Books In Real Life post, we are going to answer a few questions: 

Anything you wish you'd known beforehand? How sore I would be! I mean I figured I'd feel some discomfort afterward considering we went horseback riding for an hour. But I was sore for a few days! 

What was your favorite part? The trail ride itself. It was just nice to be out there, chatting and riding our horses like it was a normal thing. Paired with the weather and scenery.. I really enjoyed the whole experience. 

Would we do it again? Yes! I really would love to go again. During the whole ride and for the rest of the day after, Alexa and I kept saying - I can't believe we really went horseback riding!