Riding Horses

When the kids first went off track a week or so ago, we looked through their scout books and their extra project books for school and we chose some activities to focus on.

You all know that Sport is a Webelos scout and he only has until June before he moves into the boy scout program. That gives him just a few months to earn anything he would still like to finish. So far we have been focusing on his activity badges, but he is still hopeful of finishing up the last of the belt loops.

The belt loops program is set up kind of like merit badges for boy scouts except that they are on a much smaller scale for much younger boys. Sport already has a belt full of loops, but there is still
one he has been very anxious to get, the Horseback Riding belt loop.

Now this would be a relatively easy thing to do, providing you have horses, which we don't. That put us at the mercy of our wonderful neighbors. Thankfully, they are kind and helpful and they love my kids. When I texted my sweet friend, Tracy, she was so willing to help him! She also invited the little ones to come along too so they could each have a ride. The kids were all so excited!

Then last week we had too much rain and our lesson had to be postponed... twice. We rearranged again. So this morning I sent her a text and she said everything was a go for 3:30. We showed up right on time and the kids were a little timid when she first opened the gate to this gigantic white horse she called "Pumpkin." But it wasn't long before they were brushing him and patting his sides. He was amazingly gentle with them.

After the brushing, Tracy saddled him up and they headed for the paddock to ride. Sport got on first since he had to complete a 20-minute ride to earn the belt loop. It wasn't long before he was riding like a pro so we put Baby Doll in front of him in the saddle. He still handled this massive horse like he had been doing it his entire life.

When they were finished, Scout climbed up and had her turn. She had ridden horses before at camp so she thought she knew exactly what she was doing and she did a great job. Curly was the last one up. As you can see from the pics, he was amazing too!

As they helped gather things up, Tracy invited them back any time. They were all grins as we drove home.

Thank you so much, Tracy! We love you! You are an amazing friend.