Horses and Kids..... add stories here and photos...

This past weekend I had some family over and one of the special people that came to visit was my neice Mackenna. She is 8 now. Some kids in a family just really do stick to the horsey thing. Not all of them but some of neices/nephews are really into it... Toby is my horse that I let the kids around and if he says it is okay I let them up on him.....

what we did this weekend was open the gate to the arena and I explained to her that if he came out to her to come in the house and get me from cooking and we would do the next thing.... for quite a while he stayed outside and observed... she sat on the platform and waited..... I explained to her how to not look at him right in the face and to go ahead and bend her body to beckon him in...

45 minutes later that patient child came into the house and said, Aunt Jennifer he is here..... and there he was at the front gate..... I showed Mackenna signs that we would look for to be sure that Toby was accepting of her before we got too close and made him go away.. in other words, joining up a little... I don't believe that strangers should jump on horses and just go but that is just me maybe and my naitivety that the horse should have a choice... Toby stayed with us...... after that we walked with him so she could see if he would follow us...... he did..... then we got a brush and I put some hay in a bucket and I let her brush him while she stood on the stool....... then I took him away from his snack and he complied with my request and walked with us some more and he started breathing heavy out his nose and licking and chewing and lowering his head and shaking it a little and you could just see him start to relax... then Mackenna did some breathing...... and she said she wasn't scared, Toby wasn't scared.... we got some good pics.... I made her wait almost 3 hours to get up on him... he's not had a rider in awhile and he's an elder horse so I always wait for his calming signals and let him let me know that he's okay and when he's okay I let the kids on..... he is very sweet to them if I am with him and Mackenna was more than willing to wait and be patient and listen to what I was showing her about what a horse might be saying and about language. her banter was very cute and she really had some ideas on the subject. ... my nephews are a bit bigger energy... Mackennas brother just wanted to crack a whip around the horses so I made him go out in the driveway and smack his whip around.... ha!! but Mackenna and Toby strengthened their bond and she is really sticking with the horsey thing... she said that horses are her favorite animals....

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Megan Hammock on December 2, 2010 at 1:40pm

That really is beautiful--It's like a breath of fresh air just looking at it:) I do love when you post stuff--Sounds dumb, but I love reading what you type & seeing what you post.. It always seems like it's so full of heart!

Permalink Reply by Shirley on December 2, 2010 at 3:00pm

I love your place. I remember seeing a pic of your kitchen too so it's nice inside and out.
This little house always invites me.

Permalink Reply by Megan Hammock on December 2, 2010 at 3:14pm

Oh my GOSH, where is that?! Heaven?!

Permalink Reply by Shirley on December 2, 2010 at 3:20pm

I couldn't find a picture loaded on my pc of my view out my back door. I have a big old hip-roof barn with three lightning rods on the roof. Each has a cobalt blue glass ball and then the middle one also has a horse weather vane. BUT, since Cash can't live here as I live in the city limits he has to live at another barn. So that is probably why I can't find any pics of my barn. For the past six years since I got Cash I spend most my outdoor time at Cash's barn and I have lots of pics of both of Cash's barn homes. NOne have a beautiful view as you do.

Permalink Reply by Shirley on December 2, 2010 at 3:40pm

Hey Megan, Unfortunately I don't know where this is. It is a picture I copied off the internet some time ago. But, I'm with you that it's probably in heaven.

Permalink Reply by Nicola Barnes on December 4, 2010 at 10:06am

That's so cool! :)

Permalink Reply by Nicola Barnes on December 5, 2010 at 6:55am

This is me and my boy, Mowgli. I got him this yr in June for my b-day! :) My first horse ever...
He is an ex-racehorse, he had an accident...

and...

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Lamm on December 5, 2010 at 11:44am

You look so happy....... and he is such a sweet looking horse. :) I hope he fully recovers from his accident. I've seen the photos that you put up and it seems like you are doing a great job with helping him over his injuries.... how old is Mowgli?

Permalink Reply by Megan Hammock on December 9, 2010 at 4:37pm

Well, Happy Birthday to YOU!! What a beautiful boy (and girl:))! Looks like ya'll have a pretty easy time just hanging out? :)