For months and months, Ok about 4 months or so Lily had been asking to ride a horse. I kept putting it off for 2 reasons; 1) where do you find a horse to ride when you aren’t in the horse scene and 2) Lil’s really timid so I didn’t think she would actually ride the horse and it would be traumatic for her.
A few months ago we started doing a Special Day each month with the kids, really for now it’s just for Lil, but eventually it will be for both of them. Each month one of the parents take a child and does something special with that one, then they switch up the next month.
One day on one of the local Facebook homeschooling pages someone asked about where to ride a horse locally, I started following the conversation and then messaged the two people that we were told would do rides/lessons. One of the ladies-Hannah and I struck up a deal and Lily’s horse riding adventure started to come together. I decided that it would be a great Special Day thing to do and I also decided that if all Lil did was look at the horses it would be worth it.
Even though we decided it would be a Special Day all 4 of us went to see the horses and it was a huge hit. Hannah had 4 or 5 horses and one pony. All of the animals were very friendly and we all petted, snuggled and gave treats to all of them. Then the big moment came and Lil got on a horse; Oakley and rode around a ring with Hannah leading. It was awesome. Lil had a fantastic time and wanted more.
Since dance was not happening during the summer we decided to do 2 riding lessons a month during that time. We went to her second lesson last weekend and I was so proud of Lil. About halfway through the riding part of the lesson Hannah asked Lil if she wanted to try riding two handed, rather than using on hand on the horn and on hand on the raines, Lil gave it a try and had really no problems with it. Hannah then let go of Oakley and Let Lil control her herself and Lil did great. Oakley is trained to follow or go to Hannah so Lil had to keep fighting her, but she did great. Hannah was really impressed and so was I. My little cowgirl.
Lily meeting on of the horses (Cleo I think) for the first time.
Jake loving on Cleo.
Lily’s first lesson. Getting a feel for Oakley.
Lily’s first lesson.
Lily’s first lesson. Hannah let me get a few good pictures. 🙂
How meta. Mark took this one of me taking pictures of Lil during her first lesson.
Lesson 2. Hi Oakley. She’s so much braver already.
Using two hands with Hannah close.
Using two hands, all by herself. I believe she’s stopping Oakley here.
Around she goes.
Saying goodbye.
Because I can’t stop myself, here’s a couple videos of Lil riding.
