Horseback Riding

One of the benefits of working with farmers (both Ryan and I do so), is knowing who to call when you want to take the kids out to the farm. With our little cousin, Isaac, here this week, we wanted to take him out for some fun in the country.

When we got there, the horses were being saddled by Lyneen. Unfortunately the kids quickly looked past the horses when they saw baby kitty's in the tack room:

We did manage to give the baby kitty's, and their momma, while we distracted them with baby calves and a 2-week old foal.

And then it was time to start riding. Thank you Taurus and Sunny for being cooperative and easy-going for the kids' first experience on a horse.

Isaac did perfect. He caught on super quickly.

A certain little girl loved every moment on the horse. Imagine that.

Scott, my least adventurous child, well, he thought Sunny walked too fast. That was super funny compared to his little brother who wanted to go faster.

The boys weren't so fond of being in the saddle together. Are you serious boys? I thought you'd have fun with it.

So I made them share for a bit and then took Judah off so a pouty little boy could ride by himself. Judah and Bethany weren't too find of sharing either. What is with these kids? At least they look cute in pictures.
And here's Alan, the farmer behind the fun. These horses aren't "hay burners". They're working horses. Alan uses them to check his beef cattle herd. I like this picture; it shows you how nice Alan is.

The kids weren't the only ones who enjoyed a little time on the back of a horse. This momma loves to ride horses. The last time I'd done so, I was working with this farmer on a grazing project.

And when it was time to put the horses away so farmer Alan could get to work, the kids continued to play on the farm... and eat out of Lyneen's hand as she managed to give away multiple packages of graham crackers to 4 cute little faces.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Alan and Lyneen. Thanks for taking time out of your day, for saddling up horses, for leading little kids around, feeding them graham crackers and genuinely enjoying life on the farm. Lyneen, maybe next time Alan will have talked you into getting some goats or pigs :) We appreciate you both: