Allegiance Arena: Western Riding Academy

09/10/2026

Hey AAWRA family! It’s Mrs. Britt💗

I just wanted to pop on here for a minute and say THANK YOU. We truly have the best barn family anyone could ask for, and I mean that wholeheartedly.

September has already brought so many familiar faces back through the barn, along with several new students and families who have recently joined the AAWRA family. We are so excited to have you here!

One of my favorite parts of what we do is getting to know each student, watching their confidence grow, seeing their knowledge and understanding of horsemanship continue to develop, and simply watching memories being made around the barn. Whether you’ve been with us for years or just had your very first lesson, we hope you always feel welcomed, encouraged, and right at home here.

For all of our new families and students, I’ll also have an AAWRA welcome packet ready for you to take home at your next lesson! It includes helpful program information, barn expectations, and a few little things to help you get settled in and know what to expect moving forward.

Thank you for trusting us, supporting our little barn, loving our horses, and being part of what makes AAWRA so special.

We’re looking forward to another busy and fun month full of horses, learning, laughs, and plenty of special moments made in the barn and in the saddle.

We’re so glad you’re here!💗🐴

09/04/2026

🐴💕 Officially Retired: TinkerBell 💕🐴

After many wonderful years of serving our students and program, our sweet TinkerBell has officially retired from the AAWRA lesson program.

There are some horses that simply do their job, and then there are horses like Tink who become such an important part of the story.

Over the years, she has carried so many students through different stages of their horsemanship journey. She has helped build confidence, taught patience, forgiven mistakes, challenged riders when they needed it, and quietly helped shape some pretty special little horsemen and horsewomen along the way.

She has been a steady presence for so many of our students, helping them learn not only how to ride, but also how to listen, communicate, problem solve, and grow. She has shown our students the value of patience, consistency, kindness, and trust.

Those kinds of horses are priceless.

As much as we will miss seeing our beloved “Tinker the Slow Blinker, TinkTink, Stinkerbells” lol working in regular lessons, she has more than earned this next chapter.

Retirement doesn’t mean goodbye💗Tink is still very much part of our AAWRA family. It simply means that after all the years she has spent taking care of everyone else, it’s our turn to take care of her and let her enjoy life at her own pace.

She has given so much of herself to this program and to the children who have had the privilege of learning from her. Now she gets to spend her days being loved, spoiled, and appreciated without having to carry the responsibility of being everyone’s teacher.

We will forever be grateful for every child she carried, every lesson she taught, and every memory she helped create here.

Thank you, Tink, for your years of service to our students and our program. You have left hoofprints all over this barn and on a whole lot of hearts.

Enjoy retirement, sweet girl. You have certainly earned it.

We love you BIG, TinkTink!💗🐴

08/31/2026

It’s going to be another wonderful week at AAWRA, and we’re so excited to see all of our families coming through the barn!💗🐴

We also have some exciting news… we currently have a few openings for new students!

These spots are very limited and typically do not stay available for long, so if you’ve been considering getting your child started in lessons, now is a great time to reach out.

AAWRA offers beginner through advanced western horsemanship lessons, and absolutely no prior experience is needed. Our goal is to give each student a safe, encouraging, and individualized place to learn, grow, and build confidence both in and out of the saddle.

Not quite sure if your child is ready to commit to a weekly or biweekly lesson program? That’s exactly why we offer trial lessons!

Our one hour trial lesson is a wonderful way to meet our instructors and program horses, experience a lesson at the barn, and see if AAWRA feels like the right fit for your family before enrolling.

If you’d like more information about our current openings or scheduling a trial lesson, send us a message.

We’d love to welcome a few new faces to the barn!

08/26/2026

Unfortunately, due to weather concerns, we will be rescheduling all of our afternoon and evening lessons today. 🌧️⚡️🐴

We understand that schedule changes can be a big inconvenience for our families, and we truly appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding. We will do our absolute best to work with each family and find a makeup time that fits your schedule as comfortably as possible.

We look forward to having everyone back at the barn and in the saddle as quickly as possible! ♥️

— The AAWRA Team

INCOMING STORMS. A line of storms is beginning to build into north Alabama from Tennessee. A limited severe weather threat is expected with some isolated instances of damaging wind possible. Heavy rain and frequent lightning is also likely. Keep up with the storms this afternoon on the 48 First Alert Weather app.

08/25/2026

One thing we always want our AAWRA families to remember…

Never underestimate the importance of the “boring” stuff.

Walking, steering, stopping, learning to use your seat and leg aids, finding your balance, leading your horse, grooming, tacking up, and untacking are just a few of the many things we work on along the way. It’s all part of horsemanship. 

If a rider can’t confidently steer and control their horse at the walk, adding speed isn’t going to fix it. If they’re still working on balance at the trot, they aren’t ready to lope. And if they haven’t learned how to safely handle and communicate with a horse on the ground, there’s still more foundation to build before we start asking for more in the saddle.

Progress isn’t about how quickly a child moves up to faster gaits. True progress is measured by the skills they build along the way and how confidently, safely, and correctly they ride.

Sometimes progress is spending an entire lesson working on body position, steering, transitions, or leg aids.

Sometimes it’s slowing things back down because a rider needs more time before moving forward.

Our job isn’t simply to teach your child how to ride. It’s also knowing when they’re ready for the next step and when they need a little more time building confidence and consistency where they are.

We’re not holding them back. We’re building the foundation they’ll rely on when things eventually become faster, harder, and more challenging.

With horses, you can’t safely skip the basics. One of the most important parts of your child’s journey is trusting the process and allowing them the time they need to build a solid foundation.♥️

— Mrs. Britt

08/22/2026

This week has brought a lot of change to the barn.

For some of our students, Ladybug had been their partner for well over a year. She was familiar, trusted, and a huge part of their progress in the saddle.

Losing a lesson horse that has been part of your journey is hard, especially for young riders who form such strong relationships with the horses they learn on.

Before lessons started, I made sure to have a conversation with each student about how it’s okay to grieve the horse they loved while still allowing themselves to embrace and learn from a new lesson mount.

Yesterday Spice officially made her lesson program debut, and she handled her first day exactly as I hoped she would.

Spice stepped into her new job beautifully. She was quiet, responsive, patient when she needed to be, and gave her riders the opportunity to use the skills we’ve been building rather than simply carrying them through the lesson.

But I was equally proud of our students.

They showed up, embraced the change, trusted what they’ve been taught, and rode the horse underneath them. It reminded me just how much they’ve grown as young horsewomen.

This week wasn’t about replacing Bugs. You simply can’t replace a horse that meant that much to our family, our students, and our program.

It was about taking everything she helped teach these kids and carrying it forward.

I’m incredibly proud of our students, incredibly proud of Spice, and feeling a little more reassured that this next chapter at AAWRA is going to be okay♥️

—Mrs. Britt

(A few photos of Paisley and Anne riding Spice and Pippi♥️)

08/19/2026

This morning, the AAWRA family said goodbye to a very special member of our program.

At 41 years old, Ladybug, lovingly known as Bugs, was the oldest horse in our barn and without question one of the most special lesson horses we have ever had the privilege of sharing with our students.

Bugs lived to have a job. Even well into her senior years, being saddled and having a student on her back was where she was happiest. She taught countless lessons, carried so many of our kiddos, built confidence, kept her riders honest, and had a way of teaching things that an instructor simply can’t.

She wasn’t always the easiest horse in the barn, and honestly, that was part of what made her such a good one. Bugs taught her students to be proactive riders. She taught patience, feel, confidence, and how to communicate with the horse underneath them. The lessons she gave our students went far beyond learning how to sit in a saddle.

And somewhere along the way, our students became her people too.

She knew the sound of treat bags, loved her NickerDoodles and pastries, and certainly wasn’t shy about letting you know when she thought she deserved something.

There is going to be an enormous empty space at our barn without her.

To every student who ever groomed her, rode her, hugged her neck, slipped her a treat, learned something from her, or simply loved our old girl, thank you for being part of her story.

Lesson horses like Bugs are incredibly hard to find and impossible to replace.

We were so lucky she was ours.

Rest easy, Bugs♥️Your job here is finished. You took care of so many of our kiddos, and we will take it from here. We love you sweet girl!

08/17/2026

☀️ AAWRA Barn Update ☀️

Due to today’s extreme heat and heat index, we will be rescheduling all afternoon and evening lessons. Keeping our students and horses safe will always be our top priority!

All families have been contacted and rescheduling information has been sent out.

Everyone, please stay cool and hydrated today! It’s going to be a scorcher, and the humidity will only get worse once the rain moves in.🥵

Lessons tomorrow will continue as scheduled, with slightly cooler temperatures expected. Please make sure you bring a drink to sip on as needed, and remember, hydration starts before your lesson!

We look forward to seeing everyone at the barn this week!♥️🐴

08/15/2026

Two years between these photos💗🐴

Jillian was one of my very first toddler students, so it’s pretty neat to look back and see just how far she’s come. From learning those very first basics to becoming a more confident and capable rider, she has grown so much in two years.

One of the best parts of teaching young kids longterm is getting to watch their horsemanship grow right along with them. So proud of the little horsewoman she’s becoming!

— Mrs. Britt

08/14/2026

We’re really happy with how this mare is coming along under saddle. She’s been given plenty of time to settle in, be evaluated, and show us exactly who she is, and she’ll officially make her debut in our lesson program the last week of this month.

It takes a lot for a horse to earn the title of an AAWRA Program Horse. Our standards are high, and for good reason. We don’t believe in a revolving door of lesson horses. When a horse earns a place in our program, our intention is for them to be here for the long haul.

We put a tremendous amount of pride into the way our horses ride, the confidence they give our students, and the standard of horsemanship they represent. But I’m equally proud of the life they have outside of the lesson program. They’re deeply appreciated, exceptionally well cared for, and given the respect and consideration they deserve as the heart of our program.

A good lesson horse is something you simply can’t put a price on, and we never take for granted what these horses give to our program and our students.

We’re looking forward to seeing Spice settle into this next chapter as an AAWRA Program Horse💗🐴