Winston Churchill said, "No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle." So I am sure he would agree that the first half of our day was well spent. The kids and I got up this morning and headed to Lacassine to the Touchett's farm. Our friend Andrea took the girls to the barn and put them right to work. First they brushed the horses they were going to ride, Pearl and Peanut. (Please pardon my extremely over exposed pictures. I am still trying to figure out how to shoot in manual, and obviously thought I had it down better than I do, because I shot all of these pictures and I didn't realize until I got home that there seemed to be either too much light or not enough in most of these pictures.)
Then they helped Andrea get them saddled up.
Meanwhile, John David found some toys that needed playing with.
Then both the girls lead their horses to the round pen, and Katie got on Peanut and went inside.
You can tell by the look on her face how nervous she was.
But she warmed up pretty quickly.
Then it was Sarah's turn. She rode Pearl.
She was a little nervous too, but it didn't take her long to relax either.
Andrea taught them how to get the horse to move, how to get them to stop, and how to trot.
This little animal lover didn't really like that she had to kick the horse to get her to do things though. It goes against all that she believes in.
This little cutie has spent plenty of time on the horses, but she wanted a turn too.
So Katie got off and let her have a turn. Look at that beautiful smile! I LOVE it!
John David didn't like being on the outside. In fact, I had a hard time taking pictures and keeping him from crawling under the pen.
Eventually he made it through before I could stop him. Andrea just held him, and he was content with that for a little while.
But eventually he wanted to ride too. So Andrea put him on Pearl with Sarah.
Then Katie got off of Peanut, and Sarah rode Peanut for a little while. Katie walked beside John David. I think she was a little nervous that he was riding by himself.
But he was fine. He did great, except when it was time for him to get off.
Sarah liked trotting with Peanut.
But Pearl was still her favorite.
After they were done riding, we headed back to the barn.
If you can't tell from these pictures, Sarah is in love with horses.
I think she would move in if Andrea ever offered.
After they took the saddles and other stuff off, the girls took Pearl and Peanut out and sprayed them off.
Then they let them eat some grass.
And then they helped Andrea take them back to the barn to turn them out into the pasture.
It was cool to see all the other horses run up to greet them.
Then Andrea showed us some of their other horses. I can't remember this one's name, but he was HUGE! And pretty.
This one is Ozzie. He was really pretty too. And sweet.
Thanks for an awesome morning Andrea! The kids learned so much and had so much fun, and they're already talking about "next time".
