So we aren't a country/farm family, we have always been suburban dwellers. However I am drawn to the country and I am not that may generations removed from family who had livestock. It seems to be in our blood and the team definitely got a good dose of that country blood. We knew from the time D-man was little that he was born to ride a horse. His first pony ride he rode the saddle like he and the pony were on. When he was in kindergarten we took him for his first formal riding lessons. He was the star pupil (of course there were only 2 kids) his teacher was very impressed with his natural riding ability. Since then he has taken horse camps on and off over the years. He hasn't been in over a year though so when Arnold started talking about riding a horse we thought we should give him a shot and see if D-man was still interested in continuing to learn to ride.
I booked a one hour lesson that would be split 40/20 between the two of them. The riding teacher and I got all of this worked out and settled. Then came the boots, they have to wear boots to ride the horse. If we show up without boots, the ranch has a bunch of them the kids can borrow, but I hate feeling like we didn't have it together or couldn't afford boots. Arnold has a pair of "Buzz and Woody" cowboy boots that he wears everyday so I wasn't worried about him. D-Man didn't have any boots that fit him, unless I made him wear a pair of mine (yes at 8 years old he and I can wear the same size shoe). So we hit the Boot Barn for new boots. They only had a couple of pairs of kids boots in his size (I guess next time he can go into an adult boot). It took him over 30 minutes to decide between two pairs of boots in two different sizes. While he was deciding I looked at Arnold's boots and oh my goodness they were getting very worn out.
So I asked Arnold if he wanted to pick out a new boots (as if I didn't know the answer to that). He jumped right and a pick a brown pair and was ready to go (D-man is still deciding). Since everyone else was getting boots I asked Crab Man if he would like them too, of course he would like some. Crab Man picked out a pair with red uppers and brown lowers and he was ready to go (still waiting for D-man). Sweet Baby just wanted to run, he didn't want to be held or sit still he just wanted to explore the store on his own. Thankfully they weren't busy and the employees were happy to help watch Sweet Baby while D-man continued to stress over brown boots or black boots. We flipped a coin, still no decision, finally I had to give him 2 minutes and we were checking out. He decided on the brown boots (they won the coin toss as well). 1 hour and $150.00 later we have 3 pairs of brand new boots, within 24 hours they look like this.
On to the riding...we get in the car to leave and Crab Man says something about his ride, Oh No! I explained to him the he wasn't riding, I didn't think he would want to. He doesn't like dirt or farms so go figure. Here comes the DRAMA, all the way there is drama over why he can't ride and just to add to the fun, Arnold adds his own drama over the fact that he will have to ride a pony and not a horse. Thankfully it is a short trip to the ranch. When we get there D-man jumps out, Arnold jumps out and introduces himself, Crab Man is still belted in the back waiting for a written invitation to get out of the car. I explain to Mrs. K that Crab Man is upset I didn't schedule him to ride and she offers to let him have 10 and Arnold have 10 as this is really just for them to decide if they want to do lessons or not. THANK YOU MRS. K!!!
D-man is up first and while a little rusty get back in the groove and rides like a champ, he even gets the horse up to a trot.
Next is Arnold, since the big horse was already out for D-man and it would waste time to saddle up the pony Mrs. K decided to let the other boys ride the big horse. I thought Arnold's wish had come true, until he got on the big horse and started freaking out that he needed the little horse. Thankfully once the horse started to move his fears were forgotten.
Finally it was Crab Man's turn, he was already complaining he couldn't stand up anymore and he needed to go home. He got on the horse with out a second thought and impressed Mrs. K and I with his abilities to handle the horse. Thankfully there was no drama on his ride.
At the end of the day I have two of them that want to start lessons and surprise, surprise, D-man is still undecided! Now I just have to rob a bank to pay for all these lessons!
I just have to include this photo of cute baby, he knows what a camera is for and as soon as it comes out he positions himself in front of it. While I was trying to take the boot shots, he jumped in.
