Tuesday 5 June 2012

Taking the kids riding

With the bank holiday weekend, it was a lovely opportunity to spend some time with my kids and I decided a few days up at the farm and a chance to get them on horseback was a fantastic idea.  Given the rain the idea of camping went by the by and we managed to blag a bed inside for the night because we are wimps lol.  Saturday it tipped it down with rain so the kids ended up playing on the trampoline in the rain and watching tv a lot of the day.  We arrived just in time for me to help get all the trekkers on their horses - a hen party who for some reason thought pony trekking would be a great idea despite the fact half of them were petrified of horses. Then to muck out the stables before the horses got back.  We dropped the idea of taking the kids riding on Saturday because we thought they would get put off by the heavy rain.  The BBQ in the evening because a grill and indoor party instead but we still had lots of fun.

Sunday, the weather was dry if not sunny so after the morning trek came back we took the kids out on a little ride.  My eight year old was in the middle without a lead rein with their little friend on her pony at the front and my tiny 6 year old on a horse of nearly 15 hands at the back.  We had to put a lot of twists in the leathers so his feet could get in the stirrups but he was happy enough despite his small stature and the horses rather larger stature.   I think the kids enjoyed and they did a little trotting as well.  Mummy didn't get a ride but decided that I need some practice on the lead rein after my eldest sons horse turned to go up a track and I decided to let go of the little one to catch the other horse and ended up with both horses trotting in front of me.  There were a few little squeals  from the kids when I made the mistake of running after them which I instantly realised had been a bad idea when the horses started trotting.  As soon as I started walking I quickly caught up with the two horses who had stopped not far up the lane to munch on the grass at the side of the road.  I was very impressed with the natural balance the boys showed and their lack of fear.  They were less phased by the horses than the 25 year olds on the hen party the day before despite being on the same horses.  Ride over at just the right time (two minutes after the kids started asking are we nearly home yet I'm tired) it was time for a quick cuppa tea before heading home.