Three horses later, after two hours in the saddle in a freezing cold arena, I was tired and sore, but so happy! True, I definitely wasn’t the best rider of the bunch, especially since I wasn’t British (they’re the best *of course*) however it was still an awesome, unexpected experience to join in on a hunt seat class in a foreign country.

This chance to ride at the Talland School of Equitation, located just outside London, had literally come up at the last minute.  It was already October and I hadn’t ridden once in the past two months in an effort to adjust to life at university in France.  As great as studying abroad was, I had missed it.  So, in spite of my failure to plan ahead, I decided to just do it and hop the train the England. I had nothing to lose, besides missing a French class or two… There wasn’t anyone who could go with me (or who had the interest) so I went alone. To my surprise, it wasn’t terrifying or terrible, granted I soon discovered the benefits of traveling with friends: if you do get lost, at least you’re not the only one stupidly wandering around asking questions. Oh well, between the good graces of God and the kind people who helped me find my way: a Chinese exchange student, an Oxford student, an older Willamette grad and a jolly ol’ British Riding Instructor, I made it to Talland! So, whether or not I land a real ‘professional’ job after Willamette, at least I’ll have a few connections abroad in the equine world 🙂