Our house is one street over from an area called Horse Country. We see horses all the time and feed horses all the time but I have never seen a riding school there which I think is peculiar. A few weeks ago we were feeding the horses and a man came out of the farm opposite and invited us to see his horses and told me Lily could learn to ride there. I wanted to suggest a sign but I bit my tongue! We walked down to the stables and found out all the information and today Lily got her first lesson.
It isn't just riding a horse but she has to learn all the tack, be able to put on the saddle and bridle and care for the horse, she even gets homework! She has to have special boots a hat and loose fitting blue jeans and a t-shirt. No jodhpurs and hacking jacket in this country but she still looked adorable. I am really, really impressed with the place. I love that you can just go there anytime and wander through the stalls and out to the paddock. Sadly many of the farms here don't care for the animals very well and the horses all look half starved and mangy but here they look healthy and they even have a world champion Paso Fino stallion who we have met and whom I had a close encounter with today....scared the living daylights out of me. I suppose I should mention here that I do not like horses. Yes, they are beautiful, yes they are smart but don't expect me to get on one cos they have a mind of their own and their mind and my mind just don't get along. I am fine if a fence or a stable separates us but up close and personal....well, no thank you.
On to the photos which is all you really want anyway. I have to write a disclaimer here: Rosie woke up this morning with a temp 102.7F or 39.2C by lunchtime she was feeling wretched, refused to eat or drink anything and after a good dose of medicine to bring her temp down it was up to 104.3F or 40.1C. Not sure why the meds didn't work but I knew we needed to go and see the Dr., so off we trotted only to find out that her ears and throat were fine her white blood count is fine and the only thing left to check was her bladder. Since a little girl had sobbed on and off all morning, had barely drunk anything except a few gulps of water her pee was hard to come by. The doc sent us off to the toyroom with her hooked up to a bag and we waited and waited as I coaxed her to drink. After an hour she was wrecked and tired and it was getting close to the time of Lily's lesson. I spoke to the Dr. and he told us to go and stay in the A/C and after the lesson to return if the bag had been used. I stayed out of the heat as much as possible but kept leaping outside to snap a shot or two of Lily. By this point I had given Rose more medicine and she was actually feeling a lot better but I still didn't want her in the sun. So the photos are not the best and some of them are from far away.
One happy girl grooming her horse.
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Picking it's feet! Well yes I am sure it does have a proper name but I don't know what it is! I was a little concerned about my sweet little girl having a horses hoof in her hand so I wasn't paying attention to the terminology.
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Frenchie, her instructor, teaching her to adjust the stirrups.
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Finally, ready to ride. Doesn't she looked chuffed?
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The first moments riding all by herself.
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Yee Haw
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Here she is "controlling" the horse. I call it steering but she assures me it is called controlling.
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During Lily's lesson a little girl who was talking to us suddenly said, Oh look there's 222 (the champion Paso Fino)he just loves to run free. I nearly snapped my neck as I jerked around to see this "stallion" come cantering along all by itself!!! It was bucking and rearing and generally just having a grand time but I am sure this is not normal to let a horse run free. I gathered up Rosie so she was truly squashed in my arms and high tailed it out of there. I am a serious chicken. All I could think was Holy Sh*t my little girl is out there riding on a mare and this big boy ( and indeed he was!) is roaming free. Now I did grow up in the countryside and I know how that boy girl thing works but I just didn't like the idea of him getting anywhere near my little girl on her mare. A few minutes later a chap came out with a bridle to round up Mr Big Boy but he wasn't going to have any of that. They caught him eventually but not until I had said at least 70 Hail Mary's and I don't even go to church and I am definitely not Catholic! Mr. 222 had a cold shower and was led back to his stall so I was able to crawl out from under my rock.
This is the fear inducing 222 behaving like a normal horse and heading off to his shower. See how far away from him I was? I was meant to be in that barn area keeping cool but I took off at a brisk pace and ended up half way up the driveway.
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I am so proud of Lily. I love her zest for life and her constant exuberance. She faces every new challenge or venture with such gusto. She is going to go far.
As for Rosie, we have to head back to the Dr's first thing in the morning. She has been in bed for 2 hours and has already woken up 3 times. She really doesn't feel well. I hate to see her like this. Children shouldn't get sick, their parents should have to do it for them...well maybe just their Mama's. The poor little soul is burning hot and she can't have any more meds for 3 more hours. If all else fails there is always the tub, nothing like waking up from a sound sleep and being plunged into a lukewarm tub. I'll keep you posted on her. Send us happy thoughts please.
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