Horse Fan

So, we've taken a hiatus from Camp Tonkawa this year. As much as we've enjoyed day camp every month, Thing 2 has tilted the balance of day camp pros and cons to the con-heavy side. I was able to withstand rousing everyone at the crack of dawn (that would be about 7:30 a.m. in this house). I could just manage to get lunch, snacks, water, chairs, hats, gloves, blankets and the five of us gathered and into the car. We can all share a laugh at the thought of me having any sort of breakfast ready at this point in the morning, and we won't even discuss me leaving on time. But that's what granola bars and 70 mph highways are for. I could even entertain Thing 2 most of the day.

Despite all the morning turmoil; a day in the woods with nature lessons, crafts, games and songs and a lovely nap for all four kids on the drive home made for happy times. Then Thing 2 stopped having fun. He went from spending the day sitting in my lap and contentedly playing in the dirt near my feet to wildly enjoying himself running about in nature until lunch time, then spending the rest of the day whining and falling about begging to leave.

Anyway, all of this is to say that we haven't been out to Camp Tonkawa in a few months and we've missed it. Thing 1's Girl Scout troop has been working on a pet badge and the opportunity to attend Tonkawa's Horsemanship Day came along. Poongin could earn the Horse Rider badge and half the requirements for the Horse Fan badge and Thing 1 could get an introduction to horses--although I realized it was entirely possible that she wouldn't even get out of the car. But she did. At times.

Poongin and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves despite the unseasonably bitter cold. Horse Day starts later than Nature Day and the boys were staying home with Dad, so that was a big help. There was a last minute scramble for gloves and hats when I realized just how cold it was and I was a little startled about 20 minutes into the drive when it dawned on me that we were driving through little snow flurries but they had disappeared by the time we arrived.

There were about 12 girls total attending. They learned about safety around horses (especially when the horse is very large and one is very small). They got to brush and comb the horses, learned the parts of a Western saddle and how to install it on the horse, how to tie a halter to a hitching post, what to feed horses, how to treat their ailments, the names of various horse parts and best of all how to steer and stop a horse. Thing 2 allowed me to guide her hand while brushing a horse but that was the only contact she was interested in. She spent a lot of time wandering about the field singing to herself or sitting in the van eating granola bars and, judging from the list of facts she rattled off for her father, she spent a bit of time listening to the instructors, too.

Poongin got a chance to ride three different horses and was in a heart stopping moment of excitement when her horse had a disagreement with another, which caused the girl riding the other horse to lose her seating and hit the ground right at her horse's rather agitated feet. I was fairly certain I was about to witness a mangling but the instructors instantly brought everything under control and had the girl back in her saddle and riding again in no time. At the end of the day, Poongin also got to lead her horse to water but could not make it drink--no joke--and then led her back to the hitching posts. Having watched two different horses try to break away from the instructors earlier in the day, this caused me no little bit of anxiety, but Poongin handled it with ease. (She's good with little kids, too.)

Poongin's thoughts on the day: "It was really fun. Number one, I didn't expect it to be that fun in the cold. And, number two, I thought that it might be scary to be around the horses."